Injury pattern according to player position in Japanese youth handball: A cross-sectional study among 2377 players

Sports Injuries of a Portuguese Professional Football Team during Three Consecutive Seasons

Professional football players are exposed to high injury risk due to the physical demands of this sport. The purpose of this study was to characterize the injuries of a professional football team in the First Portuguese League over three consecutive sports seasons. Seventy-one male professional football players in the First Portuguese Football League were followed throughout the sports seasons of 2019/2020, 2020/2021, and 2021/2022. In total, 84 injuries were recorded. Each player missed an average of 16.6 days per injury. Lower limbs were massively affected by injuries across all three seasons, mainly with muscular injuries in the quadriceps and hamstrings and sprains in the tibiotarsal structure. Overall, the injury incidence was considerably higher in matches than in training. The two times of the season that proved most conducive to injuries were the months of July and January. Our results emphasize the importance of monitoring sports performance, including injury occurrence, and assisting in identifying risk factors in professional football. Designing individualized training programs and optimizing prevention and recovery protocols are crucial for maximizing this global process.

Influence of Surveillance Methods in the Detection of Sports Injuries and Illnesses

Background

Epidemiological data on sports injuries and illnesses depend on the surveillance methodology and the definition of the health problems. The effect of different surveillance methods on the data collection has been investigated for overuse injuries, but not for other health problems such as traumatic injuries and illnesses.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the new surveillance method developed by the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC), which is based on any complaint definition (new method), to identify health problems compared with the traditional surveillance method, which is based on time loss definition.

Study design

Descriptive epidemiology study.

Methods

A total of 62 Japanese athletes were prospectively followed-up for 18 weeks to assess differences in health problems identified by both new and traditional methods. Every week, the athletes completed the Japanese version of the OSTRC questionnaire (OSTRC-H2.​JP), whereas the teams' athletic trainers registered health problems with a time loss definition. The numbers of health problems identified via each surveillance method were calculated and compared with each other to assess any differences between their results.

Results

The average weekly response rate to the OSTRC-H2.​JP was 82.1% (95% CI, 79.8-84.3). This new method recorded 3.1 times more health problems (3.1 times more injuries and 2.8 times more illnesses) than the traditional method. The difference between both surveillance methods' counts was greater for overuse injuries (5.3 times) than for traumatic injuries (2.5 times).

Conclusions

This study found that the new method captured more than three times as many health problems as the traditional method. In particular, the difference between both methods' counts was greater for overuse injuries than for traumatic injuries.

Level of evidence

2b.

The Most Common Handball Injuries: A Systematic Review

Handball is a team sport involving a great physical demand from its practitioners in which a high number of injuries occur, affecting individual and collective performance. Knowledge of the injuries is of great importance for their prevention. The objective of the present study was to identify, locate and compare the most frequent injuries and injury mechanisms in handball practice. It was carried out following the Preferred Informed Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The source of data collection was direct consultation of the PubMed and Medline databases. Several keywords were used for the documentary retrieval, and the quality of the studies that were selected was evaluated. Of the 707 studies retrieved, only 27 were considered appropriate for the review, and quality scores were obtained that ranged from 10 to 26 points, out of a maximum of 28. The most frequent injuries in handball players are located in the lower limbs (thigh, knee and ankle), and in the shoulder in the upper limbs. Regarding the playing position, the players who play over the 6-m line are the most affected by injuries, while the women players have a higher probability of injury. Most injuries occur during competition.

Injury pattern based on player positions in Japanese university handball: a cross-sectional study of 2056 players

BACKGROUND

Although it is evident that the risk of injury in handball varies according to player position, it is unclear whether the characteristics of these injuries also differ. The aim of this study was to characterise and compare the position-associated injury profiles of university handball players in Japan.

METHODS

A total of 2056 participants who played in the 2018 and 2019 Japanese National University Handball Championships were included in this cross-sectional study. A self-reported injury questionnaire regarding demographic and injury-related information was administered.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of injury during the one-year period preceding the questionnaire was 44.1%, and back (47.9%) and line (49.2%) players exhibited a higher proportion of injuries than players in other positions (p < 0.001). The ankle, knee, and shoulder/clavicle were the most common body regions affected by traumatic injuries, and knee and shoulder/clavicle injuries differed based on player positions (p = 0.033). Conversely, overuse injuries predominantly affected the lumber spine/lower back, knee, and foot/toe, although there were no significant differences between player positions (p = 0.188). In terms of the injury mechanism, line players exhibited a higher proportion of contact injuries and goalkeepers had a higher proportion of non-contact injuries than that of other positions (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Back and line players experienced more injuries than players in other positions. Depending on the player position, there were significant differences in the prevalence and patterns of injury. Therefore, injury prevention measures need to consider the characteristics of injuries based on player positions.