Masters Athletes: No Evidence of Increased Incidence of Injury in Football Code Athletes

Abstract

<span style="font-size:8.5pt;">The </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">World Masters Games, held quadrennially, is the largest international sporting competition in terms of participant numbers. Yet this cohort remains proportionately under investigated. An online survey using an open-source specialized survey application software program was utilized to investigate the 2009 Sydney World Masters Games (SWMG) football code athletes (association football, touch football, rugby union). A total of 931 masters athletes (28.2% response rate, aged 29</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">-</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">72</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">yrs, mean</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">=</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">47.6, SD</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">±</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">7.1, 52.5% male) completed the survey, with touch football reporting the highest incidence of injury (29.2%) followed by rugby (27.0%) and soccer (21.2%). Analyzing injury data (t-tests, chi square) identified patterns in injury location (legs (11.2%, <i>p</i></span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"><</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">0.01) followed by knees, feet and ankles) and significant (<i>p</i></span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"><</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">0.01) classification patterns (muscle/tendon strain/tear (13.0%, <i>p</i></span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"><</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">0.05), inflammation (6.1%), joint pain (6.0%) and ligament sprain/tear (5.8%)). There were also significant differences (<i>p</i></span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"><</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">0.01) compared to general and elite sporting population data. For masters football athletes at the SWMG, the injury incidence during preparation for the tournament has similarities to, but is in fact significantly less than for these other sporting populations. Some gender and sport based differences in injury location and classification type were identified. There were also no significant age related changes in injury nature (classification type, location, incidence, time off work or training). Therefore these findings do not support the premise of masters football code athletes having a higher incidence of injury as compared to younger athletes.</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;"></span> <p> <br /> </p

A Profile of Sydney World Masters Games Athletes: Health, Injury and Psychological Indices

“…Climstein et al (2012) concluded that the incidence of injury was not sufficient to warrant a suggestion to not participate due to injury risk. This finding, similar to Walsh et al, (2013c), was considered a positive result due to the evidence health benefits from exercise.…”

“…There were also no significant age related changes in injury nature (classification type, location, incidence, time off work or training) (Walsh et al, 2013c). Therefore the premise of masters football code athletes having a higher incidence of injury as compared to younger athletes was not supported (Walsh et al, 2013c).…”

“…There were also no significant age related changes in injury nature (classification type, location, incidence, time off work or training) (Walsh et al, 2013c). Therefore the premise of masters football code athletes having a higher incidence of injury as compared to younger athletes was not supported (Walsh et al, 2013c). Further research (Heazlewood et al, 2017) conducted on 7,175 Sydney WMG masters athletes, rank ordered the injury data to compare male and female masters athletes.…”

“…Despite potential benefits for masters athletes in terms of reduced incidence of chronic disorders and improved indices of general health, there was concern that due to age related changes, increased risk of injury would be associated with highly competitive sport for the aging athlete. For masters football athletes at the Sydney WMG, the injury incidence during preparation for the tournament has similarities to, but was in fact shown to be significantly less than for other competitive sporting populations (Walsh et al, 2013c). Some gender and sport based differences in injury location and classification type were identified between different football codes (rugby union, touch football (a high participation sport in Australasia, see Walsh, Heazlewood, Climstein, 2012e)), soccer) (Walsh et al, 2013c).…”

Age-Related Changes in Performance and Recovery Kinetics in Masters Athletes: A Narrative Review

“…Due to the fact that masters athletes adhere to higher levels of systematic training than a sedentary ageing population, a reduced recovery capacity would not only have a negative effect on training quality and sports performance but could also increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury. At present, the research reports contradictory findings when investigating injury rates in masters athletes with studies reporting less incidence of injury (Heazlewood et al, 2014) and no difference in the incidence of injury (Walsh et al, 2013) in masters athletes when compared to younger cohorts in both team sports and swimming. However, an increase incidence of injury has been reported in masters runners compared to younger runners (McKean, Manson, & Stanish, 2006), specifically overuse injuries (Knobloch, Yoon, & Vogt, 2008).…”