Correlation between preseason body composition and sports injury in an English Premier League professional football team

OBJECTIVES: To identify the correlation between preseason body composition and incidence coupled with injury burden throughout the season in adult male professional football players. METHODS: A retrospective case series was performed for linear regression analysis of preseason body composition variables and injury data. R(2) >0.10 was deemed of adequate correlation. RESULTS: All 36 professional football players in the male first team of an English Premier League professional football team were recruited, with none lost to follow-up. The total and mean incidence of injuries was 83.00 and 2.31 (95% CI 1.72 to 2.89), respectively. The mean injury burden was 58.32 (95% CI 37.67 to 78.98) days missed. Simple linear regression analysis indicated no significant or adequate correlations between incidence and preseason body composition variables. Injury burden revealed non-significant adequate negative correlations to body mass (R(2)=0.17), body mass index (BMI) (R(2)=0.15), waist circumference (R(2)=0.17), total bone mineral density (BMD) (R(2)=0.11) and mean embedded structures (R(2)=0.10). CONCLUSIONS: Players with decreased body mass, BMI, waist circumference, total BMD and mean embedded structures may be prone to greater injury burden. Further studies with a larger sample size that incorporates multiple football teams are warranted to investigate this.