Costs resulting from nonprofessional soccer injuries in Switzerland: A detailed analysis.

BACKGROUND: Soccer injuries constitute an important public health problem and cause a high economic burden. Nevertheless, comprehensive data regarding injury costs in nonprofessional soccer are missing. The aim of this study was to determine which groups of nonprofessional soccer athletes, injury types, and injury situations caused high injury costs. METHODS: A cross-sectional, retrospective telephone survey was carried out with a random sample of persons who had sustained a soccer injury between July 2013 and June 2014 and who had reported this accident to the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva). One year after the corresponding accident, every injury was linked to its costs and to the answers obtained in the interview about injury setting, injury characteristics, and injury causes. Finally, the costs of 702 injuries were analyzed. RESULTS: The average cost of an injury in nonprofessional soccer amounted to €4030 (bias-corrected and accelerated 95% confidence interval (BCa 95%CI): 3427-4719). Persons aged 30 years and older experienced 35% of soccer injuries but accounted for 49% of all costs. A total of 58% of all costs were the result of injuries that occurred during amateur games. In particular, game injuries sustained by players in separate leagues for players aged 30+/40+ years led to high average costs of €8190 (BCa 95%CI: 5036-11,645). Knee injuries accounted for 25% of all injuries and were responsible for 53% of all costs. Although contact and foul play did not lead to above-average costs, twisting or turning situations were highly cost relevant, leading to an average sum of €7710 (BCa 95%CI: 5376-10,466) per injury. CONCLUSION: Nonprofessional soccer players aged 30 years and older and particularly players in 30+/40+ leagues had above-average injury costs. Furthermore, the prevention of knee injuries, noncontact and nonfoul play injuries, and injuries caused by twisting and turning should be of highest priority in decreasing health care costs.

Injury Prevention in Amateur Soccer: A Nation-Wide Study on Implementation and Associations with Injury Incidence.

Prevention programmes can reduce injury risk in amateur soccer. Hence, we examined the implementation of injury prevention in the real-world context of Swiss amateur soccer. In 2004 (n = 1029), 2008 (n = 705) and 2015 (n = 1008), a representative sample of Swiss amateur soccer coaches was interviewed by telephone about the frequency of injuries in their teams, the implementation of preventive measures and the use of injury prevention programmes. In the 2015 survey, 86.1% of amateur coaches stated that injury prevention is important and 85.3% of amateur coaches reported that they would implement some kind of preventive measures. The proportion of teams which performed a prevention programme according to minimal standards remained unchanged between 2008 (21.7%) and 2015 (21.9%), although a second prevention programme was made available in 2011. Only 8.6% of the 30+/40+ league teams, which are composed as a function of age, implemented a programme. Overall, the level of implementation of prevention programmes in this real-world context is still unsatisfactory. Offering an additional programme did not lead to a higher willingness to implement such programmes among the coaches. Concerted efforts are needed to remove barriers that hinder the use of such programmes, particularly among coaches of 30+/40+ league teams.

Changes in injury incidences and causes in Swiss amateur soccer between the years 2004 and 2015.

BACKGROUND: Injury prevention in amateur soccer has been promoted in recent years, but only a few studies have addressed long-term changes in injury incidence in amateur soccer. However, better knowledge of changes with respect to injury incidences and causes could make an important contribution to improving prevention strategies. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term development of injury incidence in Swiss amateur soccer with respect to level of play, injury causes and injury characteristics. METHODS: A representative sample of about 1000 Swiss amateur soccer coaches was interviewed by telephone in 2004, 2008 and 2015. They were asked to recall their last game and to report details on all injuries. For every injury, the coaches were asked to remember injury characteristics and causes. The same procedure was repeated for all games that took place during the previous 4 weeks. Additionally, all training injuries in the previous 4 weeks were recorded in detail. RESULTS: The incidence of game injuries decreased between the years 2004 and 2008 from 15.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 14.2–16.0) to 13.3 (95% CI 12.4–14.2) injuries per 1000 hours, and increased between the years 2008 and 2015 to 16.5 (95% CI 15.5–17.4) injuries per 1000 hours. Between 2004 and 2015, the rate of contact injuries during games increased by 19.1%. The incidence of foul play injuries in games increased by 25.5% between 2008 and 2015. The rise in total training injury incidence between the years 2004 (2.4, 95% CI 2.2–2.7) and 2015 (2.9, 95% CI 2.6–3.1) was caused by a 22.2% higher rate of noncontact injuries. During the same period, game and training injury incidences increased across all amateur soccer leagues without exception, but these changes did not reach statistical significance. In 2015, the incidence of injuries leading to medical attention was higher than in 2004 (game 20.0%, training 37.5%). CONCLUSION: There is evidence that injury incidence in Swiss amateur soccer has increased in past years.  .

Injuries in formal and informal non-professional soccer - an overview of injury context, causes, and characteristics.

The objective of this study is to analyse context, causes, and characteristics of injuries in non-professional soccer. Therefore, a retrospective telephone survey was carried out with persons who were injured while playing soccer and who reported this accident to the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva). Based on these data, an analysis of 708 soccer injuries was performed. The findings show that 30.1% of the injuries occurred during informal soccer play, and 75.4% of the injured persons were soccer club members. 53.0% of all injuries were caused by contact and 29.5% by foul play. Foul play was not associated with injury severity. With respect to injury severity, twisting/turning and being tackled by an opponent were identified as the most influental injury causes. Moreover, the risk of being severely injured was particularly high players of the 30+/40+ amateur leagues. In conclusion, the findings highlight that 30+/40+ league players are a major target group for the prevention of severe soccer injuries. Soccer clubs may constitute an appropriate multiplier for implementing prevention strategies such as fair play education, healthy play behaviours, and prevention programmes. Finally, a better understanding of injury situations leading to severe injuries is needed to improve injury prevention.

