Injuries During Return to Sport After the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Epidemiologic Study of Italian Professional Soccer Players.

epidemiology football injuries sports trauma

Journal

Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine
ISSN: 2325-9671
Titre abrégé: Orthop J Sports Med
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101620522

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
Jun 2022
Historique:
received: 16 03 2022
accepted: 22 03 2022
entrez: 20 6 2022
pubmed: 21 6 2022
medline: 21 6 2022
Statut: epublish

Résumé

The injury rate in professional soccer players may be influenced by match frequency. To assess how changes in match frequency that occurred because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) influenced training and match injuries in the Italian Serie A league. Descriptive epidemiology study Three phases in the Serie A league, each 41 days long, were evaluated: phase A was the beginning of the 2019-2020 season; phase B was a period after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted, when the remaining matches of the season were played with greater frequency; and phase C was the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. All male professional soccer players who were injured during the 3 phases were included. Player age, height, position, injury history, and return to play (RTP) were retrieved from a publicly available website. Training- and match-related injuries during each of the 3 phases were collected and compared. Moreover, match injuries that occurred after the lockdown phase (phase B), in which there were 12 days designated for playing matches ("match-days"), were compared with injuries in the first 12 match-days of phases A and C. When comparing 41-day periods, we observed the injury burden (per 1000 exposure-hours) was significantly lower in phase B (278.99 days absent) than in phase A (425.4 days absent; Both training- and match-related injuries were greater during the abbreviated period after the COVID-19 lockdown. These may be linked to the greater match frequency of that period.

Sections du résumé

Background UNASSIGNED
The injury rate in professional soccer players may be influenced by match frequency.
Purpose UNASSIGNED
To assess how changes in match frequency that occurred because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) influenced training and match injuries in the Italian Serie A league.
Study Design UNASSIGNED
Descriptive epidemiology study
Methods UNASSIGNED
Three phases in the Serie A league, each 41 days long, were evaluated: phase A was the beginning of the 2019-2020 season; phase B was a period after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted, when the remaining matches of the season were played with greater frequency; and phase C was the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. All male professional soccer players who were injured during the 3 phases were included. Player age, height, position, injury history, and return to play (RTP) were retrieved from a publicly available website. Training- and match-related injuries during each of the 3 phases were collected and compared. Moreover, match injuries that occurred after the lockdown phase (phase B), in which there were 12 days designated for playing matches ("match-days"), were compared with injuries in the first 12 match-days of phases A and C.
Results UNASSIGNED
When comparing 41-day periods, we observed the injury burden (per 1000 exposure-hours) was significantly lower in phase B (278.99 days absent) than in phase A (425.4 days absent;
Conclusion UNASSIGNED
Both training- and match-related injuries were greater during the abbreviated period after the COVID-19 lockdown. These may be linked to the greater match frequency of that period.

Identifiants

pubmed: 35722177
doi: 10.1177/23259671221101612
pii: 10.1177_23259671221101612
pmc: PMC9201316
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

23259671221101612

Informations de copyright

© The Author(s) 2022.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this contribution. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto.

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Auteurs

Daniele Mazza (D)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
Italian Football Research Group, Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Alessandro Annibaldi (A)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
Italian Football Research Group, Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Giorgio Princi (G)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
Italian Football Research Group, Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Leopoldo Arioli (L)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Fabio Marzilli (F)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Edoardo Monaco (E)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Andrea Ferretti (A)

Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
Italian Football Research Group, Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.

Classifications MeSH