Professor Jan Ekstrand is orthopedic surgeon and vice-chairman of the UEFA medical committee. He is professor of Sports Medicine at the University of Linköping, Sweden. He has been team physician of the Swedish National Soccer team.

Since 1982, professor Ekstrand has been running prospective studies related to the epidemiology of sports injuries in football. Since 2001, he has carried out EUFA injury audits in elite professional football with the aim of increasing safety in football through prospective research of 75 professional football clubs from 10 different European countries.

In this podcast with Babette Pluim, he discusses the outcome and major trends of the UEFA Study.

See also:
Fewer ligament injuries but no preventive effect on muscle injuries and severe injuries: an 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study http://goo.gl/uyubyI

Fifth metatarsal fractures among male professional footballers: a potential career-ending disease http://goo.gl/9gd93a

Injuries affect team performance negatively in professional football: an 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study http://goo.gl/hunCiJ

Methods for epidemiological study of injuries to professional football players: developing the UEFA model http://goo.gl/vKiYd4

Muscle injury rates in professional football increase with fixture congestion: an 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/12/743

Comparison of injury incidences between football teams playing in different climatic regions http://goo.gl/kkLcmh

Recurrence of Achilles tendon injuries in elite male football players is more common after early return to play: an 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/12/763

The Nordic Football Injury Audit: higher injury rates for professional football clubs with third-generation artificial turf at their home venue http://goo.gl/Kazt3B

The UEFA injury study: 11-year data concerning 346 MCL injuries and time to return to play http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/12/759.abstract

Time-trends and circumstances surrounding ankle injuries in men’s professional football: an 11-year follow-up of the UEFA Champions League injury study http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/12/748.abstract

Epidemiology of injuries in the Australian Football League, seasons 1997–2000: http://bit.ly/1m18vDV

UEFA Champions League study: a prospective study of injuries in professional football during the 2001–2002 season: http://bit.ly/1pQSQuE

Evaluating the level of injury in English professional football using a risk based assessment process: http://bit.ly/1oA2K5C

Injury patterns in high-performance curlers (the sport has 2 million players worldwide although has 200x less publications than Aussie Rules Football!): http://bit.ly/1uAD636