Excess weight among children and adolescents in Switzerland--prevalence and correlates for the early 2010s.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and some of their social correlates among children in Switzerland. METHODS: Data from population and sample studies of school children of different grades from eleven Swiss towns and cantons, gathered in the framework of medical examinations at state schools in the school years 2010/11, 2011/12 or 2012/13, were used. Body mass index (BMI) was used to classify children as normal weight, overweight or obese. The term "excess weight" refers to children who are either obese or overweight. RESULTS: A total of 17.0% of the children and adolescents were affected by excess weight (including obesity), of which 3.9% were obese. Excess weight was more prevalent at higher school levels (highest level: 20.5%; middle level: 18.2%; basic level: 12.3%), among foreign nationals (basic level: 19.0%; middle level: 26.1%; highest level: 29.3%) as opposed to Swiss nationals (basic level: 11.4%; middle level: 15.2%; highest level: 19.8%) and among children whose parents had only attended compulsory school (basic level: 24.5%; middle level: 37.6%; highest level: 28.3%) as opposed to children whose parents had tertiary schooling (basic level: 8.4%; middle level: 10.6%; highest level: 14.3%). Differences with respect to sex and area of residence were rather small and disappeared in multivariate statistical analyses controlling for the effect of nationality and social background. CONCLUSIONS: Excess weight is widespread but not equally distributed among children in Switzerland. Strategies aimed at reducing the number of overweight children need to take into account social differences between different groups.

Countrywide campaign to prevent soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players.

BACKGROUND: In Switzerland, the national accident insurance company registered a total of 42 262 soccer injuries, resulting in costs of approximately 145 million Swiss francs (~US$130 million) in 2003. Research on injury prevention has shown that exercise-based programs can reduce the incidence of soccer injuries. PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the implementation and effects of a countrywide campaign to reduce the incidence of soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: All coaches of the Schweizerischer Fussballverband (SFV) received information material and were instructed to implement the injury prevention program "The 11" in their training of amateur players. After the instruction, the coaches were asked to rate the quality and the feasibility of "The 11." Before the start of the intervention and 4 years later, a representative sample of about 1000 Swiss soccer coaches were interviewed about the frequency and characteristics of injuries in their teams. Teams that did or did not practice "The 11" were compared with respect to the incidence of soccer injuries. RESULTS: A total of 5549 coaches for amateur players were instructed to perform "The 11" in the training with their teams. The ratings of the teaching session and the prevention program were overall very positive. In 2008, 80% of all SFV coaches knew the prevention campaign "The 11" and 57% performed the program or most parts of it. Teams performing "The 11" had an 11.5% lower incidence of match injuries and a 25.3% lower incidence of training injuries than other teams; noncontact injuries in particular were prevented by the program. CONCLUSION: "The 11" was successfully implemented in a countrywide campaign and proved effective in reducing soccer injuries in amateur players. An effect of the prevention program was also observed in the population-based insurance data and health-care costs.

Allez Hop, a nationwide programme for the promotion of physical activity in Switzerland: what is the evidence for a population impact after one decade of implementation?

OBJECTIVES: To present evidence for a population impact of a national physical activity promotion programme after a decade of implementation. METHODS: The programme Allez Hop offered local physical activity courses (mainly walking and Nordic walking) once a week over 12 weeks. Data from a pretest posttest survey in 2005 course participants (N=2157 at baseline (of 4130, 52.2%), 1587 at first follow-up (73.6%); smaller subsample with second follow-up) and from repeated cross-sectional national surveys have been analysed regarding changes in physical activity behaviour. RESULTS: The total number of Allez Hop courses was 18 684 between 1997 and 2008. 89.2% of participants were women, the mean age was 48.5 years. The proportion meeting the physical activity recommendations was 31.7% at baseline, in participants with first follow-up data it increased from 33.1% to 42.3% (p<0.001). On the population level in the main user group of Allez Hop (middle-aged women) the proportion not engaging in any sport decreased from 50.1% (1997) to 47.2% (2002) and to 43.1% (2007) (p<0.01). Walking/hiking was the second most frequently performed sport (33.7%) in 2007, with the most remarkable increase since 2000 (+11.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Allez Hop was successfully implemented for more than a decade, reached middle-aged women and a high proportion of insufficiently active individuals. Changes in participants' physical activity behaviour must be interpreted cautiously because of low response rates and short follow-up. However, indications for behavioural changes were observed at the population level, even though these data do not allow a causal link to Allez Hop.

The public perception of doping in sport in Switzerland, 1995-2004.

The article reports findings on the perception of doping and anti-doping policies from four representative population surveys carried out in 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2004, as well as from a 2005 - 2006 survey of top-level athletes in Switzerland. The results show a growing public awareness for doping issues and increasing support for a comprehensive anti-doping strategy in Switzerland. The vast majority of the Swiss population and top-level athletes are strongly against doping and support a strategy that combines strict prohibition and sanctioning with informational and educational efforts. The perception of the doping issue and the strategic preferences in fighting doping stated by the public are largely in line with the current anti-doping strategy followed by the Swiss authorities. The results thus suggest a successful use of information resources by the authorities to create public awareness and to communicate its strategy.