Mazza Daniele, Annibaldi Alessandro, Princi Giorgio, Arioli Leopoldo, Marzilli Fabio, Monaco Edoardo, Ferretti Andrea
Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
Italian Football Research Group, Orthopedic Unit and "Kirk Kilgour" Sports Injury Centre, S. Andrea Hospital, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
Orthop J Sports Med. 2022 Jun 14;10(6):23259671221101612. doi: 10.1177/23259671221101612. eCollection 2022 Jun.
The injury rate in professional soccer players may be influenced by match frequency.
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.
Descriptive epidemiology study
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.
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).
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.
职业足球运动员的受伤率可能受比赛频率影响。
评估因2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）导致的比赛频率变化如何影响意大利甲级联赛中的训练和比赛伤病情况。
描述性流行病学研究
对意甲联赛的三个阶段进行评估，每个阶段时长41天：A阶段为2019-2020赛季开始；B阶段是COVID-19封锁解除后的一段时间，该赛季剩余比赛以更高频率进行；C阶段为2020-2021赛季开始。纳入在这三个阶段受伤的所有男性职业足球运动员。球员年龄、身高、位置、伤病史和复出时间（RTP）从一个公开网站获取。收集并比较三个阶段中每个阶段与训练和比赛相关的伤病情况。此外，将封锁阶段（B阶段）后发生的比赛伤病情况（该阶段有12天指定为比赛日）与A阶段和C阶段前12个比赛日的伤病情况进行比较。
在比较41天的时间段时，我们观察到B阶段的伤病负担（每1000暴露小时）显著低于A阶段（缺勤425.4天）（P < 0.05）和C阶段（缺勤484.76天）（P < 0.05）。A阶段的平均RTP期比B阶段更长（44.6天对23.1天；P < 0.05）。关于12个比赛日的时间段（A阶段81天，B阶段41天，C阶段89天），B阶段的比赛受伤率（0.56对0.39次受伤/1000暴露小时；P < 0.05）和发病率（11.8%对9.3%；P < 0.05）显著高于A阶段，且A阶段的平均RTP期比B阶段更长（41.8天对23.1天；P < 0.05）。最后，B阶段与训练相关的伤病率和发病率（分别为4.6次受伤/1000暴露小时和6.5）显著高于A阶段（分别为1.41次受伤/1000暴露小时和2.04）（P < 0.05）。
COVID-19封锁后的短时期内，训练和比赛相关的伤病情况都更严重。这些可能与该时期更高的比赛频率有关。
