Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of incidents involving the craniofacial
region during Brazilian Professional Soccer League matches. The mechanisms of these
incidents and the association between their characteristics and severity were also
analyzed. Design: Prospective Epidemiology Study. Methods: A total of 113 first division matches of the Brazilian Soccer League were analyzed
in 2009. Data collected included incident type, site affected, causing agent, severity,
player position, field zone, referee decision and time of the match when the incident
took place. Descriptive analysis considered absolute and relative frequencies and
95% confidence intervals. Fisher Exact Tests were used to test associations (p ≤ 0.05). Results: Out of all matches, in 84.1% at least one craniofacial region related incident happened,
totaling 227 incidents (mean of 2.0 per match). With reference to incident mechanisms
and characteristics, 91.2% were hits and the most affected site was the face (70.0%).
The most frequent causing agent was the upper extremity (59.5%) and the most frequently
affected player was the striker (31.7%). The incident severity was associated with
player position (p < 0.01), the causing agent (p < 0.01), field zone (p < 0.01), site affected (p = 0.03) and incident type (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Soccer presented a high number of incidents against head and face during professional
practice in Brazil, representing a real risk to athletes. Preventive strategies should
be focused on game rule observance and “fair play”.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 03, 2011
Accepted:
July 27,
2011
Received in revised form:
July 14,
2011
Received:
February 19,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
