UEFA Women’s Elite Club Injury Study: a prospective study on 1527 injuries over four consecutive seasons
A summary of the article:
The article "UEFA Women’s Elite Club Injury Study" analyzes injury trends in elite women’s football over four consecutive seasons, from 2018/2019 to 2021/2022, across 596 players from 15 European clubs. The study recorded 1,527 injuries, revealing that thigh muscle injuries, particularly hamstrings, were the most common, while anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries had the highest burden in terms of recovery time. The overall injury incidence was 6.7 per 1,000 hours, with a significantly higher rate during match play compared to training. ACL injuries, although less frequent (2% of all injuries), resulted in an average recovery time of nearly 9 months, highlighting their serious impact on player availability.
The study underscores the need for injury prevention strategies, particularly for hamstring, quadriceps, and ACL injuries. It also shows that match injuries were four times more frequent than training injuries, and that contact injuries were more common during matches. The findings suggest that focusing on muscle conditioning and addressing mechanisms of injury during match play could help reduce the injury burden in women’s football.
Key Takeaways:
Thigh muscle injuries were the most common: Hamstring and quadriceps injuries accounted for a significant portion of total injuries.
ACL injuries had the highest injury burden: Although ACL injuries were infrequent, they resulted in the longest recovery times, with a median of 292 days.
Match play had a higher injury rate: Injuries during matches were nearly four times more frequent than in training sessions, emphasizing the need for targeted prevention during games.
Authors: Anna Hallén, Rita Tomás, Jan Ekstrand, Håkan Bengtsson, Elke Van den Steen, Martin Hägglund, & Markus Waldén
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