Can we evidence-base injury prevention and management in women’s football? A scoping review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Relevance of football injury research topics.

Table 1. Explanation of level of play grouping applied.

Level of play	Descriptor
Recreational	Any amateur recreational but competitive level of women’s football
College	Player competing for a university or college.
High Level	Highly skilled but below best national or international level
Elite	Highest level of women’s football. Represented as national team and best national league.

Highly trained grouped as high level; High performance grouped as high level; Professional grouped as elite; Semi-professional grouped as high level; Second or third best division grouped as high level

Table 2. Explanation of age grouping applied.

Age Group	Descriptor
Pre-senior	Players below the age of 16.
Senior	Players competing in senior football are 16 years or older.
Veteran	Players clearly stated as playing at an age restricted level beyond senior.
Retired	Players no longer competing.

Adolescent grouped as both pre-senior and senior; Championship/Cup/Top Leagues grouped as senior; College/University grouped as senior; High school (Y12-17) hence grouped as both pre-senior and senior; Junior can refer to junior/senior football team or high school/college junior hence not identified (N/A); National team (incl. Olympics) grouped as senior; Professional and semi-professional grouped as senior; Scholastic not identified (N/A); Youth grouped as both pre-senior and senior

Table 3. Operational definitions of the terms used to classify the injury research topic.

Injury topic	Descriptor
Assessment	Injury diagnostic strategy.
Descriptive epidemiology	Occurrence of injury (e.g., rate, risk, prevalence).
Financial burden	Financial cost of injury.
Injury awareness	Knowledge of injury factors such as risk factors, common injuries etc.
Long-term impact	How injury may influence the players long-term from both a career and prognosis perspective.
Management	Activities and procedures to facilitate rehabilitation of injuries.
Mechanism	Situation or action at time leading to injuries.
Preventive Programme	Any preventive strategy involving a physical training programme.
Preventive strategy	Any strategy aiming to reduce or delay injury occurrence not involving a physical training programme. This includes, for example, protective gear.
Return to football	Mental or physical state when returning after injury. This includes both return to training and match play.
Risk factor	Factors associated with increases or decreases injury risk (including descriptive, predictive, or aetiological studies).

Figure 2. Flow chart of study inclusion process of the repeated search performed.

Figure 3. Injury topics addressed in previous literature.

Figure 4. Body part addressed in previous injury-focused literature.

Figure 5. Injury topics addressed by injury location in previous literature.

Figure 6a. Head/face, neck and core focused research divided by research topic, playing level and age group.

Figure 6b. Upper limb focused research by research topic, playing level and age group.

Figure 6c. Lower limb focused research by research topic, playing level and age group.