Abstract
Current approaches regarding injury prevention focus on the transfer of evidence into daily practice. One promising approach is to influence attitudes and beliefs of players. The objective of this study was to record player’s perceptions on injury prevention. A survey was performed among players of one German high-level football (soccer) club. 139 professional and youth players between age 13 and 35 years completed a standardized questionnaire (response rate = 98%). It included categories with (1) history of lower extremity injuries, (2) perceptions regarding risk factors and (3) regularly used prevention strategies.The majority of players (84.2%) had a previous injury. 47.5% of respondents believe that contact with other players is a risk factor, followed by fatigue (38.1%) and environmental factors (25.9%). The relevance of previous injuries as a risk factor is differently perceived between injured (25%) and uninjured players (0.0%). Nearly all players (91.5%) perform stretching to prevent injuries, followed by neuromuscular warm up exercises (54.0%). Taping is used by 40.2% of previously injured players and 13.6% of players without a history of injuries. In conclusion, the perception of risk factors and performed preventive strategies are inconsistent with scientific evidence. Future transfer strategies should incorporate the players beliefs and attitudes.
Highlights
Playing football on a recreational or professional performance level is associated with an increased risk of injury
Some players that never experienced lower extremity injuries reported regularly to use taping (13.6%) and bracing (9.1%). This survey presents data on injury rates and current perceptions regarding injury risk factors as well as information regarding prevention strategies used in football
It describes subsequent stages starting with the relevance of the problem in terms of incidence followed by risk factor identification and the use as well as assessment of preventive measures
Summary
Playing football (soccer) on a recreational or professional performance level is associated with an increased risk of injury. Numerous studies indicate that injury rates in football vary depending on performance / competition levels, sex and age [4,5,6]. During international tournaments such as the FIFA world cup, players seem to be at higher risk for injuries [7, 8] than during national leagues seasons [9]. Reported intrinsic risk factors for lower extremity injuries are a previous injury [10], increased range of motion [4, 11, 12], limited postural control [11] and fatigue [12, 13]
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