ADVERTISEMENT

The Effect of Playing Position on Injury Risk in Male Soccer Players: Systematic Review of the Literature and Risk Considerations for Each Playing Position

October 11, 2018 | Surgery
Francesco Della Villa, MD ; Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD ; Lawrence J. Lemak, MD
Author and Disclosure Information

Authors’ Disclosure Statement: The authors report no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.

Dr. Della Villa is a Resident Sport Medicine Physician, Post Graduate School of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna University, Bologna, Italy; and Education and Research Department, Isokinetic Medical Group, FIFA Medical Center of Excellence, Bologna, Italy. Dr. Mandelbaum is an Orthopedic Surgeon, Cedar Sinai Kerlan Jobe Institute, Los Angeles, California. Dr. Lemak is an Orthopedic Surgeon, Lemak Health, Birmingham, Alabama.

Address correspondence to: Francesco Della Villa, MD, Education and Research Department, Isokinetic Medical Group, FIFA Medical Center of Excellence, Via di casteldebole 8/4 40132 Bologna, Italy. (tel, 00390512986800; email, f.dellavilla@isokinetic.com).

Francesco Della Villa, MD Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD Lawrence J. Lemak, MD . The Effect of Playing Position on Injury Risk in Male Soccer Players: Systematic Review of the Literature and Risk Considerations for Each Playing Position. Am J Orthop.

October 11, 2018

TAKE-HOME POINTS

  • Playing positions haven’t been extensively evaluated as an injury risk factor in elite, non-elite, and youth soccer (football).
  • Different playing positions may have different injury rates and patterns due to different load, different movement patterns, and peculiar combination of anticipated and non-anticipated (reactive movements).
  • The existing literature suggests that goalkeepers seem to be at lower general injury risk if compared to outfield players in male soccer (football).
  • There is also a tendency towards strikers (forwards) to be at higher risk of match (but not training) injuries. This result is however not consistent between all the studies considered and should be interpreted cautiously.
  • When studying injury risk in male soccer match and training injuries should be considered separately and playing position should be evaluated as a potential predictor of injury incidence.

Soccer, known worldwide as football, is the most common practiced sport worldwide. Soccer is also a complex contact sport with a substantial injury risk,1 that is well documented in the current literature. According to a recent systematic review, general injury incidence in male soccer ranged from 2.0 injuries to 19.4 injuries per 1000 hours of exposure in youth male soccer and from 2.48 injuries to 9.4 injuries per 1000 hours of exposure in elite male soccer.1 It is also well established that the injury risk is greater in matches than training.1 Soccer’s injuries are well known to be a socioeconomic burden for elite, youth, and recreational players.2 Different authors have underlined the problem that nowadays the game is faster, and players need to have a better physical performance as they are subjected to important efforts both metabolically and biomechanically during match play. In the last decades, thanks to different research groups involved with professional soccer,3 there has been an increasing interest in soccer injuries’ epidemiology and for preventative measures.4 A deep comprehension of injury epidemiology is in fact the first necessary step for successful preventative measures. Regarding a possible correlation between playing position and injury incidence, there is a lack of consensus in the literature. Player position (goalkeeper [GK], defenders, midfielder [MF], or striker) may affect injury risk, as different roles are associated to different intensity during match play5 and experience different combination of anticipated or non-anticipated movement patterns.6 Previous authors underlined that few studies have evaluated a possible influence of playing position on injury incidence and severity.7

The main goal of this systematic review is to present the existing evidence regarding the influence of player position on injury incidence in male soccer and to present practical considerations on each field position in relation to the injury’s risk.

METHODS

DATA SOURCES AND SELECTION CRITERIA

We searched the Medline database for key terms and their variations to identify appropriate studies on injury epidemiology in soccer and specific player position influence. The keywords included: injury epidemiology soccer [OR] injury epidemiology football; position specific injury epidemiology soccer [OR] football. We limited our search to originally published English-language research articles.

Relevant data were extracted for study characteristics to ensure the included studies met certain criteria. The inclusion criteria were prospective design with minimum 6-month observational period, exclusively male soccer players’ cohorts, reported injury incidence, and documented player position in correlation with a measure of injury risk.

As stated above, we only included studies on male soccer. We also did not consider studies limited to a single injury type, considering only studies analyzing and documenting all injuries. We did not exclude studies on youth soccer but we didn’t consider studies on ≥2 more sports or mixed male and female studies.

Data were extracted by an author (FDV) and qualitatively controlled by another one (BM). Controversy were solved through discussion or confrontation with another author (LL).

Results of the included studies are presented only qualitatively because of different methodologies we encountered in documenting the potential effects of player’s role. Some studies reported differences in injury incidence within groups, others reported the proportion of injuries for each subgroup.  

Continue to: RESULTS...

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT