Severe injuries in football players influencing factors

The aims of this prospective study were to analyze factors related to the o ccurrence of severe football injuries in players of different ages (14 to 4 2 years) and different skill levels (local teams to first league teams). In the Czech Republic, 398 players were followed up for 1 year, during which time they sustained 686 injuries. Of these, 113 (16.5%) were severe injurie s. Ninety-seven severe injuries (86%) were able to be documented in detail. Trauma was the cause of 81.5% of the injuries and overuse was the cause of 18.5%. Joint sprains predominated (30%), followed by fractures (16%), musc le strains (15%), ligament ruptures (12%), meniscal tears and contusions (8 %), and other injuries. Injuries to the knee were most prevalent (29%), fol lowed by injuries to the ankle (19%) and spine (9%). More injuries occurred during games (59%) than in practice. Twenty-four percent of the injured pl ayers had suffered a previous injury of the same body part. Forty-six perce nt of injuries were caused by contact and 54% involved no body contact. Thi rty-one percent of severe injuries were caused by foul play. From these res ults and the analysis of injuries in specific body parts, the following fac tors were determined to influence the occurrence of severe injuries: 1) per sonal factors (intrinsic): age of player, previous injuries, joint instabil ity, abnormality of the spine, poor physical condition, poor football skill s, or inadequate treatment and rehabilitation of injuries; 2) environmental factors (extrinsic): subjective exercise overload during practices and gam es, amount and quality of training, playing field conditions, equipment (we aring of shin guards and taping) and violations of existing rules (foul pla y).