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.