Sex differences in hip and groin injury prevalence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 3133 team-sport athletes

The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the prevalence of hip and groin injuries (HGIs) among male and female athletes. Systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic search for related studies published from inception to February 2025 was conducted using the following databases: Cochrane, PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, SPORTDiscus, PEDro and Scopus. A total of nine clinical trials, cohort or case-control studies were included. Data recorded from each study included authors, year of publication, study design, number of participants, sport played, age, number of injured athletes, injury prevalence, and type of injury (time-loss (TL) and/or non-time-loss (NTL)). Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis. The risk of bias (RoB) was evaluated with the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool and the certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. The pooled results of 3133 athletes (1955 males and 1178 females) showed no differences in HGIs between both sexes with an OR of 1.39 (95% CI: 0.99-1.96; PI: 0.48-3.99; p = 0.06). No differences were observed for TL (OR = 1.55) and NTL (OR = 0.97) injuries. Male football players showed higher odds of suffering groin problems (OR = 2.25). This systematic review and meta-analysis reveal a similar prevalence of HGIs in both males and females. The results highlight the importance of establishing screening measures for all athletes.