Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist
Introduction: Recently, a pandemic disease (i.e., COVID-19) arose complicated conditions for players, clubs, and sports competitions. Most European countries postponed or canceled their respective leagues as players were forced into a long-term lockdown. This case study presents and compares the abs...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Apunts Sports Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266650692100033X |
| _version_ | 1811205657415647232 |
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| author | Konstantinos Spyrou Pedro E. Alcaraz Elena Marín-Cascales Rubén Herrero-Carrasco Lucas A. Pereira Irineu Loturco Tomás T. Freitas |
| author_facet | Konstantinos Spyrou Pedro E. Alcaraz Elena Marín-Cascales Rubén Herrero-Carrasco Lucas A. Pereira Irineu Loturco Tomás T. Freitas |
| author_sort | Konstantinos Spyrou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Recently, a pandemic disease (i.e., COVID-19) arose complicated conditions for players, clubs, and sports competitions. Most European countries postponed or canceled their respective leagues as players were forced into a long-term lockdown. This case study presents and compares the absolute and relative non-contact lower-limb injury rates and characteristics before and after the lockdown from a Finalist of the UEFA Futsal Champion League. Material and methods: Thirteen elite futsal players (age: 27 ± 2.8 years old; body mass: 76 ± 5.4 kg; height: 1.79 ± 0.1 m; body fat: 9 ± 1.6%) participated in this study. Injury severity, location, type, and mechanism were recorded. Data from the 6 weeks pre- and post-lockdown were collected, and injury rates were expressed per 1,000 training and match hours. Results: Chi-Square tests revealed a significant difference (p = 0.039) in the distribution of the number of injuries between the two moments. No overuse and non-contact injuries were observed during the 6 weeks before the lockdown. Nevertheless, 38% (i.e., 5) of the players suffered minimal severity (i.e., ≤ 3 days of court absence) overuse injuries in the hip/groin and thigh muscles post-home-confinement. Conclusions: Elite male futsal players sustained a substantially higher number of lower-body non-contact injuries after the lockdown. Practitioners should implement a thorough analysis of players’ neuromuscular qualities and fatigue to identify individual training and recovery needs and, thus, prescribe more tailored injury-reduction programs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:35:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a2eb378311f7426cbf56eac9b45c2cd5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-5069 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:35:47Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Apunts Sports Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-a2eb378311f7426cbf56eac9b45c2cd52022-12-22T03:49:27ZengElsevierApunts Sports Medicine2666-50692022-01-0157213100377Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalistKonstantinos Spyrou0Pedro E. Alcaraz1Elena Marín-Cascales2Rubén Herrero-Carrasco3Lucas A. Pereira4Irineu Loturco5Tomás T. Freitas6UCAM Research Center for High Performance Sport, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Faculty of Sport Sciences, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Strength & Conditioning Society, Rome, Italy; Corresponding author: Konstantinos Spyrou, UCAM Research Center for High Performance Sport, Catholic University of Murcia, Campus de los Jerónimos, 30107, Guadalupe, Murcia, SpainUCAM Research Center for High Performance Sport, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Strength & Conditioning Society, Rome, ItalyStrength & Conditioning Society, Rome, ItalyResearch Group Murcia Soccer Federation, Murcia, SpainNAR – Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Human Movement Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilNAR – Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Human Movement Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Sport and Exercise, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, WalesUCAM Research Center for High Performance Sport, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Faculty of Sport Sciences, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Strength & Conditioning Society, Rome, Italy; NAR – Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, São Paulo, BrazilIntroduction: Recently, a pandemic disease (i.e., COVID-19) arose complicated conditions for players, clubs, and sports competitions. Most European countries postponed or canceled their respective leagues as players were forced into a long-term lockdown. This case study presents and compares the absolute and relative non-contact lower-limb injury rates and characteristics before and after the lockdown from a Finalist of the UEFA Futsal Champion League. Material and methods: Thirteen elite futsal players (age: 27 ± 2.8 years old; body mass: 76 ± 5.4 kg; height: 1.79 ± 0.1 m; body fat: 9 ± 1.6%) participated in this study. Injury severity, location, type, and mechanism were recorded. Data from the 6 weeks pre- and post-lockdown were collected, and injury rates were expressed per 1,000 training and match hours. Results: Chi-Square tests revealed a significant difference (p = 0.039) in the distribution of the number of injuries between the two moments. No overuse and non-contact injuries were observed during the 6 weeks before the lockdown. Nevertheless, 38% (i.e., 5) of the players suffered minimal severity (i.e., ≤ 3 days of court absence) overuse injuries in the hip/groin and thigh muscles post-home-confinement. Conclusions: Elite male futsal players sustained a substantially higher number of lower-body non-contact injuries after the lockdown. Practitioners should implement a thorough analysis of players’ neuromuscular qualities and fatigue to identify individual training and recovery needs and, thus, prescribe more tailored injury-reduction programs.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266650692100033XFive-a-side soccerTeam-sportsElite athletesInjury preventionInjury characteristics |
| spellingShingle | Konstantinos Spyrou Pedro E. Alcaraz Elena Marín-Cascales Rubén Herrero-Carrasco Lucas A. Pereira Irineu Loturco Tomás T. Freitas Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist Apunts Sports Medicine Five-a-side soccer Team-sports Elite athletes Injury prevention Injury characteristics |
| title | Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist |
| title_full | Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist |
| title_fullStr | Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist |
| title_full_unstemmed | Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist |
| title_short | Injury rates following the COVID-19 lockdown: A case study from an UEFA futsal champions league finalist |
| title_sort | injury rates following the covid 19 lockdown a case study from an uefa futsal champions league finalist |
| topic | Five-a-side soccer Team-sports Elite athletes Injury prevention Injury characteristics |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266650692100033X |
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