@article{ref1,
title="Injury and illness epidemiology in professional Asian football: lower general incidence and burden but higher ACL and hamstring injury burden compared with  Europe",
journal="British journal of sports medicine",
year="2021",
author="Chamari, Karim and Bahr, Roald and Chalabi, Hakim and Ekstrand, Jan and Al-Kuwari, Abdulaziz and Eirale, Cristiano and Tabben, Montassar and Singh, Gurcharan",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: While football (soccer) injury and illness epidemiology surveillance at professional club level in Europe is available, epidemiological data from other  continents are lacking. <br><br>PURPOSE: Investigating injury and illness epidemiology in  professional Asian football. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive prospective study. <br><br>METHODS:  Professional teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) league were followed  prospectively for three consecutive AFC seasons (2017 through 2019, 13 teams per  season, 322 team months). Time-loss injuries and illnesses in addition to individual  match and training exposure were recorded using standardised digital tools in  accordance with international consensus procedures. <br><br>RESULTS: In total, 232 665 hours  of exposure (88.6% training and 11.4% matches) and 1159 injuries were recorded; 496  (42.8%) occurred during matches, 610 (52.6%) during training; 32 (2.8%) were  reported as 'not applicable' and for 21 injuries (1.8%) information was missing. Injury incidence was significantly greater during match play (19.2±8.6 injuries per  1000 hours) than training (2.8±1.4, p<0.0001), resulting in a low overall incidence  of 5.1±2.2.The injury burden for match injuries was greater than from training  injuries (456±336 days per 1000 hours vs 54±34 days, p<0.0001). The two specific  injuries causing the greatest burden were complete ACL ruptures (0.14 injuries (95%  CI 0.9 to 0.19) and 29.8 days lost (29.1 to 30.5) per 1000 hours) and hamstring  strains (0.86 injuries (0.74 to 0.99) and 17.5 days (17.0 to 18.1) lost per 1000  hours).Reinjuries constituted 9.9% of all injuries. Index injuries caused 22.6±40.8  days of absence compared with 25.1±39 for reinjuries (p=0.62). The 175 illnesses  recorded resulted in 1.4±2.9 days of time loss per team per month. <br><br>CONCLUSION:  Professional Asian football is characterised by an overall injury incidence similar  to that reported from Europe, but with a high rate of ACL ruptures and hamstring  injury, warranting further investigations.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-3674",
doi="10.1136/bjsports-2020-102945",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102945"
}