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Abstract
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CONTEXT: Soccer is the most popular junior sport in the world. In junior sports, injury analysis and injury-prevention measures for players, especially those under 12 years of age, are urgently needed.
OBJECTIVE: To prospectively study the incidence, sites, types, and mechanisms of injuries in elementary school-aged junior soccer players during games and practices.
DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. SETTING: Elementary school-aged junior soccer teams in Nagoya, Japan. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-nine players in 5 community-based club teams of junior soccer (U-12, age range =11-12 years; U-11, age range =10-11 years; U-10, age ≤10 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Data on all game and practice injuries for the 2013-2014 season were collected using an injury report form. Injury rates were calculated according to injury site, type, and mechanism.
RESULTS: The overall injury rate was 2.59/1000 athlete-hours (AHs). The game injury rate (GIR; 6.43/1000 AHs) was higher than the practice injury rate (PIR; 1.49/1000 AHs; P <.05). The most common anatomical areas of injury during games and practices were the lower limbs (62.5% and 4.02/1000 AHs versus 38.5% and 0.57/1000 AHs, respectively). Contusions (27.6%, n = 8) were the most frequent type of overall injuries. Most game injuries resulted from body contact (43.8%, 2.81/1000 AHs), wherease most practice injuries resulted from other types of contact (53.8%, 0.83/1000 AHs).
CONCLUSIONS: The GIRs were higher than the PIRs in Japanese junior soccer players. A lower overall PIR suggested that players in the U-12 age group practiced under appropriate conditions. However, the higher GIR in this age category needs to be decreased.
Language: en |