ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: While extensive research exists on muscle injuries among adult football players, a notable gap persists in studies concerning younger footballers. The aim of the current study is to provide epidemiological data on the characteristics of time-loss muscle injuries in young football players participating in the Italian Under-19 male elite Championship ("Primavera 1"). RESULTS: Conducted as a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study, this research gathered injury data from the 2022-23 season across 14 of the 18 Clubs in the first Italian Under-19 championship. The cohort comprised 391 players with a mean age (± standard deviation) of 18.0 ± 0.4 years. A total of 479 injuries were reported, resulting in 14,231 days of activity lost. Of these, muscle injuries were 209 (44%), accounting for 4,519 (32%) days lost. Overall muscle injuries incidence was 1.82/1000 hours, with a mean injury burden of 39.4 days lost/1000 hours. Almost all muscle injuries (206 out of 209: 98.5%) occurred in hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors, calf and iliopsoas. Hamstrings injuries were the most burdensome (18.8 days lost/1000 hours) accounting for nearly half of all days lost due to muscle injuries. Incidence and burden of adductors injuries (0.25 injuries and 4.1 days lost/1000 hours, respectively) were found to be comparable to calf injuries (0.24 injuries and 4.7 days lost/1000 hours, respectively). Iliopsoas injuries accounted for a noteworthy portion of the total, with an injury incidence of 0.16/1000 hours and a burden of 3.3 days lost/1000 hours. Injuries with myo-tendinous or myo-aponeurotic involvement demonstrated delayed return-to-football compared to those without such involvement (35.6 vs. 18.5 days, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The study highlighted a peculiar distribution of non-contact muscle injuries among elite young football players. While hamstring injuries were confirmed as the most burdensome, incidence and burden of adductors and calf injuries were found to be similar. A significant incidence and burden of iliopsoas injuries were observed. These findings suggest potential implementations for targeted injury prevention strategies in the Italian male elite Under-19 football Championship.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: In spite of the high prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and presenteeism previously observed among nurses, no study has assessed the risk of presenteeism specifically due to LBP in nursing staff. Therefore, aim of the present study was to assess prevalence and risk factors of presenteeism due to LBP among hospital nursing personnel. METHODS: 174 female nurses underwent a clinical interview and filled in a questionnaire on sociodemographics, LBP symptoms and associated sickness absence, mental symptoms, burnout and on exposure to workplace organizational, psychosocial and ergonomic factors; 111 subjects affected by LBP were included in the analysis. The effect of sociodemographic and workplace characteristics on presenteeism was examined through multivariate Poisson robust regression models. RESULTS: Prevalence of presenteeism due to LBP was 58%, with wide differences between registered nurses and nursing aides (p=0.001). Only a few workplace factors were significantly associated with presenteeism, including frequent stooping, which decreased the risk of presenteeism, and good working climate and procedural justice, which increased it. CONCLUSIONS: Presenteeism due to LBP was very high among registered nurses and was influenced only by workplace, but not by sociodemographic characteristics. Presenteeism due to LBP among registered nurses should be closely monitored, and effort should be made to reduce it to prevent future work disability associated with LBP.
