Prevalence of muscvloskeletal injures and their relationship with body mass index and the position on the field in Iran primer league Soccer players

Within recent years, the numbers of sports injuries in football have increased. In average, the amount of injuries for each professional football player is about 5.1 to 6.7 injuries in each 1000 hours of exercise and about 12 to 35 injuries in each 1000 hours of exercise. Considering very few studies done to determine the frequency of musculoskeletal injuries in professional football players in Iran, the present study aimed to determine the frequency of musculoskeletal injuries in football players of Iran Football Premier League.
Material and This descriptive cross-sectional studywas carried on all football players of Iran Football Premier League who referred to Iran Football Medical and Rehabilitation Center (IFMARC) located in Iran Football National Teams campus in their 2015 to 2016 Pre-Competition Assessments. Based on the standard protocol of PCMA (Pre-Competition Medical Assessment) approved by FIFA, the data of all athletes including their age, type of injury, location of injury, period of absence from the matches, the athlete’s position on the field and the BMI ( Body Mass Index) was registered.
In this study, 400 athletes with the average age of 19 -29 participated, of which 4.8% had complaints of pain. The highest record of injuries related to knee ligaments (42%) and worst injuries were inflicted on athletes in half-back positions (42%). The rate of injury on athletes with normal BMI and high BMI were 4.8% and 0.3%, respectively.
Considering further prevalence of knee injuries in football players of Iran Football Premier League, specially the athletes in mid-fielder positions, further planning in this regard such as presenting professional exercises to prevent knee injury specifically to mid-fielder players ,makes it possible to reduce rate of injuries.