@article{ref1,
title="Head injuries in professional male football (soccer) over 13 years: 29% lower incidence rates after a rule change (red card)",
journal="British journal of sports medicine",
year="2019",
author="Beaudouin, Florian and Aus der Fünten, Karen and Tröß, Tobias and Reinsberger, Claus and Meyer, Tim",
volume="53",
number="15",
pages="948-952",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Absolute numbers of head injuries in football (soccer) are considerable because of its high popularity and the large number of players. In 2006 a rule was changed to reduce head injuries. Players were given a red card (sent off) for intentional elbow-head contact. AIMS: To describe the head injury mechanism and examine the effect of the rule change. <br><br>METHODS: Based on continuously recorded data from the German football magazine &quot;kicker&quot;, a database of all head injuries in the 1(st) German Male Bundesliga was generated comprising seasons 2000/01-2012/13. Injury mechanisms were analysed from video recordings. Injury incidence rates (IR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) as well as incidence rate ratios (IRR) to assess differences before and after the rule change were calculated. <br><br>RESULTS: 356 head injuries were recorded (IR 2.22, 95% CI 2.00 to 2.46 per 1000 match hours). Contact with another player caused most head injuries, more specifically because of head-head (34%) or elbow-head (17%) contacts. After the rule change, head injuries were reduced by 29% (IRR 0.71, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.86, p=0.002). Lacerations/abrasions declined by 42% (95% CI 0.39 to 0.85), concussions by 29% (95% CI 0.46 to 1.09), contusions by 18% (95% CI 0.43 to 1.55) and facial fractures by 16% (95% CI 0.55 to 1.28). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This rule change appeared to reduce the risk of head injuries in men's professional football.<br><br>© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-3674",
doi="10.1136/bjsports-2016-097217",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-097217"
}