Short-term match congestion (number of days between match exposures) | |||||
≤3 days | 4 days | 5 days | 6 days | 7–10 days | |
Hip/groin muscle injury rates | |||||
Hip/groin muscle injuries, n (% of injuries) | 71 (10%) | 76 (11%) | 43 (16%) | 24 (8%) | 67 (9%) |
Hip/groin muscle injury rate/1000 hours (95% CI) | 2.4 (1.9 to 3.1) | 2.7 (2.1 to 3.3) | 3.9 (2.9 to 5.3) | 1.9 (1.3 to 2.8) | 2.0 (1.6 to 2.5) |
Hip/groin muscle injury rate ratio (95% CI) | Reference group | 1.09 (0.79 to 1.51) | 1.61 (1.10 to 2.35) | 0.78 (0.49 to 1.24) | 0.82 (0.59 to 1.15) |
Thigh muscle injury rates | |||||
Thigh muscle injuries, n (% of injuries) | 171 (24%) | 174 (25%) | 65 (23%) | 58 (20%) | 161 (21%) |
Thigh muscle injury rate/1000 hours (95% CI) | 5.9 (5.1 to 6.8) | 6.1 (5.3 to 7.1) | 5.9 (4.7 to 7.6) | 4.6 (3.6 to 6.0) | 4.8 (4.1 to 5.6) |
Thigh muscle injury rate ratio (95% CI) | Reference group | 1.04 (0.84 to 1.28) | 1.01 (0.76 to 1.35) | 0.79 (0.58 to 1.06) | 0.82 (0.66 to 1.02) |
Lower leg muscle injury rates | |||||
Lower leg muscle injuries, n (% of injuries) | 31 (4%) | 43 (6%) | 13 (5%) | 9 (3%) | 31 (4%) |
Lower leg muscle injury rate/1000 hours (95% CI) | 1.1 (0.7 to 1.5) | 1.5 (1.1 to 2.0) | 1.2 (0.7 to 2.0) | 0.7 (0.4 to 1.4) | 0.9 (0.7 to 1.3) |
Lower leg muscle injury rate ratio (95% CI) | Reference group | 1.42 (0.89 to 2.25) | 1.12 (0.58 to 2.13) | 0.67 (0.32 to 1.41) | 0.87 (0.53 to 1.43) |
Injury rate ratios were analysed between short-term match congestion groups using ≤3 days as reference.
Values in bold indicate significant difference compared with ≤3 days.