Incidence and characteristics of injuries during the 2011 West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Nations' Cup.

BACKGROUND

Prospective studies on football injuries and their risk factors in the African setting are sparse. Such studies are needed to understand the peculiarities of injuries and hence proffer appropriate intervention for injury prevention in the region.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the incidence and characteristics of match injuries during the 2011 West Africa Football Union (WAFU) cup.

METHODS

Team physiotherapists from the participating teams documented all newly incurred injuries on standardised injury report forms using the Federation of International Football Association's (FIFA) Medical Assessment and Research Centre protocols.

RESULTS

An overall of 89 injuries were sustained during the tournament, resulting in 9.9 injuries per match or 289 injuries per 1000 player hours. Seventeen (19.1%) of these injuries resulted in loss of competition activity (time-loss), equivalent to 1.9 injuries per match or 55.2 injuries per 1000 player hours. Over three quarters (73; 82%) of injuries were incurred through contact with another player. The lower leg accounted for almost a quarter of all injuries (21; 23.6%) while the knee recorded the highest number of time-loss injuries (5; 29.4%). The most frequent types of injury were contusion (61; 68.5%) and strain (13; 14.6%).

CONCLUSION

The overall incidence of injuries during the WAFU cup was much higher than those of other tournaments ever documented but the characteristics of injuries were similar. In order to fully define the nature of injuries and more reliably identify the risk of injury for the establishment of injury prevention strategies that will be appropriate for this region of the world, it is imperative that further systematic injury recording and analysis in African players are carried out.