Field conditions is a risk factor for traumatic injury in youth football—A joint venture of medicine and hydrology

Introduction: The risk of traumatic injury in football has been suggested to be affected by field conditions. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate whether near surface water content of the football field, influenced the risk of traumatic injuries during a youth football tournament. Methods: At Dana Cup, an annual international youth football tournament in Denmark, all injuries were registered and classified at the on-site emergency department over 7 years. The incidence rate of traumatic injury was computed. Meteorological data and soil characteristics were used to simulate near surface water content of the playing fields. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) between water content and injury incidence rate was analyzed using a multivariate Poisson regression, controlling for tournament stage and demographical parameters. Results: About 2704 injuries were recorded corresponding to a risk time of 284 905 player hours. An inverse relation between water contents and the incidence rate of traumatic injury was found (IRR = 0.24 95% CI 0.1–0.7, p = 0.01). The incidence rate of traumatic injury increased with advancing tournament stage, that is, for the finals (IRR = 4.30 95% CI 2.8–6.6, p < 0.001). Also we found an interaction between dry fields and the final stage of tournament, further exacerbating this effect. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the incidence rate of traumatic injury is increased with drier field conditions and advanced tournament stages.