Injuries in Collegiate Ladies Gaelic Footballers: A 2-Season Prospective Cohort Study.

CONTEXT

Although Ladies Gaelic football is one of the most popular female sports in Ireland, just 2 previous injury surveillance studies have been completed, and both were retrospective in nature.

OBJECTIVE

To prospectively examine the injury incidence and injury profile in collegiate Ladies Gaelic football over 2 seasons.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

SETTING

College. Patients (or Other Participants): Adult Ladies Gaelic footballers from one collegiate institution (season 1: n = 50, season 2: n = 82).

INTERVENTION(S): All time-loss injuries that occurred were recorded by certified athletic therapists and student-athletic therapists and trainers over 2 seasons.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

A standardized injury report form was used to record the injury onset, mechanism, location, nature, and outcome. Injury incidence proportion, repeat incidence proportion and total, match and training injury rates, and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The frequencies and proportions were also calculated.

RESULTS

The match and training injury rates were 42.48 and 7.93 injuries per 1000 hours, respectively. A low repeat incidence proportion per season was noted (11.7% and 0.0%). The injuries were predominantly acute (74.68%) and noncontact (66.25%), with hamstring injuries (21.52%) and strains (36.71%) the most frequent location and nature of injuries noted. Strains (104.92 d absent per 1000 h) and knee injuries (106.46 d absent per 1000 h) led to the greatest injury burden. Further investigations were not frequently required, with an X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging ordered in 8.00% and 6.67% of the cases, respectively. Surgery was completed following one injury.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study to provide prospective injury data on Ladies Gaelic football. Priority needs to be given to preventing hamstring and knee injuries due to their occurrence and negative impact on player availability to play. Collegiate Ladies Gaelic football teams should be encouraged to implement an injury-prevention warm-up, such as the GAA15+, at training and matches.