056 Injury incidence and health status among female soccer athletes across the lifespan: Insights from injury surveillance and a general health survey of former women’s soccer athletes

Abstract

<h3>Statement of Purpose</h3> Describe the epidemiology of injuries in high school (HS) girls’ and collegiate women’s soccer (2014/15–2018/19), and examine self-reported health status in former women’s soccer athletes. <h3>Methods/Approach</h3> We analyzed data collected within the NATION Surveillance Program (HS), the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program, and a general health survey of former women’s collegiate soccer athletes. We report rates per 10,000 athlete exposures (AEs) and summary statistics [frequencies (%)] to characterize injury-related patterns from surveillance data. Former women’s soccer athletes (n=124, û(age)=43±12 years) self-reported medical history and health status by responding to an online questionnaire which also included the four-item PROMIS-29 v2.0 subscales of physical functioning and pain interference (T-Score transformations were used for population comparisons). Prevalence estimates and summary statistics (means±SDs) characterized participant responses. Wilcoxon rank sum tests assessed differential physical functioning and pain interference by injury history. <h3>Results</h3> Ankle (HS: 21.2%; NCAA:14.8%), knee (HS:16.5%; NCAA:16.7%), and head/face (HS:15.9%; NCAA:12.1%) injuries were most common in HS girls’ and NCAA women’s soccer; ankle sprain (Rate(HS):6.8/10,000AEs; Rate(NCAA):7.4/10,000AEs) was the most common injury in both groups. Former women’s soccer athletes also most prevalently reported lifetime histories of ankle (58.9%) and knee (54.0%) injuries, and lifetime physician diagnoses of anxiety (16.9%), depression (16.9%), and osteoarthritis (16.1%; most commonly knee). Physical functioning (û(T-score)=52.4±7.4) and pain interference (û(T-score) =49.1±8.2) were comparable to population norms overall, though differed based on lifetime histories of knee (p&lt;0.01) and ankle (p&lt;0.01) injuries. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Findings indicate that prevention efforts among current athletes may target ankle and knee injuries. Further, long-term functioning associated with musculoskeletal injury history, and mental health concerns among former athletes warrant further attention. <h3>Significance</h3> Our findings highlight the need to investigate injury incidence among current athletes, and potential post-career physical and mental health impacts resulting from in-career sport-related injuries.