Prevalence of injuries and associated factors among portuguese teenage soccer players: A cross-sectional study

• Author(s): Azevedo, Joana Raquel Ferreira Santos ; Costa-Moreira, Ana ; Cardoso, Ricardo ; Moreira-Silva, Isabel ; Seixas, Adérito
• Date: 2025
• Origin: Athena Health & Research Journal
• Subject(s): injuries; soccer; teenagers; prevalence
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

Introduction: There is scarce literature on the prevalence of injuries among teenage soccer players and their associated factors. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of injuries in Portuguese male and female teenage soccer players and their associations with sociodemographic, anthropometric, and training factors. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 162 teenage players (120 males and 42 females) from two Portuguese soccer teams. The players completed a questionnaire to provide sociodemographic and anthropometric information and to report the injuries suffered since the beginning of soccer practice to date. Results: The general injury prevalence was found to be 64.8%, with male players presenting a prevalence of 62.5%, and female players of 71.4%. The injury prevalence during matches and training sessions was 45.7% and 56.2%, respectively. The four body regions most commonly affected were: the ankle (32.1%), thigh (24.7%), knee (17.3%) and wrist (9.3%); and the four most common types of injury were: ligament sprains (37.7%), muscle strains (14.8%), muscle contractures/tension (13.6%) and fractures (9.9%). In terms of injury severity, sprains mostly resulted in absences of 8-28 days (moderate); muscle strains and contractures/muscle tension resulted in absences of 1-3 days (minimum); and fractures more than 28 days (severe). Significant associations were found between: ankle injuries and being a midfielder (p=0.002); wrist injuries and being a younger player (p=0.036); sprains and being a goalkeeper (p=0.014); and muscle contractures/tension and shorter warm-up durations (p=0.023). Conclusion: The prevalence of injuries among teenage male and female soccer players is high, emphasizing the need for continuous adoption of injury prevention strategies, particularly among younger players.