Injuries During Return to Sport After the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Epidemiologic Study of Italian Professional Soccer Players.

BACKGROUND

The injury rate in professional soccer players may be influenced by match frequency.

PURPOSE

To assess how changes in match frequency that occurred because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) influenced training and match injuries in the Italian Serie A league.

STUDY DESIGN

Descriptive epidemiology study

METHODS

Three phases in the Serie A league, each 41 days long, were evaluated: phase A was the beginning of the 2019-2020 season; phase B was a period after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted, when the remaining matches of the season were played with greater frequency; and phase C was the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. All male professional soccer players who were injured during the 3 phases were included. Player age, height, position, injury history, and return to play (RTP) were retrieved from a publicly available website. Training- and match-related injuries during each of the 3 phases were collected and compared. Moreover, match injuries that occurred after the lockdown phase (phase B), in which there were 12 days designated for playing matches ("match-days"), were compared with injuries in the first 12 match-days of phases A and C.

RESULTS

When comparing 41-day periods, we observed the injury burden (per 1000 exposure-hours) was significantly lower in phase B (278.99 days absent) than in phase A (425.4 days absent; < .05) and phase C (484.76 days absent; < .05). A longer mean RTP period was recorded in phase A than in phase B (44.6 vs 23.1 days; < .05). Regarding 12-match day periods (81 days in phase A, 41 days in phase B, and 89 days in phase C), there was a significantly higher match injury rate (0.56 vs 0.39 injuries/1000 exposure-hours; < .05) and incidence (11.8% vs 9.3%; < .05) in phase B than in phase A and a longer mean RTP period in phase A than in phase B (41.8 vs 23.1 days; < .05). Finally, the rate and incidence of training-related injuries were significantly higher in phase B (4.6 injuries/1000 exposure-hours and 6.5, respectively) than in phase A (1.41 injuries/1000 exposure-hours and 2.04, respectively) ( < .05).

CONCLUSION

Both training- and match-related injuries were greater during the abbreviated period after the COVID-19 lockdown. These may be linked to the greater match frequency of that period.