Regular-Season Injury Rates in the National Football League After an Attenuated Preseason Due to COVID-19.
epidemiology
injury prevention
injury rates
professional football
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:
Nov 2022
Nov 2022
Historique:
received:
25
05
2022
accepted:
02
08
2022
entrez:
10
11
2022
pubmed:
11
11
2022
medline:
11
11
2022
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The preseason is a crucial time period for professional athletes to prepare for the upcoming season. However, due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the 2020 National Football League (NFL) preseason was canceled. As the regular season progressed, an increased number of injuries became apparent. The purpose of this study was to compare injury rates between the 2019 and 2020 NFL regular seasons after the canceled 2020 preseason. It was hypothesized that injury rates in the 2020 season would be the same or higher compared with 2019. Descriptive epidemiology study. A public database of all 32 NFL teams was used to examine the movement of all players to injured reserve status as well as every player who missed a regular-season game due to injury for both the 2019 and the 2020 NFL regular seasons. Data collection consisted of tallying the total number of reported musculoskeletal injuries for each team. Comparisons of injury rates between the 2 seasons were made using a Wilcoxon signed-rank statistical analysis. The total number of musculoskeletal injuries was 632 for the 2019 regular season and 765 for the 2020 regular season ( This study showed a significant increase in total injuries during the 2020 COVID-19-affected NFL regular season compared with 2019. Several major soft tissue injuries reached statistical significance in their increase from 2019 to 2020 after the cancellation of the 2020 preseason due to COVID-19. These findings suggest that organized team preseason training and conditioning could have an effect on the prevention of sport-related injury at the highest level.
Sections du résumé
Background
UNASSIGNED
The preseason is a crucial time period for professional athletes to prepare for the upcoming season. However, due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the 2020 National Football League (NFL) preseason was canceled. As the regular season progressed, an increased number of injuries became apparent.
Purpose/Hypothesis
UNASSIGNED
The purpose of this study was to compare injury rates between the 2019 and 2020 NFL regular seasons after the canceled 2020 preseason. It was hypothesized that injury rates in the 2020 season would be the same or higher compared with 2019.
Study Design
UNASSIGNED
Descriptive epidemiology study.
Methods
UNASSIGNED
A public database of all 32 NFL teams was used to examine the movement of all players to injured reserve status as well as every player who missed a regular-season game due to injury for both the 2019 and the 2020 NFL regular seasons. Data collection consisted of tallying the total number of reported musculoskeletal injuries for each team. Comparisons of injury rates between the 2 seasons were made using a Wilcoxon signed-rank statistical analysis.
Results
UNASSIGNED
The total number of musculoskeletal injuries was 632 for the 2019 regular season and 765 for the 2020 regular season (
Conclusion
UNASSIGNED
This study showed a significant increase in total injuries during the 2020 COVID-19-affected NFL regular season compared with 2019. Several major soft tissue injuries reached statistical significance in their increase from 2019 to 2020 after the cancellation of the 2020 preseason due to COVID-19. These findings suggest that organized team preseason training and conditioning could have an effect on the prevention of sport-related injury at the highest level.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36353395
doi: 10.1177/23259671221133776
pii: 10.1177_23259671221133776
pmc: PMC9638688
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
23259671221133776Informations de copyright
© The Author(s) 2022.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
One or more of the authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: C.P. has received education payments from Micromed and hospitality payments from Arthrex. M.B. has received consulting fees from Smith & Nephew, Stryker, and Vericel; speaking fees from Arthrex and Smith & Nephew; and honoraria from Vericel. 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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