SynthesisFrontiers in public health2026
High-speed running and injury risk in soccer: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: High-speed running (HSR) and sprint exposure are monitored in soccer, but associations with injury are uncertain. Objective: To synthesis evidence on associations between HSR exposure and injury risk/occurrence, and to explore heterogeneity. Methods: PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched. No date or language restrictions were applied. Eligibility criteria included observational studies in soccer quantifying training and/or match HSR/sprinting using microtechnology and reporting extractable associations with injury outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed with QUIPS. Narrative synthesis was undertaken without meta-analysis. Results: From 3,824 records, 22 studies were included. Most were professional/elite and used GPS with absolute speed thresholds. Outcomes mainly involved time-loss or non-contact soft-tissue injuries. Across studies using relative change measures (e.g., acute:chronic contrasts or injury-week vs. control comparisons), short-horizon increases or disproportionate HSR/sprint exposure relative to recent history more often aligned with higher injury risk. In contrast, studies analyzing absolute weekly HSR volume more frequently reported negligible or inconsistent associations within typical exposure ranges, with no reproducible dose threshold emerging. Overall risk of bias was high in 20/22 studies. Conclusions: Sudden increases in HSR/sprint-related load may be associated with injury, but heterogeneity and bias limit certainty and preclude definitive thresholds. Registration: OSF (osf.io/wquh2).
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