Injury Profile in Women’s Football: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

López-Valenciano, Alejandro; Raya-González, Javier; García-Gómez, José Alberto; Aparicio-Sarmiento, Alba; Baranda, Pilar Sainz de; Croix, Mark De Ste; Ayala, Francisco

doi:10.1007/s40279-020-01401-w

Cited by 38 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 123 publications

(297 reference statements)

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“…To embed successful injury management strategies in female soccer, the first steps are to understand the epidemiology of injury incidence and burden. Two recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses in female adult and youth soccer [ 55 , 56 ] have reported an overall injury incidence of 6.1 and 7.1 injuries/1000 h playing time, respectively. In adult and youth players, there is a six- to sevenfold higher incidence rate in matches (adults: 19.2, youth: 14.9) compared with training (adults: 3.5, youth: 2.9).…”

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These rate discrepancies potentially indicate that training may be purposefully controlled to avoid unnecessary injuries or, as recent data suggest, training does not replicate match-play to provide robustness and readiness to perform in competitive play [ 57 ]. Limited data suggest that injury incidence is greater during tournament play than the regular season (24.6 vs 17.3) and this has been attributed to greater match congestion, reduced recovery times and accumulated fatigue [ 56 ]. Injuries were more likely to be traumatic and non-contact in nature (4.6 injuries/1000 h exposure) compared with overuse injuries (1.6 injuries/1000 h exposure).…”

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lower extremities were the most likely sites of injury (4.8 injuries/1000 h exposure) with the ankle (1.1 injuries/1000 h exposure) and knee (1.1 injuries/1000 h exposure) having the greatest incidence. The most likely types of injuries in adult players were muscle and tendon injuries (1.8 injuries/1000 h exposure) followed by joint (non-bone) and ligament injuries (1.1 injuries/1000 h exposure) [ 56 ]. For youth players, the greatest types of injuries were joint (non-bone) and ligament (2.4 injuries/1000 h exposure) [ 55 ].…”

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of injury burden, most time loss injuries are classified as slight or minimal [1–3-day loss] (mean = 2.2 days). However, female soccer players sustain a greater number of severe injuries [time loss > 28 days] compared with male players [ 56 ]. This might be attributed to the greater incidence of ligament injuries sustained by female players, especially to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).…”

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physiological Characteristics of Female Soccer Players and Health and Performance Considerations: A Narrative Review

et al. 2021

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Female soccer has seen a substantial rise in participation, as well as increased financial support from governing bodies over the last decade. Thus, there is an onus on researchers and medical departments to develop a better understanding of the physical characteristics and demands, and the health and performance needs of female soccer players. In this review, we discuss the current research, as well as the knowledge gaps, of six major topics: physical demands, talent identification, body composition, injury risk and prevention, health and nutrition. Data on female talent identification are scarce, and future studies need to elucidate the influence of relative age and maturation selection across age groups. Regarding the physical demands, more research is needed on the pattern of high-intensity sprinting during matches and the contribution of soccer-specific movements. Injuries are not uncommon in female soccer players, but targeting intrinsically modifiable factors with injury prevention programmes can reduce injury rates. The anthropometric and physical characteristics of female players are heterogeneous and setting specific targets should be discouraged in youth and sub-elite players. Menstrual cycle phase may influence performance and injury risk; however, there are few studies in soccer players. Nutrition plays a critical role in health and performance and ensuring adequate energy intake remains a priority. Despite recent progress, there is considerably less research in female than male soccer players. Many gaps in our understanding of how best to develop and manage the health and performance of female soccer players remain.

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Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Injury Incidence Risk and Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physiological Characteristics of Female Soccer Players and Health and Performance Considerations: A Narrative Review

et al. 2021

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“…Therefore, players perform many landing, cutting and pivoting manoeuvres per game, which exposes them to substantial risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury which is at least comparable to that of other popular team balls sports including American football, soccer and rugby. [8][9][10][11] The purpose of this review is to summarize the incidence of ACL injury in both men's and women's Australian football, discuss the injury mechanism and risk reduction strategies and evaluate return to sport outcomes after ACL reconstruction surgery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Australian Rules Football: Incidence, Prevention and Return to Play Outcomes

Webster

Hewett²,

Feller

2021

OAJSM

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Australian Rules football is the most popular of the various codes of football played in Australia. During the game players perform frequent landing, cutting and pivoting manoeuvres that expose them to substantial risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Recent years have seen the introduction of a professional women's league that has resulted in an exponential growth in the participation of women and girls in this sport. Unfortunately, there is a corresponding growth in ACL injury rates in female players. This review summarizes the incidence of ACL injury in both men's and women's Australian Rules football and reviews potential causative factors and risk reduction strategies. The final section takes an in depth look at return to sport outcomes after ACL reconstruction surgery in these populations. Whilst an ACL injury does not mean the end of a player's career in Australian football, it certainly presents a significant challenge in terms of return to preinjury levels of form and high rates of secondary and tertiary ACL injury are also a significant concern.

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Most modifiable risk factors for hamstring muscle injury in women’s elite football are extrinsic and associated with the club, the team, and the coaching staff and not the players themselves: the UEFA Women’s Elite Club Injury Study

Ekstrand

Hallén

Marin³

et al. 2023

Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc

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Purpose To describe the perceived importance of suggested hamstring injury risk factors according to chief medical officers (CMOs) of European women’s professional football clubs. A secondary objective was to compare if these perceptions differed between teams with a lower-than-average and higher-than-average hamstring injury burden. Methods The CMOs of eleven European professional women’s football clubs were initially asked to suggest modifiable risk factors for hamstring injury. These risk factors were rated in according with their perceived importance on a 5-graded Likert scale. Participating teams were divided in two groups depending on their hamstring injury burden during the 2020/21 season. The LOW group consisted of six teams that had a lower-than-average hamstring injury burden. The HIGH group consisted of five teams that had a higher-than-average hamstring injury burden. Results Twenty-one risk factors were suggested, most of which were extrinsic in nature, hence associated with the coaching staff, the team or the club organization rather than with the players themselves. The risk factors with the highest average importance were: “lack of communication between medical staff and coaching staff” and “load on players” (each with a weighted average of 3.9), followed by “lack of regular exposure to high-speed football actions during training” and “playing matches 2–3 times a week” (weighted average of 3.8 and 3.7). Differently from the LOW group, the HIGH group perceived the coaching factors (style of coach leadership, training/exercise surveillance by coaching staff) as more important. Conclusion In accordance to the eleven CMOs recruited in this study, most risk factors for hamstring injuries are extrinsic in nature and associated with the club, the team, and the coaching staff, and not the players themselves. Level of evidence Level III.

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Injury Profile in Women’s Football: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cited by 38 publications

References 123 publications

Physiological Characteristics of Female Soccer Players and Health and Performance Considerations: A Narrative Review

Physiological Characteristics of Female Soccer Players and Health and Performance Considerations: A Narrative Review

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Australian Rules Football: Incidence, Prevention and Return to Play Outcomes

Most modifiable risk factors for hamstring muscle injury in women’s elite football are extrinsic and associated with the club, the team, and the coaching staff and not the players themselves: the UEFA Women’s Elite Club Injury Study

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