Epidemiological study of amateur soccer players: a 17-month study to determine injury and pain

Abstract

Injury can possibly change an athlete’s career. To date, few epidemiological studies have been made of amateur soccer players. More data is needed to allow medical professionals to develop realistic injury prevention and conditioning programs for the amateur level. The purpose of this study was to determine injury incidence, common injury types and body regions, and pain in amateur soccer players. Soccer-related injury and pain data were collected daily in June 2016 thorough October 2017 involving 76 amateur soccer players from two teams. Overall injury incidence was 69 injuries and 2.72/1000 player hours. Acute injuries were 52 (2.05/1000 player hours) and chronic injuries were 17 (0.67/1000 player hours). Most acute injuries occurred during a game (1.99/1000 player hours). In terms of body regions, ankle injury (27.5%) was the most common, followed by knee (15.9%), and thigh (9.0%). Pain incidence was reported 1042 (41.10/1000 player hours). The highest pain incidence was reported during a game (36.9/1000 player hours). The most common location of pain was foot/toe (5.80/1000 player hours), followed by lateral ankle (5.21/1000 player hours), anterior thigh (3.98/1000 player hours), and groin (3.27/1000 player hours). Type of injury, location of injury, and the higher incidence of injury during a game, as opposed to training, were the same as other studies. The pain incidence rate was higher than injury incidence. More epidemiological studies are needed in amateur sports to better understand athletes’ injuries and pain and be able to develop an appropriate injury prevention strategy.