Midseason Screening for Groin Pain, Severity, and Disability in 101 Elite American Youth Soccer Players: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective:To (1) systematically screen for groin pain and type in young elite soccer players and (2) assess whether hip and groin-related severity and disability differed between players with different levels of groin pain and tenderness.Design:Cross-sectional observational.Setting:Elite American soccer academy at midseason.Participants:One hundred one academy soccer players (mean age 14.3 ± 1.8 years).Intervention:All players underwent clinical examinations to classify groin pain by the Doha agreement taxonomy.Main Outcome Measures:Tests for groin-related severity and disability included the Copenhagen 5-second squeeze test, Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS), and Hip Outcome Score (HOS). Players were stratified into 3 groups: those with groin pain, those with tenderness, and those with no groin pain or tenderness.Results:Twenty-two players (22%) reported groin pain. Adductor-related groin pain was the most common (n = 14), followed by iliopsoas-related (n = 3), and pubic-related (n = 2). Multiple locations were present in 3 players. Thirty-nine players (39%) did not have groin pain but were tender to palpation in 1 or more structures related to the Doha agreement taxonomy. Copenhagen 5-second squeeze test differentiated between players with and without groin pain (groin pain vs tenderness group: P = 0.011; groin pain vs no groin pain group P < 0.001). Four HAGOS subscales (pain, symptoms, sport/recreation, and quality of life) differentiated between players with and without groin pain (P < 0.05).Conclusions:One in five academy soccer players experiences groin pain with adductor-related most common during a midseason screening. Both Copenhagen 5-second squeeze test and HAGOS subscales can differentiate between players with and without groin pain.

The Role of MRI in Groin Pain Syndrome in Athletes

“…In this regard, it is interesting to note that radiological signs of adductor longus tendinopathy are present in as many as 71% of asymptomatic subjects compared with 72% found in the population of symptomatic subjects [54]. It is obvious that we can raise some reasonable doubts about the fact that GPS is most frequently diagnosed as adductor tendinopathy [4,76,77]; indeed, in our recent study [40], we reported that adductor tendinopathy is responsible for only about 2% of cases of LSGPS. These data must undoubtedly cause us to reflect on how imprudent it is to stop at a simple diagnosis of this type without considering other possible pathological associations [24,40].…”

Soccer players show the highest seasonal groin pain prevalence and the longest time loss from sport among 500 athletes from major team sports

“…The HAGOS follows the full COSMIN checklist [26] for the development and testing of a patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) instrument and it consists of six separate subscales assessing: (1) pain; (2) symptoms; (3) physical function in daily living (ADL); (4) physical function in sport and recreation (Sport/Rec); (5) participation in physical activities (PA) and (6) hip and/or groin‐related quality of life (QoL). It is a valid [5, 45], reliable [18], responsive [48] and recommended [6, 7, 48] PROMs questionnaire for groin pain. Each subscale is scored as a percentage of the total possible score, ranging from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates severe hip and/or groin‐related problems and 100 indicates no problems.…”