Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden?
Background/Objectives: Football players have a high injury risk due to the physical demands of their profession, which can negatively affect their quality of life (QoL) in the long term. The aim of this study is to characterize the severe injuries that former Portuguese football players suffered thr...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Sports |
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| author | Eduardo Teixeira Carlos Silva Félix Romero Mauro Miguel António Vicente |
| author_facet | Eduardo Teixeira Carlos Silva Félix Romero Mauro Miguel António Vicente |
| author_sort | Eduardo Teixeira |
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| description | Background/Objectives: Football players have a high injury risk due to the physical demands of their profession, which can negatively affect their quality of life (QoL) in the long term. The aim of this study is to characterize the severe injuries that former Portuguese football players suffered throughout their professional careers and investigate the resulting impacts on the physical domain of QoL after retirement. Methods: This study includes 84 former Portuguese football players (48.8 ± 8.2 years) who underwent reform between 1988 and 2018 and played in professional leagues (15.2 ± 3.2 years of career duration), namely, first division leagues (n = 43) and secondary division leagues (n = 41). Quantitative and qualitative interview data are used by a validated interview guide and from results of the physical domain obtained by the application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref). Results: Former players had 2.1 ± 1.5 severe injuries throughout their careers. The most common injuries involve the knee (47.5%) and foot/ankle (17.2%), with the anatomical area of the knee as the most likely to require surgical intervention (60%). The association between tactical-positional status and the incidence of severe injuries is significant, with defenders sustaining less severe injuries throughout their careers. This study found a statistically significant linear model (F(1.82) = 8.089, <i>p</i> < 0.006) that explains 7.9% of the variation in the physical domain of QoL (R2ajuste = 0.079). For each severe injury sustained throughout a career, there is an estimated decrease of 2.7 values in QoL perception in the physical domain. Conclusions: The higher the number of severe injuries sustained during a career, the lower the perception of QoL in the physical domain of former players in their post-career. These findings highlight the need to optimize training programs and injury prevention and recovery protocols for long-term QoL improvement in the physical domain of football players. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1ab81d8412b8428798e534093f31e5a0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2075-4663 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sports |
| spelling | doaj-art-1ab81d8412b8428798e534093f31e5a02025-01-24T13:49:52ZengMDPI AGSports2075-46632025-01-011311710.3390/sports13010017Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden?Eduardo Teixeira0Carlos Silva1Félix Romero2Mauro Miguel3António Vicente4School of Sport, Santarém Polytechnic University, 2040-413 Rio Maior, PortugalSchool of Sport, Santarém Polytechnic University, 2040-413 Rio Maior, PortugalSchool of Sport, Santarém Polytechnic University, 2040-413 Rio Maior, PortugalSchool of Sport, Santarém Polytechnic University, 2040-413 Rio Maior, PortugalSport Science Department, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, PortugalBackground/Objectives: Football players have a high injury risk due to the physical demands of their profession, which can negatively affect their quality of life (QoL) in the long term. The aim of this study is to characterize the severe injuries that former Portuguese football players suffered throughout their professional careers and investigate the resulting impacts on the physical domain of QoL after retirement. Methods: This study includes 84 former Portuguese football players (48.8 ± 8.2 years) who underwent reform between 1988 and 2018 and played in professional leagues (15.2 ± 3.2 years of career duration), namely, first division leagues (n = 43) and secondary division leagues (n = 41). Quantitative and qualitative interview data are used by a validated interview guide and from results of the physical domain obtained by the application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref). Results: Former players had 2.1 ± 1.5 severe injuries throughout their careers. The most common injuries involve the knee (47.5%) and foot/ankle (17.2%), with the anatomical area of the knee as the most likely to require surgical intervention (60%). The association between tactical-positional status and the incidence of severe injuries is significant, with defenders sustaining less severe injuries throughout their careers. This study found a statistically significant linear model (F(1.82) = 8.089, <i>p</i> < 0.006) that explains 7.9% of the variation in the physical domain of QoL (R2ajuste = 0.079). For each severe injury sustained throughout a career, there is an estimated decrease of 2.7 values in QoL perception in the physical domain. Conclusions: The higher the number of severe injuries sustained during a career, the lower the perception of QoL in the physical domain of former players in their post-career. These findings highlight the need to optimize training programs and injury prevention and recovery protocols for long-term QoL improvement in the physical domain of football players.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/13/1/17football (soccer)professional retirementquality of lifephysical domaincareer impacts |
| spellingShingle | Eduardo Teixeira Carlos Silva Félix Romero Mauro Miguel António Vicente Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? Sports football (soccer) professional retirement quality of life physical domain career impacts |
| title | Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? |
| title_full | Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? |
| title_fullStr | Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? |
| title_short | Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? |
| title_sort | severe injuries of former portuguese football players a post career burden |
| topic | football (soccer) professional retirement quality of life physical domain career impacts |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/13/1/17 |
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