The year just started and with our newest papers coming out .. what a year it is going to be! In our recent manuscript in the Journal of Sports Sciences we evaluated the effectiveness of a preventive exercise-based warm-up programme in recreational volleyball.
A prospective randomised controlled trial was conducted over the 2017–2018 volleyball season. Recreational adult volleyball players were allocated either to an intervention or control group. The Dutch version of the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre questionnaire was used to register and monitor acute and overuse injuries.
A total of 672 volleyball players were enrolled: 348 in the intervention group (mean age: 30) and 324 in the control group (mean age: 27). The incidence rate of acute injury was 21% lower in the intervention group, namely 8.9 versus 11.3 per 1,000 h in the control group (Cox mixed effects crude model: hazard ratio = 0.82 [95%CI: 0.69–0.98]; Cox mixed effects adjusted model: 0.85 [95% CI: 0.71–1.02]). No significant difference in mean prevalence of overuse injury was found between the intervention (4.8%) and control (4.2%) groups. The severity of injuries was not significantly different between groups, while injury burden was slightly lower in the intervention group.
Acute and overuse injuries: comparison between the intervention and control groups.
Although no significant reduction in injuries was found we remain positive. The exercise-based warm-up program led to a trend in less acute injuries among recreational adult volleyball players. No reduction was found for overuse injury, while injury burden on players’ availability to play was slightly lower in the intervention group. The exercise-based warm-up programme led to a trend in less acute injuries among recreational adult volleyball players.
The full manuscript can be accessed here (paid access)
Gouttebarge V, Barboza SD, Zwerver J, Verhagen E. Preventing injuries among recreational adult volleyball players: Results of a prospective randomised controlled trial. J Sports Sci. 2020:1-7.