A prospective study of risk factors for hamstring injury in Australian football league players

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to explore the association between hamstring strength, age and lower limb soft tissue injury history and subsequent hamstring injury among Australian Football League (AFL) players. This prospective cohort study recruited 125 players from three professional AFL teams. Eccentric knee flexor strength was assessed while performing the Nordic hamstring exercise in pre-season, and injury data were collected retrospectively (hamstring, groin, calf, quadriceps and knee), and prospectively (hamstring injuries) for one AFL playing season. Fourteen players (11%) sustained a hamstring injury in the subsequent playing season. Nordic strength was not significantly associated with future hamstring injury (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.9, p = 0.36), whereas player age greater than 25 years (OR = 2.9, p < 0.05), report of a hamstring injury within the previous year (OR = 3.7, p = 0.01), or greater than 1-year (OR = 3.6, p = 0.01), a previous groin (OR = 8.6, p < 0.01) or calf injury (OR = 4.6, p = 0.01) were factors significantly associated with subsequent hamstring injury. Based on these findings, increasing age and previous hamstring, groin and calf injury are all associated with an elevated risk of subsequent hamstring injury in AFL players.

KEYWORDS:

• Lower limb injury
• nordic strength
• calf injury
• groin injury

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.1875613

Disclosure statement

Matthew Bourne and Rod Barrett received research funding from the Australian Government in support of research unrelated to the present study with Vald Performance as an industry partner. Vald performance are global distributors of the Nordbord. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Brisbane Lions Football Club; Brisbane Lions Football Club.