Injury incidence rates in womens football: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective injury surveillance studiesShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: British Journal of Sports Medicine, ISSN 0306-3674, E-ISSN 1473-0480, Vol. 57, no 8, p. 471-480Article, review/survey (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Objective To review the literature to establish overall, match and training injury incidence rates (IIRs) in senior (>= 18 years of age) womens football (amateur club, elite club and international). Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of overall, match and training IIRs in senior womens football, stratified by injury location, type and severity. Data sources MEDLINE via PubMed; EMBASE via Ovid; CINAHL via EBSCO and Web of Science were searched from earliest record to July 2021. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies (1) football players participating in a senior womens football league (amateur club or elite club) or a senior womens international football tournament; (2) the study had to report IIRs or provide sufficient data from which this outcome metric could be calculated through standardised equations; (3) a full-text article published in a peer-reviewed journal before July 2021; (4) a prospective injury surveillance study and (5) case reports on single teams were ineligible. Results 17 articles met the inclusion criteria; amateur club (n=2), elite club (n=10), international (n=5). Overall, match and training time-loss IIRs are similar between senior womens elite club football and international football. Time-loss training IIRs in senior womens elite club football and international football are approximately 6-7 times lower than their equivalent match IIRs. Overall time-loss IIRs stratified by injury type in womens elite club football were 2.70/1000 hours (95% CI 1.12 to 6.50) for muscle and tendon, 2.62/1000 hours (95% CI 1.26 to 5.46) for joint and ligaments, and 0.76/1000 hours (95% CI 0.55 to 1.03) for contusions. Due to the differences in injury definitions, it was not possible to aggregate IIRs for amateur club football. Conclusion Lower limb injuries incurred during matches are a substantial problem in senior womens football. The prevention of lower limb joint, ligament, muscle and tendon injuries should be a central focus of injury prevention interventions in senior womens amateur club, elite club and international football. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020162895.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP , 2023. Vol. 57, no 8, p. 471-480
Keywords [en]
football; sporting injuries; sports; sports medicine; women
National Category
Sport and Fitness Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-189780DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105177ISI: 000869132400001PubMedID: 36229168Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85142479204OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-189780DiVA, id: diva2:1709296
2022-11-082022-11-082023-04-05