Injury risk and prevention strategies in amateur women’s soccer

Background: A substantial increase in amateur women’s soccer participation is associated with increased injuries. Studies investigating injury in this cohort are few.  Gender, age, and regional differences may limit the generalisation of findings from other studies.  

Aim: To explore the injury risk profile, players’ opinions about injury risk and prevention, and the uptake of prevention measures among amateur women soccer  players. The first objective was to synthesise the evidence regarding risk factors for injury  in women’s soccer; the second was to investigate injury profile, the prevalence of risk  factors and players’ opinions on injury risk and prevention. The third objective was to explore players’ perceptions of injury risk and prevention and the barriers/facilitators to players’ uptake of prevention strategies.  

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to meet objective one; a cross-sectional  study was conducted to meet objective two, and a qualitative study was conducted to meet objective three.  

Results: A previous injury and joint hypermobility are the strongest injury predictors in elite women’s soccer. The cross-sectional study showed a negative association between injuries and participants’ general health (odds ratio = 0.820, 95% confidence intervals  0.7–0.9, p = 0.007). Half (50%, n = 67) of participants had received no education on  injury risk or prevention. Most participants were not aware of certain risk factors, such  as joint hypermobility and playing position. Three main themes were identified in the  qualitative study: 1- “we don’t have enough knowledge about injury prevention,” 2- implementing injury prevention measures varies across players and teams, and 3- “we love the game … but we are undervalued.” Participants’ biopsychosocial characteristics influenced their experiences in injury prevention in all themes.

Conclusion: This project provides valuable novel information about injury risk and  prevention in amateur women’s soccer, adding to the limited body of literature for this  cohort. This thesis will inform future injury-prevention interventions tailored to amateur women soccer players and provide guidelines for future research to improve player safety.