Epidemiology in Female Football Players

Abstract

While several authors have reported injury data of male and/or adolescent football players, epidemiological information on adult female football players is rare. Twelve prospective studies reporting exposure-related injury rates of adult female football players during the season and three during top-level international tournaments were found. For adult female football players, the incidence of time-loss injuries during the season varied between 12.5 and 23.6 per 1,000 exposure hours for match injuries, and between 1.2 and 7 per 1,000 exposure hours for training injuries. The incidence during tournaments was approximately one time-loss injuries per match. Knee, ankle and thigh were the most frequently injured body parts. Injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and concussions were reported to be more frequent in female than male players. Only very few studies analysed the long-time health consequences of playing football. In Swedish study, about half of the female players who had sustained an ACL tear playing football 12 years earlier fulfilled the radiographic criterion for knee osteoarthritis. Exercise-based prevention programmes proved to be effective in adolescent female players, similar studies should be performed also in adult female players.