Injury incidence, characteristics and burden among female sub-elite futsal players: a prospective study with three-year follow-up

Abstract

The main purpose of the current study was to analyze the injury incidence, characteristics and burden among sub-elite female futsal players. Individual exposure to match play and training, injury incidence and characteristics (player position, injury mechanism, type of injuries, severity of injuries, recurrent vs. new injuries, season variation of injury pattern) in a female futsal team were prospectively recorded for three consecutive seasons (2015–2018). Incidences were calculated per 1,000 h of exposure. A total of 30 injuries were reported during the three seasons within a total exposure of 4,446.1 h. The overall, match and training incidence of injuries were 6.7, 6.4 and 6.8 injuries/1,000 h of exposure, respectively. Most injuries had a non-contact mechanism (93%), with the lower extremity being the most frequently injured anatomical region (5.62 injuries/1,000 h of exposure). The most common type of injury was muscle/tendon (4.9 injuries/1,000 h of exposure) followed by joint (non-bone) and ligament (1.3 injuries/1,000 h of exposure). The injuries with the highest injury burden were those that occurred at the knee (31.9 days loss/1,000 h exposure), followed by quadriceps (15.3 day loss/1,000 h) and hamstring (14.4 day loss/1,000 h) strains. The first few weeks of competition after pre-season and soon after the Christmas break were the time points when most injuries occurred. These data indicate that sub-elite female futsal players are exposed to a substantial risk of sustaining an injury. To reduce overall injury burden, efforts should be directed toward the design, implementation and assessment of preventative measures that target the most common diagnoses, namely, muscle/tendon and ligament injuries.

Epidemiology of Injuries in Elite Female Futsal Players: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…In this regard, recent epidemiologic reports placed futsal as one of the highest injury risk sports [5,6]. In our study, 5.02 injuries/1000 h of exposure time were reported, which is slightly greater than the overall incidence of 4.17 reported in Iranian Female Futsal Team [8] and lower than in sub-elite female futsal Spanish team with 6.7 injuries/1000 h [9]; it is similar to other team sports athletes like female indoor hockey (5.00; 95 % CI: 4.1, 4.9) [17]. In addition, present results confirm previous evidence in team sport athletes as matches created greater potential for injury than training sessions in professional female futsal players, only with contradictory results in a previous study [9].…”

“…The main strength of our study is the prospective monitoring of injuries over the course of one season with a protocolized system reviewed by technical staffs on several teams with elite female futsal players. Previous research on futsal were conducted retrospectively [2,7] and focused on small periods or tournaments, or only in male players [20], or with amateur (i. e. non-professional) leagues [1,3], or with only one team [9].…”

“…Eight characteristics were recorded for each injury as follows: injury type, body region, etiology (contact/non-contact), day of injury according to match day (MD) [15], type of session, moment on the session (warm-up, first half, second half, or end of session), week of the season, as well as the injury severity, categorizing them as: slight (1-3 days), minor (4-7 days), moderate (8-28 days) and major ( > 28 days) [14]. If a player had to stop training or participating in a match because of injury on one day but could participate the next day, the time loss was recorded as 0 days [9]. All of these variables and their subcategories are shown in (▶Appendix A2).…”

“…Despite the popularity regarding female futsal, only two prospective epidemiological studies have been published investigating injuries sustained by female professional (or elite) futsal players [1,2,7,8], and one in sub-elite futsal players [9]. These studies have reported incidence rates for male and female players ranging from 4.2 to 12.6 injuries per 1000 h of futsal [8][9][10][11], most of them affecting the lower extremity. However, only one of these studies provided epidemiological data of futsal-related injuries in female players about the injury burden (the product of severity [consequences] and incidence [likelihood]) [9].…”

“…These studies have reported incidence rates for male and female players ranging from 4.2 to 12.6 injuries per 1000 h of futsal [8][9][10][11], most of them affecting the lower extremity. However, only one of these studies provided epidemiological data of futsal-related injuries in female players about the injury burden (the product of severity [consequences] and incidence [likelihood]) [9]. Therefore, there is a clear need for prospective epidemiological studies that describe the injury incidence, characteristics and burden in elite female futsal players.…”