SynthesisSports medicine - open2021
The Association Between Training Load and Injury Risk in Elite Youth Soccer Players: a Systematic Review and Best Evidence Synthesis.
Synthesis in Sports medicine - open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is Cumulative Load Associated with Injuries in Youth Team Sport? A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2022Pooled it
- A Return to Performance Continuum for Football (Soccer) Players After ACL Reconstruction: Bridging Rehabilitation, Return to Play and Sustained Performance.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- The Relationship Between Games Missed for Rest or Load Management and Injury in the National Basketball Association, 2014-15 Through 2022-23.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Observational
- The association between GPS-derived external workload metrics and soleus muscle injuries in professional football (soccer) players.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Risk factors associated with sports related injury severity in adolescents: a prospective study over a single season of sport.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Performance profiles and match-to-match variability of the most demanding passages during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: the effect of playing positions and match contextual factors.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Development and validation of a machine learning model for non-contact injury prediction based on lower limb strength asymmetry in professional football.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A new conceptual framework for managing hamstring injury risk in soccer - implementing a data-informed approach: a narrative review.Biology of sport · 2026Review
- When digital tracking helps or hinders: unpacking the heterogeneous effects of activity trackers on adolescent athletes through the lens of motivation and acceptance.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The loading impact of training and match-play on non-contact muscle injuries in elite male soccer players. A seasonal analysis.Biology of sport · 2026Article
- The Wrist as a Weightbearing Joint in Adult Handstand Practitioners: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Chronic Pain and Training-Related Factors.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Prediction of football injuries using GPS-based data in Iranian professional football players: a machine learning approach.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Accuracy Standards of Wearable Technologies for Assessment of Soccer Kicking: Protocol for a Systematic Literature Review.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Is a Maximal Strength-Training Program Effective on Physical Fitness, Injury Incidence, and Injury Burden in Semi-Professional Soccer Players? A Randomized Controlled Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Article
- Validity and Reliability of an Inertial Sensor Device for Specific Running Patterns in Soccer.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Intra-Season Variations in Workload Parameters in Europe's Elite Young Soccer Players: A Comparative Pilot Study between Starters and Non-Starters.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInjury risk in elite youth soccer players is high. Implementing an optimal training load is of utmost importance to reduce the risk of injuries.
objectiveTo conduct a systematic review and best evidence synthesis to explore the effects of internal and external training load on injury risk in elite youth soccer players.
methodsMEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and CINAHL were searched up until 17 January 2020. Each article had to meet all of the following criteria: (1) the study population consisted of male elite youth soccer players aged between 12 and 21 years; (2) a longitudinal, prospective study design was used; (3) soccer-related injuries were registered (i.e., self-reported or by medical staff); (4) external and/or internal load parameters were described; and (5) the article was published in an English peer-reviewed scientific journal. The quality of the included articles was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS). A best evidence synthesis was performed to rank the level of evidence.
resultsFive studies (2 high quality, 3 low quality) were included. Best evidence synthesis highlighted that there was moderate evidence for (1) no association between 2-, 3-, and 4-week cumulative loads for total distance covered; (2) no association between 1-week workloads (sRPE × duration); and (3) no association between A:C workload ratios (4 weeks) and injury risk. For all other comparisons, only insufficient or conflicting evidence was found.
conclusionThere is a paucity of evidence for an association between internal and external training load parameters and injury risk in elite youth soccer players.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.