RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Fewer ligament injuries but no preventive effect on muscle injuries and severe injuries: an 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 732
OP 737
DO 10.1136/bjsports-2013-092394
VO 47
IS 12
A1 Jan Ekstrand
A1 Martin Hägglund
A1 Karolina Kristenson
A1 Henrik Magnusson
A1 Markus Waldén
YR 2013
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/12/732.abstract
AB Background Limited information is available on the variation in injury rates over multiple seasons of professional football. Aim To analyse time-trends in injury characteristics of male professional football players over 11 consecutive seasons. Methods A total of 1743 players comprising 27 teams from 10 countries were followed prospectively between 2001 and 2012. Team medical staff recorded individual player exposure and time loss injuries. Results A total of 8029 time loss injuries were recorded. The match unavailability due to injury was 14% and constant over the study period. On average, a player sustained two injuries per season, resulting in approximately 50 injuries per team and season. The ligament injury rate decreased during the study period (R2=0.608, b=−0.040, 95% CI −0.065 to −0.016, p=0.005), whereas the rate of muscle injury (R2=0.228, b=−0.013, 95% CI −0.032 to 0.005, p=0.138) and severe injury (R2=0.141, b=0.015, 95% CI −0.013 to 0.043, p=0.255) did not change over the study period. In addition, no changes in injury rates over the 11-year period were found for either training (R2=0.000, b=0.000, 95% CI −0.035 to 0.034, p=0.988) or match play (R2=0.282, b=−0.015, 95% CI −0.032 to 0.003, p=0.093). Conclusions The injury rate has decreased for ligament injuries over the last 11 years, but overall training, match injury rates and the rates of muscle injury and severe injury remain high.