[Injuries in Floorball: a Questionnaire Survey in Swiss National League A Floorball Players]

BACKGROUND: Rapid changes in direction, acceleration, deceleration and deception manoeuvres with rotational movements increase the risk of injuries in floorball players. Up to date, there are no data or facts available from Swiss Floorball League players demonstrating the types of injuries that occur. This study aimed to find out which injuries occur in Swiss National League A floorball players. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study was carried out in a retrospective, non- experimental design as a questionnaire survey. Five Swiss National League A floorball teams were interviewed in writing on an exposure period of 12 months. The injury rate describes the number of injuries per 1000 hours of exposure. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to assess the significance of the results. The significance level was set to p < 0.05 for all tests. RESULTS: During a calendar year, n = 71 of all players (n = 101) sustained an average of 1.14 injuries (+/- 1.05). The injury rate in the presented data set was 2.01. The injury rate in competition was two times higher than in training (rate ratio (RR) = 2.04). Most injuries were sprains, muscle injuries and inflammation, with muscle injuries almost exclusively affecting the thigh. Sprains usually occurred in the ankle. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the hypothesis that the susceptibility to injuries in floorball is significantly higher during competition compared with training. It can be assumed that players in whom physical activity triggers significant fatigue and emotional stress are more susceptible to injuries. Further studies should be performed to evaluate different preventative measures and to make a comparison on gender-specific vulnerability