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Publication
Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: a Post-Career Burden?
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
: Background/Objectives: Football players have a high injury risk due to the
physical demands of their profession, which can negatively affect their quality of life (QoL)
in the long term. The aim of this study is to characterize the severe injuries that former
Portuguese football players suffered throughout their professional careers and investigate
the resulting impacts on the physical domain of QoL after retirement. Methods: This
study includes 84 former Portuguese football players (48.8 ± 8.2 years) who underwent
reform between 1988 and 2018 and played in professional leagues (15.2 ± 3.2 years of career
duration), namely, first division leagues (n = 43) and secondary division leagues (n = 41).
Quantitative and qualitative interview data are used by a validated interview guide and
from results of the physical domain obtained by the application of the World Health
Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref). Results: Former players had
2.1 ± 1.5 severe injuries throughout their careers. The most common injuries involve the
knee (47.5%) and foot/ankle (17.2%), with the anatomical area of the knee as the most likely
to require surgical intervention (60%). The association between tactical-positional status
and the incidence of severe injuries is significant, with defenders sustaining less severe
injuries throughout their careers. This study found a statistically significant linear model
(F(1.82) = 8.089, p < 0.006) that explains 7.9% of the variation in the physical domain of
QoL (R2ajuste = 0.079). For each severe injury sustained throughout a career, there is an
estimated decrease of 2.7 values in QoL perception in the physical domain. Conclusions:
The higher the number of severe injuries sustained during a career, the lower the perception
of QoL in the physical domain of former players in their post-career. These findings
highlight the need to optimize training programs and injury prevention and recovery
protocols for long-term QoL improvement in the physical domain of football players.
Description
Keywords
football (soccer) professional retirement quality of life physical domain career impacts
Citation
Teixeira, E.; Silva, C.; Romero, F.; Miguel, M.; Vicente, A. (2025). Severe Injuries of Former Portuguese Football Players: A Post-Career Burden? Sports, 13, 17. https:// doi.org/10.3390/sports13010017
Publisher
MDPI