Abstract
PurposeHip and groin injuries in football are problematic due to their high incidence and risk of chronicity and recurrence. The use of only time-loss injury definitions may underestimate the burden of hip and groin injuries. Little is known about hip and groin injury epidemiology in female football. The first aim of this study was to examine the within-season (2014–2015) prevalence of total injury with and without time-loss in female amateur football players. The second aim was to study the within-season and preseason (2015–2016) prevalence of hip/groin injuries with and without time-loss. The third aim was to study the association between the duration of hip and groin injury in the 2014–2015 season and the severity of hip/groin problems during the 2015–2016 preseason.MethodsDuring the preseason, 434 Dutch female amateur football players completed an online questionnaire based on the previous season and current preseason. The hip and groin outcome score (HAGOS) was used to assess the severity of hip and groin injuries.ResultsThe hip/groin (17%), knee (14%), and ankle (12%) were the most frequent non-time-loss injury locations. The ankle (22%), knee (18%), hamstring (11%), thigh (10%), and hip/groin (9%) were the most common time-loss injury locations. The previous season prevalence of total injury was 93%, of which non-time-loss injury was 63% and time-loss injury was 37%. The prevalence of hip/groin injury was 40%, non-time-loss hip/groin injury was 36% and time-loss hip/groin injury was 11%. The preseason prevalence of hip/groin injury was 27%, non-time-loss hip/groin injury was 25%, and time-loss hip/groin injury was 4%. Players with longstanding hip/groin injury (> 28 days) in the previous season had lower HAGOS scores at the next preseason than players with short-term (1–7 days) or no hip/groin injury (p < 0.001). From all players with hip/groin injury from the previous season, 52% also sustained hip/groin injury in the following preseason, of which 73% were recurrent and 27% were chronic hip/groin injuries.ConclusionInjury risk, and especially non-time-loss hip and groin injury risk, is high in female amateur football. Three-quarters of the players with longstanding hip and groin injuries in the previous season have residual problems at the start of the following season.Level of evidenceII.
Highlights
The number of female football players in Europe is growing rapidly, and female participation rates in the US almost equal those of males [28]
Of the 43 teams invited, 8 teams (120 players) declined the invitation and 35 teams participated in this study
This resulted in 525 female players, from which 91 (17%) failed to meet the inclusion criteria of being at least 18 years of age (n = 89) or participating in the included playing levels (n = 2 veterans league)
Summary
The number of female football players in Europe is growing rapidly, and female participation rates in the US almost equal those of males [28]. Dutch female football has increased rapidly, with 23% more players over the past 5 years and 153,001 registered players in the 2016–2017 season. It is the largest female team sport in Holland [28]. In. Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy (2019) 27:3133–3141 addition, most injury or risk factor studies use only time-loss injury (TLI) definitions [7, 30]. The within-season prevalence of TLI in elite female football ranges between 38 and 48% [4, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20]. Non-time-loss injury (NTLI) has been less studied in football [30]. The little available data suggest, as expected, that NTLI is more common than TLI [9, 17]
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