Injury incidence in community-based walking football: a four-month cohort study of 6000+ hours of play

Price, AG ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4457-8744, Sprouse, B ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3655-2478, Chandran, A, Hough, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6970-5779, Hennis, PJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8216-998X, Ahmed, A and Varley, I ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3607-8921, 2025. Injury incidence in community-based walking football: a four-month cohort study of 6000+ hours of play. Sports, 13 (5): 150. ISSN 2075-4663

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Abstract

Walking Football is a growing adapted sport offering a viable alternative to traditional exercise for middle-aged and older adults. While rule modifications aim to reduce injury risk, this has yet to be established. This study conducted injury surveillance in community-based Walking Football to determine injury incidence and characteristics in training and matches. A four-month observational cohort study remotely tracked injuries and exposure time across seven Walking Football clubs in England using a sub-elite injury surveillance framework. Injuries were classified as medical attention (requiring on-field attention without subsequent absence) or time-loss (≥1 day of participation absence). Injury incidence was calculated per 1000 h of play. Across 6364.55 h of exposure, 45 injuries were reported: 30 (66.7%) medical attention and 15 (33.3%) time-loss injuries. Injury incidence was 5.3 [1.5–11.5] per 1000 h in training (medical attention: 3.3 [0.8–7.3]; time-loss: 2.0 [0.5–4.5]) and 37.6 [8.7–83.9] per 1000 h in matches (medical attention: 28.9 [5.8–66.6]; time-loss: 8.7 [0–23.2]). Match injury incidence was significantly higher than training (rate ratio: 7.1 [1.3–31.4]). Findings suggest that injury incidence in community-based Walking Football is low, supporting its safety and potential as a sustainable physical activity strategy for middle-aged and older adults.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Sports
Creators:	Price, A.G., Sprouse, B., Chandran, A., Hough, J., Hennis, P.J., Ahmed, A. and Varley, I.
Publisher:	MDPI AG
Date:	May 2025
Volume:	13
Number:	5
ISSN:	2075-4663
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/sports13050150 DOI 2457703 Other
Rights:	© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	25 Jul 2025 13:05
Last Modified:	25 Jul 2025 13:05
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54022

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