Body@Work

The epidemiology of soccer injuries in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, 1.5 million athletes get injured annually. In absolute sense, most injuries occur during soccer, 410.00 injuries annually. Soccer is the sport with the highest participation level with 1.1 million people playing this game, of which approximately 900 players are contracted to a professional soccer club. International studies have observed large differences in the incidence of injuries in professional soccer. The large differences in incidences can be explained by the different injury definitions which were used, the mode of data collection, and the target populations. For several reasons it is necessary to get a better understanding of risk factors involved in the occurrence of injuries in professional soccer. Firstly, few large-scale studies within one national professional soccer competition have been carried out according to FIFA’s consensus statement. Secondly, international research has mainly focused on the incidence and prevalence of soccer injuries, essential data to indicate risk factors and injury mechanisms in injured players is lacking. Thirdly, there is no literature which assesses the characteristics of the soccer club as risk factor for injuries. Fourthly, until now international studies have mainly aimed on the registration of injuries, recovery, and exposure, while no data is registered of the recovery phase (the phase between the occurrence of the injury and the recovery). The objective of the present study is to get more insight in the incidence, nature, causes, and treatment of injuries in Dutch professional soccer. Five main questions were addressed, which will be worked out in five scientific papers.
 

PERIOD
2009-2011
 

FUNDING
This study is carried out by TNO QoL, and is embedded in research centre Body@Work. Body@Work is a joint venture between TNO QoL, VU University, and VUmc. This study is externally funded, and is embedded as PhD project in the EMGO+ institute.
 

INVESTIGATORS
Mr. J.P. Stege, MSc (PhD student)1, 2
Ms. J.H. Stubbe, PhD (co-examiner)1, 2
Mr. E.A.L.M. Verhagen, PhD (co-examiner)2, 3
Prof. W. van Mechelen, MD (supervisor)2, 3

1 TNO Quality of Life, Department of Physical Activity and Health, Leiden, The Netherlands
2 Body@Work, Research Center on Physical Activity, Work and Health, TNO-VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3 Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
 

OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
The objective of the present study is to get more insight in the incidence, nature, causes, and treatment of injuries in Dutch professional soccer. In this study five main questions are addressed:
1) What can be learned from the literature about the incidence (in terms of the number of injuries per 1.000 hours of soccer play), and severity (in terms of the duration of the injury) of soccer injuries?
2) What is the incidence and severity of soccer injuries in the Dutch premier and first league?
3) What are the differences between injured and non-injured soccer players based on the players’ characteristics which are registered at baseline?
4) Which risk factors that relate to the nature of injuries can be distinguished at club level?
5) What are the characteristics of the recovery phase of the most common injuries (knee, ankle, and hamstring injuries), and can differences between clubs be observed?
 

METHODS
The literature that relates to injuries in professional soccer will be systematically reviewed to answer the first main question. To answer the second research question we collected data during the Dutch soccer competition during 2007. A new registration of injuries in Dutch professional football has been set up in June 2009 to answer the third and fourth research question. To answer the fifth research question we will focus on the recovery of knee, ankle and hamstring injuries.
 

RESULTS
Collection of the 2007 data has been finished. The first paper will focus on the epidemiology of injuries in professional soccer. Currently a new registration is carried out at the BVO’s. The data collection will be finished in June 2010. Each year a budget will be made available to write scientific papers, with 2011 as final year.
 

Jasper Stege
More information:
e-mail: jasper.stege@tno.nl
tel: +31 71 518 1692