Examining Soft Tissue Injury Risk in NFL

Players: A Comparison of Artificial and Natural Playing Surfaces

Isaac David, MPH Candidate Faculty Advisor: Dr. Chanapong Rojanaworarit PhD

Introduction

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the association between playing on artificial vs natural grass surfaces and the risk of non-contact sustained soft tissue injuries on NFL players between 2023-2025.

There is a knowledge gap about NFL athletes' safety on various playing surfaces, with conflicting and ambiguous data on the likelihood of injuries when playing on artificial grass. To obtain more accurate data that address the query regarding injury risk on playing surface, a comparative study between the two surfaces is necessary.(1-2)

Objective and Methods

This is a case-control study evaluating the association between playing on artificial and natural grass surfaces and the risk of non-contact sustained soft tissue injuries from 2023-2025. Each game played by an NFL team will serve as a unit of data.

Anticipated Conclusion

The results suggest that there is a higher incidence of non-contact soft tissue injuries on artificial playing surfaces compared to natural grass surfaces.

Additionally, the results indicate that players have higher incidences of lower body strains, sprains, tears, and overall knee, ankle, and muscle soft tissue injuries when playing on artificial turf.

Anticipated Results

There were a higher incidence on noncontact soft tissue injuries on artificial playing surfaces compared to natural grass surfaces

Question and Hypothesis

This study's findings have the potential to educate football players, coaches and trainers, managers and designers of sports facilities, medical experts, and sports policymakers about the risks associated with particular fields. This information will aid in their decisionmaking regarding the type of playing surfaces to be used for practices and games as well as the creation of training and conditioning regimens to lower injury risk.

Research Question: Does playing games on an artificial surface increase the risk of non- contact sustained Soft Tissue Injuries for NFL athletes?

Hypothesis: NFL athletes will have higher incidences of non-contact soft tissue injuries when playing on Artificial Surfaces, indicating a higher injury risk when playing on these surfaces.

The study population includes NFL players who sustained non-contact soft tissue injuries in the 2023-2025 seasons during games, recruited via medical records. The exposure variable is type of playing surface (artificial or natural) based on NFL game data, and the outcome variable is noncontact sustained soft tissue injury diagnosed by team physicians. Data will be recorded in a 2x2 table, including information on the specific type of injury sustained and the surface it occurred on.

E+ = Playing on Artificial Surface

E - = Playing on Natural grass Surface

E+, exposed group; E -, non-exposed group; D+ = disease/case group; D - = non-disease/control group

We will use logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio of sustaining a non-contact soft tissue injury on artificial versus natural grass surfaces, adjusting for confounding variables.

The comparison will be made between players who play on natural grass versus those who play on artificial turf. The secondary objective is to evaluate which types of soft tissue injuries were more common on artificial surfaces versus

Players demonstrated higher incidences of lower body strains, sprains, tears, and higher overall knee, ankle and muscle soft tissue injuries when playing on artificial turf

These results support the hypothesis that playing on artificial turf may be associated with an increased risk of non-contact soft tissue injuries in NFL players.

References

1.Higher rates of lower extremity injury on synthetic ... - sage journals [Internet]. [cited 2023Apr]. Available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/ 0363546518808499?

url_ver=Z39.882003&rfr_id=ori:rid:cr ossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub %20%200pubmed

2.James E. Voos MD. Artificial turf versus natural grass [Internet]. Artificial Turf vs. Natural Grass: Study on Which is Better for High School Sports | University Hospitals. University Hospitals; 2019 [cited 2023Apr]. Available from: https://www.uhhospitals.org/for-clinicians/a rticles-and-news/articles/2019/08/artificialturf-versus-natural-grass