Injuries in Dutch elite field hockey players: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

This study describes the prevalence, incidence density, severity, and nature of injuries in elite field hockey players over the Dutch 2015–2016 season. Eighty players answered a baseline questionnaire and were subsequently followed up every 2 weeks to report the hours spent on training/competition and experienced injuries, which were registered using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Questionnaire on Health Problems. Of the 74 players included in the analysis, 52 (70%) reported 112 injuries. Eighty‐seven injuries (78%) received medical attention, and 56 (50%) led to training/competition time‐loss. Thirty‐four injuries (30%) hampered players’ availability to train and compete. Most of the injuries (74%) were not caused by any contact. The mean prevalence of injury was 29% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3–55) for all, 9% (95% CI 0–20) for acute, and 14% (95% CI 0–36) for overuse injuries. Players sustained 3.5 (95% CI 2.5–4.5) new acute injuries per 1000 hours of training and 12.3 (95% CI 7.6–17.0) per 1000 hours of competition. The median of the severity score was 28 from 100 (25%–75% interquartile range [IQR] 16–42) for all, 35 (IQR 23–53) for acute, and 21 (IQR 16–31) for overuse injuries. On average, 1 in 4 elite field hockey players experiences an injury within a 2‐week period during the season. Although acute injuries are common, overuse injuries pose a comparable problem in elite field hockey. As injuries are a burden on players’ health and may hamper performance and availability to train and compete, prevention is of great importance.

Health problems in youth competitive alpine skiing: A 12‐month observation of 155 athletes around the growth spurt

“…However, to date, little is known with respect to injuries occurring at the youth level 20 . On a first view, the prevalence magnitudes observed for youth skiers during competition season in this study (all health problems: 42.2%; substantial health problems: 19.8%) may appear comparable to those known from other youth and junior sports 28‐30 . However, it is important to stress that these studies focused on youth athletes far beyond the growth spurt and therefore are only partially comparable with the current study.…”

“…The conceptual framework behind this questionnaire builds on the considerations that recurrent health problems should be (a) monitored prospectively not retrospectively, (b) reported as prevalence not incidence, and (c) quantified based on functional impairment criteria rather than time loss 22 . In consequence, the OSTRC questionnaire was used to describe the prevalence and severity of the health problems occurring among athletes of various sports 25‐30 ; however, no study has applied such methodology in the context of (youth) competitive alpine skiing and across preparation and competition seasons yet.…”

Occurrence of overuse injuries in elite Swedish athletics—A prospective cohort study over one athletics season

“…The incidence proportion in our study could be even further underestimated, as our evaluation was based on OIs only, whereas other studies included all injuries (recurring, traumatic, and acute) 3‐5 . Compared to other elite sports, the incidence proportions of OIs in our elite athletics study are similar 24‐26 …”

Transient injuries are a problem in field hockey: A prospective one‐season cohort study

“…The only published studies available for comparison involve professional athletes, and only a small number of studies have defined injury as any physical complaint . Comparisons are also challenging as most studies provide only the average duration of injury, failing to present details on the burden that particular injuries have on squads . Other studies classified severity based upon whether or not the injury caused a stoppage in time during the game …”

“…However, the present study indicates that non‐contact injuries remain more frequent compared to contact injuries. These injuries occurred frequently as substantial injuries, strengthening calls for the investigation of methods which may prevent injury such as structured exercise and load management …”