Prospective study on the incidence and pattern of injuries in young Portuguese futsal players - an approach centred on the playing position

Abstract

Futsal is the most popular sport at the level of schools in Portugal. Its future development requires better knowledge of the incidence of injuries, as a means of adjusting the training and match processes. The aim of this study was to characterize match injury in young Portuguese futsal players based on (i) an approach centred on the playing position and (ii) real-time monitoring of the 111 national inter-association tournament matches promoted by the Portuguese Football Federation in the 2017/2018 sports season. The results showed a higher match injury index (IMI, injuries per 1000 h) in the women's tournament (IMI = 234.8) than in the men's tournaments (IMI=156.8 and IMI=119.3, respectively under 18 years and under 16 years). Regarding the playing positions, winger and goalkeeper together accounted for 67.5% of the injuries. Our prospective study also showed that contusion (65.6%), of traumatic origin (69.1%), over the dominant (79.0%) foot (42.1%) and with time-loss (67.1%) represents the dominant pattern of match injuries, with greater prevalence in the final period of each part of the match (63.2%). These findings show the interest in further studies that can provide a better understanding of why there is a higher incidence of injuries in women's futsal and highlight the need for specific work on injury prevention, especially at the level of wingers and goalkeepers and in the management of the balanced participation of players throughout the match.