Metin Ergün

Injuries in elite youth football players: a prospective three-year study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and nature of injuries and the influence of age on injury patterns in elite youth football. METHODS Fifty-two players of the Under-17 (U-17) male national youth football team were followed during their progression to U-18 and U-19. Individual player exposure and injuries were recorded during the three year study period. RESULTS Injury incidence was five times higher during matches than training. When medical attention and time loss injuries were considered, injury incidence increased during matches and decreased during training with increasing age. Traumatic injuries were more frequent in matches and were linked with increased age. Overuse injuries were two times higher during training than matches in the U-17 team. The majority of traumatic match injuries (78.3%) led to time loss and the majority of time loss injuries occurred due to traumatic mechanism (62.1%). The majority of muscle and entire ligament injuries occurred during training and contusions during competition. Re-injury rate was 25% and were all overuse injuries. CONCLUSION Injury incidences increased during matches and decreased during training. More match injuries were caused by traumatic mechanisms as players aged. Player age might contribute to injury incidence and characteristics in youth football.

P-94 Knowledge and consumption frequency level of probiotics in elite volleyball players – a pilot study

In recent years probiotics became very popular by growing as nutraceuticals claiming positive effects on athlete’s gut health, redox biology and immunity. There is still little data exist on the factors that influence patients/individuals to consume probiotics or what they expect of these products. This is the first study aimed to investigate experiences with probiotics and factors that influence probiotics use and consumption frequency of elite athletes. Nineteen male and eleven female elite volleyball players (mean age: 23.6 ± 3.8 years) (Table 1) completed a self questionnaire, including experiences and thoughts about probiotics. At the same time they completed a probiotic foods frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with portion size, which developed by our nutrition department. The nutrient intakes of athletes were estimated by the 24-h dietary records obtained on 3 consecutive days during pre-season period. Total dietary energy and protein intake of players were found to be 28.97 ± 11.24 kcal/kg/day and 1.18 ± 0.37 g/kg/day, respectively. Energy ratios from macronutrients can be seen in Table 1. Majority of players (n:18, 60%) reported that they have never heard of the term “probiotic” before, only 10% of players were very familiar with it and the rest know little about it. 23.3% of volleyball players had used a probiotic food or supplement in the past and mostly to maintain “good gastrointestinal health” and for “benefits of the immune system”. 71.4% of players who used probiotics do not know what organism are in the probiotic and most of them are not sure the supplement had been beneficial or not. The main reason (85.7%) for initially trying probiotics is “positive experiences by others”. They would consider using probiotics in the future (70.8%) if they know what probiotics are. Volleyball players would prefer to use probiotics mostly (44.8%) incorporated into food (Table 2). Abstract P-94 Table 1 Demographic characteristics and energy ratios from macronutrients of the subjects Characteristics n (%) Age, year, mean 23.6 ± 3.8* Female 11 (36.7%) Male 19 (63.3%) Energy (kcal/kg/day) 28.97 ± 11.24 Protein (g/kg/day) 1.18 ± 0.37 Carbohydrates% ( based on energy) 35.2 ± 7.7 Protein% ( based on energy) 17.5 ± 4.6 Fat% ( based on energy) 47.2 ± 6.1 *X ± SD Despite a growing number of studies on probiotics, there is still little knowledge about athletes’ experiences about probiotics which can affect its use. This study presents an initial exploration on athletes’ attitude to probiotics, but continued future research is required to better understand its associated factors. Abstract P-94 Table 2 Knowledge level about probiotics of the subjects Questions n % How familiar are you with the word “probiotic”? Extremely familiar 0 0 Very familiar 3 10.0 Familiar 1 3.3 Somewhat Familiar 8 26.7 Never heard of it before 18 60.0 Have you ever used a probiotic food or supplement toobtain healthful benefits? Yes 7 58.3 No 5 41.7 If you were to use probiotics, which formulations wouldyou prefer? Incorporated into food 13 44.8 Capsule or tablet 4 13.8 Liquid 7 24.1 Powder 5 17.2