Elite Junior Australian Football Players With Impaired Wellness Are at Increased Injury Risk at High Loads

Background: Elite junior Australian football players experience high training loads across levels of competition and training. This, in conjunction with impaired wellness, can predispose athletes to injury. Hypothesis: Elite junior Australian football players exposed to high loads with poor wellness are more likely to be at risk of injury than those with improved wellness. Study Design: Longitudinal prospective cohort study. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Methods: Data were collected and analyzed from 280 players across the 2014 season. Internal load was measured via session rating of perceived exertion. Player wellness was reported according to ratings of sleep quality, fatigue, soreness, stress, and mood. Week- and month-based training load measures were calculated, representing a combination of absolute and relative load variables. Principal component analysis factor loadings, based on 17 load and wellness variables, were used to calculate summed variable covariates. Injury was defined as “any injury leading to a missed training session or competitive match.” Associations between covariates and injury risk (yes/no) were determined via logistic generalized estimating equations. Results: A significant interaction term between load and wellness on injury was found [odds ratio (OR) 0.76; 95% CI 0.62-0.92; P < 0.01), indicating that wellness acts as a “dimmer switch” of load on injury. Further, there was evidence of moderated mediation (OR 0.71; 95% CI 0.57-0.87; P < 0.01). When wellness was low, injury risk started to increase substantially at a 1-week load of 3250 au. Conclusions: Subjective measures of training load are associated with injury risk through a nonlinear relationship. This relationship is further influenced by player wellness, which can amplify the risk of injury. There is evidence that higher stress is linked with injury and that soreness and sleep mediate any stress-injury relationship. Clinical Relevance: Coaching efforts to manage training load and player adaptive responses, including wellness, may reduce the risk of injury, with stress, soreness, and sleep particularly relevant at this level.