The Incidence of Injury in a Caribbean Amateur Women’s Football League

Abstract

This prospective study looked at the incidence of injury (IN) sustained by players during a season in an amateur women's football league in Trinidad and Tobago where games were played on grass (GR) and on a new generation artificial turf (AT). The overall incidence of time loss injuries was 27.6/1000 player hours (95% CI: 17.0, 38.2). Most injuries were mild and players returned to play within one week of sustaining an injury. Players who trained predominately on, and played their home games on AT (PAT) sustained significantly fewer injuries when playing games on GR than those sustained while playing on AT (p=0.006). There were no differences in injury rates between games played on AT versus games played on GR (p=0.68). Most injuries were of a non-contact nature and so an injury prevention program should be implemented to reduce the injury rate in this amateur league.

Injuries in elite‐level women’s football—a two‐year prospective study in the Irish Women’s National League

“…Our results are in the lower range of time-loss match (12.5-55.5/1000 h) and training (1.4-10.9/1000 h) IIRs reported in other elite-level women's football injury surveillance studies. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 Our finding that players, on average, incurred 0.69 injuries per season (approximately 15 injuries per season for a squad of 22 players) is lower than the 1-2 injuries per player per season reported in elite-level women's football in Sweden. 12 It is possible that the professional and semi-professional status of the players in the Swedish League may have led to the higher rate of injuries.…”

“…Previous elite-level women's football injury surveillance studies have reported a 3.5 to 13 times higher match IIR compared to training IIR. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 It is possible that the injury recording systems used in the different studies may have influenced this ratio. Jacobson and Tegner 10 used team leaders to record injuries, while most other studies have used medical personnel, with the exception of Nilstad et al 8 whereby players self-reported injuries via text message.…”

“…Several prospective injury surveillance studies have been undertaken in women's national leagues in Germany, Belgium/Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] These studies report timeloss match injury incidence rates (IIRs) ranging from 12.5 to 55.5/1000 h and time-loss training IIRs ranging from 1.4 to 10.9/1000 h. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 The lower extremity is the most commonly injured body region in elite-level female players, with knee, ankle, and thigh injuries having the highest IIRs. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 Player welfare has been an integral component of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) Strategic Plan (2016 -2020).…”

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] These studies report timeloss match injury incidence rates (IIRs) ranging from 12.5 to 55.5/1000 h and time-loss training IIRs ranging from 1.4 to 10.9/1000 h. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 The lower extremity is the most commonly injured body region in elite-level female players, with knee, ankle, and thigh injuries having the highest IIRs. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]15 Player welfare has been an integral component of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) Strategic Plan (2016 -2020). 16 The protection of player health and the prevention of football-related illnesses and injuries are a primary focus for the FAI, with women's football a key pillar of the Strategic Plan (2016 -2020).…”

The Football Association Injury and Illness Surveillance Study: The Incidence, Burden and Severity of Injuries and Illness in Men’s and Women’s International Football

“…There are a distinct lack of published research studies documenting the epidemiology of injuries in elite women's football. The studies that do exist often include a low number of injuries (< 100; [18,19]), which limits the conclusions that can be drawn, and are conducted in amateur players [20][21][22], who are likely to have a wide range of physical capabilities and training exposure levels, and therefore may suffer from a different pathophysiology of injury in comparison to professional players [23].…”