Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42058374›Full record

ArticleTranslational sports medicine2026

Beyond Return-To-Sport: Mapping ACL Injury History in Currently Active Female Football Players From Youth to Senior Elite Level.

Mette K Zebis, Mikkel B Clausen, Connie Linnebjerg, Mette Hansen, Jesper Bencke, Lars L Andersen, Per Hölmich, Kristian Thorborg

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Translational sports medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Mette K ZebisDepartment of Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Psychomotor Therapy, Faculty of Health, University College Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, ucc.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5301-3241
Mikkel B ClausenDepartment of Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Psychomotor Therapy, Faculty of Health, University College Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, ucc.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4125-8975
Connie LinnebjergDepartment of Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Psychomotor Therapy, Faculty of Health, University College Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, ucc.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1747-7975
Mette HansenDepartment of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, au.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9383-8202
Jesper BenckeHuman Movement Analysis Laboratory, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager-Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark, gentoftehospital.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5959-6994
Lars L AndersenNational Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark, arbejdsmiljoforskning.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2777-8085
Per HölmichSports Orthopedic Research Center-Copenhagen (SORC-C), Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager-Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark, gentoftehospital.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2098-0272
Kristian ThorborgSports Orthopedic Research Center-Copenhagen (SORC-C), Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager-Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark, gentoftehospital.dk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9102-4515

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: This study determines the prevalence of ACL injury history among currently active female football players across age groups and playing levels and examines the association between ACL injury history and activity-related knee pain. Methods: A total of 1026 active Danish female youth- and senior-league football players were invited to an online questionnaire (response rate: 751 [73%]) on (1) ACL injury history and (2) present knee pain during physical activity. Prevalence was calculated separately according to age (youth vs senior) and playing level (non-elite vs elite). Logistic regression analyses investigated factors associated with the prevalence of ACL injury history and activity-related knee pain, respectively. Results: The prevalence of ACL injury history was 5.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.3%-7.4%) in youth football and 14.8% (95% CI 10.6%-19.8%) in senior football. The prevalence of activity-related knee pain was comparable between youth (24.6%, 95% CI 20.8%-28.7%) and senior football players (26.0%, 95% CI 20.7%-31.9%). Comparable prevalence of ACL injury history and knee pain was reported at elite and non-elite level. ACL injury history was strongly associated with activity-related knee pain (OR = 5.4-8.7, Conclusion: Playing with a previous ACL injury is common in active female football players, particularly at senior levels (nearly 1 in 6 elite players). The strong association between ACL injury history and activity-related knee pain underscores the long-term negative consequences. This study highlights the need for secondary and tertiary prevention strategies in female football.

Indexed as

ACL injuryknee painplaying levelsoccerwomen

Identifiers

PMID42058374
PMCPMC13122428

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.