To evaluate the injury incidence and pattern of injuries in elite handball by different ages.
MethodA retrospective, cross sectional study, was conducted over 5 seasons (2007-2012), analyzing a total of 496 players, 29 teams (from different categories separated by age and performance level) of the same club in southern Europe. The same medical team has assessed the injuries and exposure time by teams. Epidemiological criteria according to UEFA and consensus OSICS-10 diagnostic coding were followed.
ResultsA total of 57 injuries were recorded during 117,723 hours of total exposure. There was a mean team injury incidence of 4.9 injuries/1000 hours of total exposure. For the Senior A (Professional Senior) it was was 4.3 (SD 1.8), Senior B (Amateur 18-28 years) 3.4 (SD 1.6), Youth (U-18 year) 5.6 (SD 1.4), Cadete A (U-16 year) 5.5 (SD 2.5), Cadete B (U-15 year) 5.7 (SD 3.2) and Infantil (U-14 year) 4.9 (SD 1.9). There were no statistically significant differences between categories, although seniors teams had more hours of exposure compared to other teams (P < .001)
The most frequently affected sites were ankle (18.1%), knee (15.3%), thigh (12.9%) and lumbar region (10.6%). The most common type of injury to all teams was the sprain (27.3%) and non-traumatic muscle injury (20.5%). Muscle injuries were more common at Senior A (Professional) level, but in lower level teams it was the sprain, although there is no significant differences between them.
Conclusion The pattern and incidence of injury in elite handball is uniform between teams from different categories at the same club; with a few differences between each other that you should take this into account to optimize a preventions programs in each category of elite handball training.
