OBJECTIVES

Injury prevention is an important reason for the development of performance standards in football. Currently, there is no objective method available to classify sliding induced skin injuries, which includes the perceived sliding friendliness of football pitches. The purpose of this study was to develop a non-invasive method for quantification of the observed sliding induced skin damage and evaluate whether there is a correlation between the subjective perceived skin irritation and sliding friendliness.

STUDY DESIGN

Randomized controlled trial.

METHODS

Previously obtained clinical images of sliding induced skin lesions where rated by a dermatologist on the degree of abrasion, erythema and type of exudation. To test the practical feasibility of a proposed Skin Damage and Severity Index (SDASI) to characterize sliding induced skin lesions, a randomized user trial with nine amateur football players was performed. The sliding friendliness of three different grades of infill materials was tested.

RESULTS

The Skin Damage and Severity Index correlates both with the perceived skin irritation (r=-0.53, P=0.02) and sliding friendliness (r=-0.58, P=0.01). Statistical analysis of the individual clinical scores showed that perception of skin irritation and sliding friendliness correlate very well with the degree of erythema and abrasion. However, these scores are independent of the size of the lesion and type of exudation. There was no statistical significant difference found between the three evaluated types of infill and their sliding performance.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that the Skin Damage and Severity Index, which is a tool for quantification of a sliding induced skin lesion, correlates very well with the perceived skin irritation and the sliding friendliness.