Sammendrag
Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and burden
of overuse injuries in children’s football as well as player
characteristics and their association with overuse injury
risk.
Methods: This investigation is based on the control
arm (10 clubs) of a randomised controlled trial
investigating prevention of injuries in youth football.
We conducted a prospective 20-week follow-up study
on overuse injuries among Finnish football players
(n=733, aged 9–14 years). Each week, we sent a text
message to players’ parents to ask if the player had
sustained any injury during the past week. Players with
overuse problem were interviewed over the phone using
an overuse injury questionnaire. The main outcome
measures were prevalence of all overuse injuries and
substantial overuse injuries (those leading to moderate
or severe reductions in participation or performance)
and injury severity.
Results: The average response rate was 95%. In total,
343 players (46.8%) reported an overuse problem
while in the study. The average weekly prevalence of
all overuse problems and substantial overuse problems
was 12.8% and 6.0%, respectively. Injuries affecting
the knee had the highest weekly prevalence (5.7% and
2.4% for all and substantial knee problems, respectively).
Girls had a higher likelihood of knee problems (OR
2.70; 95% CI 1.69 to 4.17), whereas boys had a higher
likelihood of heel problems (OR 2.82; 95% CI 1.07 to
7.44). The likelihood of reporting an overuse problem
increased with age (OR 1.21; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.47).
Conclusion: Overuse injuries are prevalent in children’s
competitive football. Knee overuse injuries represent the
greatest burden on participation and performance.
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