Article
The prevention of injuries in American flag football in Israel: a one-year pilot study
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Authors
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Yonatan Kaplan
- Jerusalem Sports Medicine Institute, Lerner Sports Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| Published: | October 24, 2011 |
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Outline
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Introduction: American Flag Football (AFF) is becoming a very popular amateur sport in Israel, with over 85 teams and 1100 players. Although it is a non-tackle sport, many moderate-severe contact-type injuries have been reported. The author conducted a two-season prospective cohort injury surveillance study (historical cohort) over the 2007-9 playing seasons. The purpose of this study was to introduce a one-season (2010/11 winter league), longitudinal, prospective injury pilot prevention program in an attempt to significantly reduce the incidence and the severity of sports-related injuries in American flag football in Israel (AFI). The results were compared to the historical cohort.
Materials and Methods: A total of 724 amateur male (n=610) and female (n=114) players (ave. age 20.49 SD=3.791) participated in the study (injury prevention cohort). Four intervention methods were introduced. The no pocket rule was enforced, mouth guards, ankle braces and a pre-season information brochure were distributed. All time-loss injuries sustained in game sessions were recorded by the off-the-field medical personnel. This was followed up by a more detailed phone questionnaire by the author, 7-14 days following the injury.
Results: There was a highly statistically significant reduction in the number of finger injuries related to fingers being caught in the opposition player's pockets as well as in the number of ankle sprains (p<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in the severity nor in the incidence of facial injuries.
Conclusions: This pilot prevention program demonstrates that the intervention methods introduced, resulted in a highly significant reduction of both finger and ankle injuries. This pilot program will form the basis of a further two-season longitudinal, prospective injury prevention study, the recommendations of which will be sent to the AFI for implementation, as well as, to the various organizations responsible for the game of American flag football world-wide.
