Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the characteristics and prevalence of sports-related
injuries in visually disabled athletes of the Brazilian football 5-a-side team. The
participants were 13 male athletes, all classified as B1 visual class, members of
the Brazilian team, who played in five consecutive international competitions. Data
were collected using the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and the Brazilian Confederation
of Sports for the Blind report form. From the total of 13 athletes, 11 succumbed to
some form of injury during the 5 competitions, which incorporated 23 matches, representing
a prevalence of 84.6%. A total of 35 sports injuries were recorded, giving a clinical
incidence of 2.7 injuries per athlete and an injury risk of 0.85 and an incidence
rate of 0.12 injuries per match. Traumatic injuries (80%) were more common than overuse
injuries (20%) (p<0.05). The highest distribution of injury was in the lower limbs
(80%), followed by the head (8.6%), spine (5.7%) and upper limbs (5.7%). The body
regions most affected were the knee (28.6%), feet (17.1%), ankle (11.4%) and thigh
(11.4%). Contusions (31.4%), sprains (25.7%) and tendinopathy (8.6%) were the most
frequent diagnoses. This is the first study to describe the nature and prevalence
of sports-related injuries in 5-a-side football in blind athletes. The results are
important in guiding strategies to inform the implementation of preventive pathways
and provide a strong rationale for the compulsory use of additional protective equipment.
Key words
sports injury - paralympic - visual impairment - football
