Preseason Aerobic Fitness Predicts In-Season Injury and Illness in Female Youth Athletes

Andrew Watson; Stacey Brickson; M Alison Brooks; Warren Dunn

doi:10.1177/2325967117726976

Preseason Aerobic Fitness Predicts In-Season Injury and Illness in Female Youth Athletes

Orthop J Sports Med. 2017 Sep 5;5(9):2325967117726976. doi: 10.1177/2325967117726976. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Authors

Andrew Watson¹, Stacey Brickson¹, M Alison Brooks¹, Warren Dunn¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Orthopedics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Abstract

Background: Although preseason aerobic fitness has been suggested as a modifiable risk factor for injury in adult athletes, the relationship between aerobic fitness, injury, and illness in youth athletes is unknown.

Purpose: To determine whether preseason aerobic fitness predicts in-season injury and illness risk in female adolescent soccer players.

Study design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: Fifty-four female adolescent soccer players underwent preseason evaluation to determine years of experience, body mass index (BMI), maximal aerobic capacity (VO_2max), and time to exhaustion (T_max) during cycle ergometer testing. All injuries and illnesses during the subsequent 20-week season were recorded. Variables were compared between individuals with and without a self-reported injury and individuals with and without a self-reported illness. Separate Poisson regression models were developed to predict number of injuries and illnesses for each individual by use of age, years of experience, BMI, VO_2max, and T_max.

Results: Twenty-eight injuries and 38 illnesses in 23 individuals were recorded during the season. Although not a statistically significant finding, individuals who reported an in-season injury had lower VO_2max than those who did not (54.9 ± 7.3 vs 58.3 ± 8.5 mL/kg/min, P = .13). Individuals who reported an illness had significantly lower VO_2max than those who did not (54.5 ± 9.9 vs 58.8 ± 6.2 mL/kg/min, P = .014). With the Poisson regression models, VO_2max was a significant predictor of both injury (odds ratio [OR], 0.95; P = .046) and illness (OR, 0.94; P = .009), while no significant relationships were identified between injury or illness and age, years of experience, T_max, or BMI (all P > .05).

Conclusion: Among adolescent female soccer players, greater preseason aerobic fitness is associated with a reduced risk of in-season injury and illness. Off-season intervention to promote aerobic fitness may help reduce the risk of lost time during the season due to injury and illness.

Keywords: VO2max; adolescent; aerobic capacity; soccer.