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. 2019 May 7;16(9):1593.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16091593.

Injury Prevention in Amateur Soccer: A Nation-Wide Study on Implementation and Associations with Injury Incidence

Angela Gebert  1   2 , Markus Gerber  3 , Uwe Pühse  4 , Hanspeter Stamm  5 , Markus Lamprecht  6
Affiliations

Injury Prevention in Amateur Soccer: A Nation-Wide Study on Implementation and Associations with Injury Incidence

Angela Gebert et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Prevention programmes can reduce injury risk in amateur soccer. Hence, we examined the implementation of injury prevention in the real-world context of Swiss amateur soccer. In 2004 (n = 1029), 2008 (n = 705) and 2015 (n = 1008), a representative sample of Swiss amateur soccer coaches was interviewed by telephone about the frequency of injuries in their teams, the implementation of preventive measures and the use of injury prevention programmes. In the 2015 survey, 86.1% of amateur coaches stated that injury prevention is important and 85.3% of amateur coaches reported that they would implement some kind of preventive measures. The proportion of teams which performed a prevention programme according to minimal standards remained unchanged between 2008 (21.7%) and 2015 (21.9%), although a second prevention programme was made available in 2011. Only 8.6% of the 30+/40+ league teams, which are composed as a function of age, implemented a programme. Overall, the level of implementation of prevention programmes in this real-world context is still unsatisfactory. Offering an additional programme did not lead to a higher willingness to implement such programmes among the coaches. Concerted efforts are needed to remove barriers that hinder the use of such programmes, particularly among coaches of 30+/40+ league teams.

Keywords: amateur soccer; injury prevention; prevention programmes; preventive measures.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Implementation of prevention programmes according to minimal standards in Swiss amateur soccer by leagues (in percent). * Implementation according to minimal standards: at least three exercises of a programme per session at least once per week over at least six months. SSB: Suva “Sport Basics”, 11/11+: FIFA “The 11” and “11+”.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Injury incidence per 1000 h of game play (a) and training (b) by implementation of a prevention programme according to minimal standards in 2015 (including 95% CI). * Implementation according to minimal standards: at least three exercises of a programme per session at least once per week over at least six months. SSB: Suva “Sport Basics”, 11/11+: FIFA “The 11” and “11+”.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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