Abstract
Handball is a team sport in which players are exposed to high physical conditioning requirements and several contacts and collisions, so they must face various musculoskeletal injuries throughout their career. The aim of this study was to summarize the characteristics of handball injuries both in training and in competition contexts, differentiating by gender and age. A systematic review was conducted and a total of 15 studies (33 cohorts) met the inclusion criteria. Higher injury incidence was reported during matches compared to training sessions in all groups (i.e., male and female senior and youth players), with male senior players presenting the greatest values. Lower extremities were more frequently injured, being contusions and sprains the most common type of injuries. Females reported more serious injuries than males, who presented a higher percentage of acute injuries caused by direct contact, while in female players these injuries were not caused by direct contact actions. Wings and backs presented the highest injury incidence; additionally, players registered higher match incidence during international championships compared to national leagues. Due to the differences in the injury profile of handball players, specific preventive strategies should be implemented for each group to optimize the injury prevention process.
Highlights
Handball is a team sport founded in 1946 and included in the Olympic Games list for the first time in 1972 [1]
Senior male handball players showed the highest value, while lower incidences were observed in female senior players (i.e., 6.2 injuries/h exposure), in male youth players (i.e., 6.9 injuries/h exposure), and in female youth players (i.e., 6.8 injuries/h exposure)
These differences could be due in part to high-intensity and faster play speed reported during male senior handball practice [3,21]
Summary
Handball is a team sport founded in 1946 and included in the Olympic Games list for the first time in 1972 [1] The popularity of this sport has increased in recent years, and currently, there are an estimated 25 million players worldwide [2], including male, female, senior, and youth players [3]. The high training volumes and intensities that youth players undertake to achieve sporting excellence seem to contribute to the increase of the injury incidence [10]. In this regard, injuries are associated with negative consequences, such as a reduction of team success [12], an increment of costs related to treatments [13], and the risk of suffering new injuries [14]. Reducing the injury incidence can have a key positive impact for both players’
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