PURPOSE: This study examined the incidence, location, and characteristics of sports injuries according to the position in Korean female national field hockey athletes.
METHODS: Eighteen female national field hockey athletes (two goal keepers, five forwards, six midfielders, and five defenders) who trained at the national training center between January 2018 and December 2018 were enrolled. The event, position, and location of injury were recorded per IOC’s daily injury reports form. The incidence of sports injuries was examined with the 95% confidence interval (CI), and the difference in the incidence of injury according to the position was presented as the rate ratio (RR). Moreover, differences in the location of sports injury according to the position were examined using χ2 tests.
RESULTS: A total of 92 sports injuries occurred among field hockey players, with an incidence of 6.47 cases per 1,000 hours of training (95% CI 4.98-7.96). In addition, 29.12 cases of injuries occurred per 1,000 exposures (95% CI 23.17-35.07), and the incidence of injury was highest among the defenders, followed by forwards, midfielders, and goal keepers. The most common location of sports injury was the lower extremity, followed in order by the trunk, upper extremity, head, and neck, and there were significant differences in the location of the sports injury according to the position (p=.046). In addition, lumbar spine/lower back, thigh, ankle, lower leg, knee, and foot/toe were common sites of sports injury among female field hockey players.
CONCLUSION: These results provide a baseline for predicting sports injuries in athletes during games, and would provide useful information for developing performance enhancement and injury prevention programs.