Objective: To examining the relationship between hip adductor strength and groin injury incidence during the competitive season of professional football teams.
Design: Prospective Cohort study.
Setting: Controlled laboratory environment.
Participants: Seventy-one players volunteered to participate.
Main outcome measures: In the pre-season, maximal hip adductor strength was measured by means of the isometric adductor squeeze test. Hip adductor strength, normalized by body mass, was compared between players who suffered a groin injury (n = 18) vs uninjured players (n = 53). Risk ratios (RR) were used to evaluate the likelihood of players to suffer this type of injury.
Results: Most of the reported groin injuries occurred during competitive matches (5.5 per 1000 match hours). Maximal isometric hip adductor strength was lower in the groin-injured group compared with their uninjured counterparts (429.8 ± 100 vs 564 ± 58.7 N, d = -1.58 and 5.40 ± 1.27 vs 7.71 ± 0.89 N/kg, d = -1.88, respectively). Results revealed that values of maximal isometric adductor strength lower than 465.33 N increased the probability to suffer a groin injury by 72%. Furthermore, values of force relative to body mass lower than 6.971 N/kg increased the probability to suffer a groin injury by 83%.
Conclusion: The assessment of Hip adductor strength, in addition to other measurements, might help practitioners to determine the probability of suffering an overuse groin injuries in elite football players.
Keywords: Adductor; Injury rate; Risk factor; Soccer; Team-sport.
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