Profiling of Injuries Sustained During 2018 Football Tournament: An Observational Study

Abstract

Objective: This study aims at documenting the incidences, nature and severity of injuries on the Kingdom of Swaziland football players. In addition, we investigate the association between injury incidence rates (IRs), players’ age and playing positions. Methods: Anthropometric characteristics, field-playing positions, match exposure injury occurrences were monitored in 24 teams (432 players). The teams were drawn from four main structures: Premier Soccer League (PSL), first division, super league and regional leagues (promotional league). The type, severity and duration of football-related injuries were documented following FIFA recommendations. Descriptive data was computed to characterize the injury profile using SPSS v23.0. Results: There were no significant differences on age (p=0.234, body mass (p=0.898 and height (p=0.451) among all players. IR of 29.8 (CI: 27.4, 32.2) injuries per 1000 exposure hours were observed. A sum of 92 injuries were observed and recorded. Of these injuries, 3 out of 4 were classified as either minimal (31.5%) or mild (35.9%), while merely 1 out of 10 injuries (5.4%) necessitated absence from play of more than 28 days. Overuse and traumatic injuries accounted for 27.3% and 78.3% respectively. Conclusions: The study reflected that the quantity and severity of injuries were not only associated with player’s age but also different playing positions. The injury profile of this nature can also enhance the knowledge of injuries, identification of risk factors for the most prevalent differential diagnoses in Swaziland soccer. Therefore, assisting sport medical teams and physicians to plan and develop any injury intervention programs.