Citation

Evans S, Walker-Bone K, Otter S. Foot (Edinb) 2014; 25(1): 19-29.

Affiliation

School of Health Science, University of Brighton, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Simon.otter@aut.ac.nz.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.foot.2014.12.001

PMID

25605413

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Most studies of football injuries include professional players and data have been collected in without a single validated, standardised tool. We aimed to develop a new standardised questionnaire for assessing injuries among non-professional footballers and pilot its use.

METHOD: A questionnaire was developed using input from footballers, healthcare professionals and triangulation from the literature. The new tool was piloted among players representing amateurs and semi-professionals. Their comments were used iteratively to improve the instrument.

RESULTS: The development phase produced a 33-item questionnaire collecting quantitative and qualitative data. In the pilot phase, 42 questionnaires were distributed, 34 (81%) returned. Respondents reported total of 273 football-related injuries, 114 affecting the foot/ankle (70 at the ankle and 44 at the foot). In total, 44% of respondents had suffered one or more foot/ankle injuries in the past 12 months.

CONCLUSION: We developed a new standardised tool which we found to be well-completed by young male footballers in semi-professional and amateur settings with an excellent response rate. Our results suggested that foot/ankle injuries were common, larger studies in non-professionals are needed to identify risk factors for injury and develop pragmatic advice for prevention.

Keywords: Soccer;

Language: en