@article{ref1,
title="Epidemiology of injuries among Italian footballers: the role of the playing field",
journal="Injury prevention",
year="2018",
author="Bianchi, Francesco Paolo and Veneziani, Valter and Cantalice, Michele Alberto and Notarnicola, Angela and Tafuri, Silvio",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Football (soccer) has a higher injury rate compared with other team sports such as rugby, in terms of two main categories: intrinsic (individual) and extrinsic (environmental) factors. The playing field is an extrinsic risk factor which has been poorly investigated in the literature. <br><br>PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to define the incidence and risk factors of injuries in a cohort of footballers comparing the role of three different types of playing field (hard court, natural grass or synthetic grass). STUDY DESIGN: This was a cross sectional prevalence study. <br><br>METHODS: The population comprised footballers recruited by a convenience sample; the instrument used for the survey was an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. <br><br>RESULTS: 267 football players were enrolled (average age 23.4±4.8 years), of whom 33.7% (n=90/267) played on hard court, 33.0% (n=88/267) on natural grass and 33.3% (n=89/267) on synthetic grass. The overall incidence of injury was 40.1 (95% CI 34.1 to 46.8) ×1000 person-years of training, with higher values for ankle and knee injuries. Ankle injuries (aOR 0.4; P=0.021) were associated with playing on natural grass as a protective factor, while playing on natural grass seemed to be a risk factor for muscular injuries (aOR 2.3; P=0.026). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our study showed a high lifetime prevalence of injury among footballers (57%), in particular among athletes who play and train on a hard court. We have studied a topic poorly investigated previously and provide the opportunity to understand interventions to increase the capacity of stakeholders in preventing injuries.<br><br>© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1353-8047",
doi="10.1136/injuryprev-2018-042968",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2018-042968"
}