Fifteen-week window for recurrent muscle strains in football: a prospective cohort of 3600 muscle strains over 23 years in professional Australian rules football

Review written by Dr Teddy Willsey info

Key Points

  1. Muscle strains are among the leading causes of time missed due to injury across a wide range of sports.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

The hamstring strain is the most common injury in both elite football (soccer) and Australian rules football (1). Muscle strains, including injuries to the hamstrings, quadriceps, groin and calf are among the leading causes of time missed due to injury across a wide range of sports (2). Muscle strain recurrences are a challenging area of study in sports medicine, as they are both well understood, yet oftentimes difficult to manage and prevent.

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the effect of recent history, non-recent history, and 10 other variables on the recurrence rates of muscle strains, as well differentiate between the top 4 muscle strains and their distinguishing characteristics.

The hamstring strain is the most common injury in both elite football (soccer) and Australian rules football.
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Athletes remain at an elevated risk of muscle strain reinjury for an extended period of time post initial injury (up to 4 months).

METHODS

The authors produced a high-powered analysis, using injury data on 3200 players and 3647 injuries in the Australian Football League (AFL) spanning from 1992 to 2014. Binary logistic regression (multivariable analysis) was used by converting all independent variables to binary

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