Procedures
The injuries were recorded by the club’s medical team, who were trained
to use the F-MARC form, a form from the International Football
Federation (FIFA) medical research center at the start of the season
[3,10]. The moment of the injury was marked immediately after it
occurred [10].
The injuries were classified by the moment it occurred (game or
training), severity, location, type, mechanism, and recurrence. The
severity of the injury was defined according to the number of days lost
by the player between the day of the injury and the return to activities
with the team, as well as the availability to go to games. The severity
of the injury was classified according to the number of days lost:
minimal (1-3 days), mild (4-7 days), moderate (8 - 28 days), and severe
(more than 28 days) [9]. The location of the lesion was defined
according to the following categories: head/neck, upper limbs, trunk,
and lower limbs.
The type of injury was classified as stress (fracture/bone),
joints/ligament, muscle/tendon, contusions, skin laceration/injury,
central/peripheral system, and others. All muscle tensions were
confirmed by the imaging diagnosis. The injury mechanism was classified
as traumatic, that is, resulting from a specific moment, or as overuse,
that is, caused by repeated microtrauma. Recurrence was defined as the
same type and location of the injury that occurred after the player
returned to full activity with the team. Recurrence was classified as
early, when the lesion occurred within an interval of fewer than two
months, or late when it occurred between 2 and 12 months [10].
Then, these athletes were referred to the physiotherapy sector where
they underwent an evaluation with the two physical therapists, who
proposed a functional diagnosis and specific therapeutic measures for
each individual. Thus, each athlete’s time off was recorded and the
average for each type of injury was calculated.