TY - JOUR
T1 - A prospective epidemiological study of injury incidence and injury patterns in a Hong Kong male professional football league during the competitive season
AU - LEE, Justin W.Y.
AU - MOK, Kam Ming
AU - CHAN, Hardaway C.K.
AU - YUNG, Patrick Shu Hang
AU - CHAN, Kai-Ming
PY - 2014/10
Y1 - 2014/10
N2 - The aim of this study was to investigate the match and training injury incidence, injury patterns and severity, and their monthly variation in a Hong Kong male professional football league. The study design was a prospective cohort study. Seven teams in the Hong Kong Football Association first division league and 152 players from 10 professional teams participated in this study. On a weekly basis throughout the 9-month season, time-loss injuries and individual exposure were collected from injury recorders team visits. Operational injury definitions and procedures followed the recommendations of a football consensus. The overall injury incidence was 7.4 injuries/1000 player hours and 296 injuries were recorded. The relative risk of match injury was 17 times greater than the risk of training injury [relative ratio (RR), 17.3; 95% confidence injury (CI), 11.6–25.7; p < 0.001]. Ankle sprain was the most common injury type (16.2% of all injuries) and 52% of these injuries were recurrent. Thigh strain was the second most common injury type with 82% of the injuries involving the hamstring muscle and 80% of hamstring strains were noncontact injuries. During the competitive season, the relative risk of injury was highest in October (RR, 6.8; 95% CI, 6.7–6.9; p < 0.001) and February (RR, 4.7; 95% CI, 4.3–5.2; p < 0.001). This highlighted that Hong Kong professional football has a high match injury incidence. The relative risk of injury was highest at the beginning of the competitive season. A prospective multicentre epidemiological study is warranted to examine regional differences in injury risks. Coaches, players, health professionals, and researchers should join their efforts to investigate the effect on injury incidence and injury pattern associated with the duration and content of the preseason period, and the number of friendly matches held during preseason.
AB - The aim of this study was to investigate the match and training injury incidence, injury patterns and severity, and their monthly variation in a Hong Kong male professional football league. The study design was a prospective cohort study. Seven teams in the Hong Kong Football Association first division league and 152 players from 10 professional teams participated in this study. On a weekly basis throughout the 9-month season, time-loss injuries and individual exposure were collected from injury recorders team visits. Operational injury definitions and procedures followed the recommendations of a football consensus. The overall injury incidence was 7.4 injuries/1000 player hours and 296 injuries were recorded. The relative risk of match injury was 17 times greater than the risk of training injury [relative ratio (RR), 17.3; 95% confidence injury (CI), 11.6–25.7; p < 0.001]. Ankle sprain was the most common injury type (16.2% of all injuries) and 52% of these injuries were recurrent. Thigh strain was the second most common injury type with 82% of the injuries involving the hamstring muscle and 80% of hamstring strains were noncontact injuries. During the competitive season, the relative risk of injury was highest in October (RR, 6.8; 95% CI, 6.7–6.9; p < 0.001) and February (RR, 4.7; 95% CI, 4.3–5.2; p < 0.001). This highlighted that Hong Kong professional football has a high match injury incidence. The relative risk of injury was highest at the beginning of the competitive season. A prospective multicentre epidemiological study is warranted to examine regional differences in injury risks. Coaches, players, health professionals, and researchers should join their efforts to investigate the effect on injury incidence and injury pattern associated with the duration and content of the preseason period, and the number of friendly matches held during preseason.
KW - epidemiology
KW - injury patterns
KW - injury risk
KW - male
KW - professional football
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85000350917&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.asmart.2014.08.002
DO - 10.1016/j.asmart.2014.08.002
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
SN - 2214-6873
VL - 1
SP - 119
EP - 125
JO - Asia-Pacific Journal of Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Rehabilitation and Technology
JF - Asia-Pacific Journal of Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Rehabilitation and Technology
IS - 4
ER -