Risk factor analysis for injuries in football players - Possibilities for a prevention program

Review of the literature shows that information concerning risk factors for football injuries is incomplete and partly contradictory. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of medical history, physical findings, f ootball skills, and football performance, as well as psychosocial character istics on the occurrence and severity of football injuries. The prospective outline of the study was as follows: after a baseline examination was perf ormed to ascertain possible predictors of injury, all players were followed up weekly for 1 year to register subsequent injuries and complaints. Two h undred sixty-four of 398 players (67%) had complete weekly follow-ups over 1 year. A majority of the players (N = 216; 82%) were injured during the ob servation period. In comparing injured and uninjured players, several diffe rences were observed. To create a multidimensional predictor score for foot ball injuries, 17 risk factors were selected. These risk factors covered a wide spectrum, such as previous injuries, acute complaints, inadequate reha bilitation, poor health awareness, high life-event stress, playing characte ristics, poor reaction time, poor endurance, and insufficient preparation f or games. By summing up the individual risk factors, a predictive sum was c alculated for each player. The more risk factors present at the baseline ex amination, the higher the probability of that player incurring an injury in the ensuing year. Using two risk factors as the cut-off score, more than 8 0% of the players were correctly classified as to whether they went on to i ncur an injury. Based on these findings, knowledge from the literature, and practical experience, possibilities for a prevention program are suggested .