Evaluation of stoppage time due to field injuries in professional football games: do players really need medical help so often?

DÖNMEZ G., TORĞUTALP Ş. Ş., ÖZKAN Ö., İLİCEPINAR Ö. F., KORKUSUZ F., Kudas S.

RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE, cilt.30, sa.6, ss.593-602, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 30 Sayı: 6
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/15438627.2021.1917409
  • Dergi Adı: RESEARCH IN SPORTS MEDICINE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, SportDiscus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.593-602
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Injury, incidence, fake injury, football, team physician
  • Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study aimed to identify the incidence of stoppage time due to field injuries in professional football (soccer) games and to evaluate if the players involved really need medical care and whether team physicians deal with fake injuries. A total of 893 injury time-outs occurred leading to 956 treatments during 266 matches included in the study. The mean stoppage time was 88.7 +/- 34.4 seconds. Less than one fifth of the injuries (17.4%) resulted in an impossibility to complete the game. The overall time-loss injury incidence which led players to miss the next game was 9.1/1000 match-hours (n = 80, 8.4% of all injuries). The players on teams in the lead at the time of the incident had significantly higher injury time-out incidence than players on teams who were losing (p < 0.05). Increasing the knowledge of team physicians, coaches, referees, and rule-makers about the medical needs of players during the game will help to identify the behaviour pattern of players.