Hip and Groin Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Soccer Players

Abstract

Background: Hip and groin injuries are common in competitive soccer players and have been shown to be significant sources of time loss. There are few studies describing the epidemiology of hip and groin injuries in female National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) soccer players. Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of hip and groin injuries in women’s collegiate soccer players. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The NCAA Injury Surveillance System/Program (ISS/ISP) was analyzed from 2004 through 2014 for data related to hip and groin injuries in female collegiate soccer players. Injuries and athlete-exposures (AEs) were reported by athletic trainers. Data were stratified by time of season, event type, injury type, treatment outcome, time loss, and player field position. Results: Between 2004 and 2014, there were 439 recorded hip or groin injuries in female soccer players and an overall rate of injury of 0.57 per 1000 AEs. Injuries were 12.0 times more likely to occur during the preseason (4.41/1000 AEs) as opposed to during the regular season (0.37/1000 AEs) (injury rate ratio [IRR], 12.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.92-14.55) or postseason (0.38/1000 AEs) (IRR, 11.55; 95% CI, 7.06-18.91). Rates of injury were similar during the regular season and postseason (IRR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.59-1.58). Rates of injury were higher during competition (0.69/1000 AEs) than during practice (0.52/1000 AEs) (IRR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.08-1.63). Most injuries were new (87.5%; n = 384) and unlikely to recur (12.5%; n = 55). Conclusion: Hip and groin injuries in female NCAA soccer players are uncommon, and fortunately, most players return to play quickly without recurrence. Future prospective studies should evaluate the effectiveness of strength and conditioning programs in preventing these injuries.

Groin injuries in women's premier league football in Norway: A two‐season prospective cohort study describing clinical and imaging characteristics

“…Artificial turf possesses a different ground hardness and ball bounce and velocity compared to natural grass, which may impact the generalizability of our results 38 . Moreover, our findings may not be generalizable to younger players or other levels of play 32,39 …”

“…This is in line with numbers from collegiate female players, where hip flexor injuries accounted for 31% of hip and groin injuries requiring medical attention. 32 In men's professional football, hip flexor injuries have been reported to account for a smaller proportion, 8% 16 and 12% 15 of time-loss groin injuries.…”

Injury-Inciting Activities in Male and Female Football Players: A Systematic Review

“…However, the studies included in the current review reported inconsistent results regarding this activity. Serner et al [ 44 ] reported that 35% of adductor injuries occurred during changing direction, but this was the reported inciting activity in only 6% of the injuries in the study conducted by Lundgårdh et al [ 51 ] and was not reported for any other football study involving hip/groin injuries [ 52 , 56 ]. These differences could be due to different injury types analysed by the included studies; however further investigations are needed.…”

Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Female Soccer Athletes: A Review

“…Ankle injuries are the most common type to occur in women's soccer 14 , with 15 years of NCAA injury surveillance data (NCAA-ISP) revealing ankle injuries account for 16.7% of all in the sport 15 . Hip or groin injuries are also seen often with 439 injuries occurring between 2004 and 2014, an incidence of .57 per 1000 athlete exposures 16 . Poor hip adductor strength as well as poor hip external rotation strength has been recognized as a predictor of noncontact ACL injury in competitive athletes 17 .…”