Epidemiology of injuries in young soccer athletes in the U-17 and 20 categories of a professional soccer club in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to estimate epidemiological aspects of injuries in young athletes in the under 17 and 20 soccer categories. Epidemiological study with access to the database of a football club, categories U-17 and U-20 regarding injuries in 2016, data: athlete’s position, types of injuries, injury locations, number of injuries, day off, months of leave, return day, return months, side of the weights and classification of injuries, data collected by the scientific team, using the FIFA injury record sheet. The data were analyzed in the Python 2.7 programming language, in the Spyder 3.3.1 graphical interface, using the Anaconda graphics program. There was a higher occurrence for the moderate degree and a higher incidence of injuries on Wednesday and Friday for the day of release. The highest incidence of injuries were in the months of May and October and release in March and October. The main injury was ankle sprain followed by adductor myalgia. Thigh injury is highlighted for defenders and attackers. Most injuries for all positions were unilateral. The right side of the body had the greatest number of injuries to the foot and then to the thigh, exactly the opposite of the left side where the greatest amount of injuries was to the forearm and then to the foot. With the results of the present study, it can be concluded that young athletes in the U-17 and U-20 categories tend to have moderate injuries, with a major incidence in the ankle and myalgia in the thigh.