The effectiveness of preventive programs in decreasing the risk of soccer injuries in Belgium: national trends over a decade.
BACKGROUND
Although characterized by a relatively high injury rate, soccer is the world's most popular sport. In Belgium, the national Royal Belgian Football Association involves about 420,000 licensed players, whose injury reports are collected in a nationwide registry. Over a period of 10 years, the association has introduced the Fédération Internationale de Football Association preventive programs and has initiated a stringent postponement policy of competition in case of nonoptimal weather conditions.


OBJECTIVE
The authors questioned whether these preventive programs effectively decreased the incidence of soccer-related injuries.


METHODS
Descriptive epidemiology study.


METHODS
The authors compared the incidence, location, timing, and severity of all registered soccer injuries in Belgium during 2 complete seasons separated by a decade (1999-2000 vs 2009-2010).


RESULTS
A total of 56,364 injuries were reported, with an average of 6.8 injuries per 100 players per season. There was a 21.1% reduction in injury rate in the second season (rate ratio = 0.789; 95% confidence interval, 0.776-0.802), predominantly caused by a significant reduction in injuries during the winter period. In both seasons, an injury peak was noted during the first 3 months of the season. Recreational players had a higher risk for injury than national-level players (7.2 vs 4.4 injuries per 100 players per season; rate ratio = 1.64; 95% confidence interval, 1.59-1.69). The relative proportion of severe injuries was higher for female players and male youth players in general.


CONCLUSIONS
The introduction of injury preventive programs has led to a significant reduction of soccer-related injuries, especially during the winter period. However, there is still room for improvement, and preventive programs can become more effective when specific parameters are targeted, such as adequate conditioning of players in the preseason.
Peter Bollars, Department of Orthopedic Surgery of St-Trudo Hospital, Aniciuspark 14 bus 6, Tongeren, Belgium, 3700. pbollars@hotmail.com.
Peter
P
Bollars
Steven
S
Claes
Luc
L
Vanlommel
Kris
K
Van Crombrugge
Kristoff
K
Corten
Johan
J
Bellemans
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003288:Contusions / Q000453:epidemiology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D013180:Sprains and Strains / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
epidemiology; injuries; prevention; soccer