Estimating injury incidence and describing self-rated physical and mental health during 12 weeks of walking football for older (60+) men and women with low physical activity levels

Background Walking football is a recreational sport that is aimed mainly at older adults and has been shown to be fun and social. However, reports from health care providers indicate that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the safety aspects of team sports for older adults, and the current research on injuries and well-being within walking football is limited. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and characteristics of injury among older adults with low physical activity levels starting to play walking football. A secondary aim was to descriptively characterise the participants’ self-rated physical and mental health. Methods Thirteen men and twenty-six women (mean age of 74.0 ± 5.7 years) were enrolled. During 12 weeks of walking football, the participants completed a weekly injury questionnaire. At both baseline and after completing 12 weeks of walking football, the participants answered four questions assessing their self-rated physical health, mental health, anxiety, and loneliness. Thirty-three participants (11 men, 22 women) completed the study. Results The participants’ ability to fully participate in playing walking football during the 12-week study period was 95% on average. Three out of 33 participants suffered from an injury leading to reduced or missing training sessions, an injury incidence proportion of 9%. The estimated injury incidence rate was 7.25 injuries per 1,000 player-hours (95% CI: 1.49–21.18). Mild or moderate pain was reported by 11 participants during the 12-week period. A total of 87.9% of the participants rated their general physical health as ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ at baseline, compared with 81.8% post-intervention, whereas 90.9% of the participants rated their general mental health as ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ compared with 93.9% post-intervention. Conclusions This study presents preliminary descriptive estimates of injury incidence and self-rated physical and mental health during a 12-week walking football intervention. The findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and low number of injury events and should be confirmed in larger cohorts with longer follow-up periods. Trial registration ISRCTN41037595, retrospectively registered 14/08/2024.