On November 4th our own Marelise Badenhorst will defend her PhD thesis entitled “Life After the Game: Consequences of acute spinal cord injuries in South African rugby union players” at the VU University in Amsterdam. The defense is open to the public, but for those who are unable to come we share with you the abstract of her seminal work on the consequences catastrophic injuries have on players and their families. Her thesis combined quantitative and qualitative research methods to come to recommendations on how immediate and longer term care for these players can be improved.
Read MoreHealthy Sports
Implementation science to reduce the prevalence and burden of MSK disorders following sport and exercise-related injury
We got the opportunity to contribute with our thoughts on implementation in a special edition of Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology. Although safety in sports and physical activity is an important prerequisite for continuing participation and maintenance of a healthy, physically active lifestyle, to date little effort has been placed upon moving evidence into preventive practice. Amongst researchers it is still often assumed that a program will disseminate itself after proven to be effective. Recently, however, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of theory-driven approaches to enhance implementation research. This manuscript aims to provide guidance for sports and physical activity injury researchers and practitioners to perform implementation research and practice.
Read MoreAthletes, coaches and physiotherapists share their perspectives on injury prevention in elite sports
Hot off the press comes this publication by our own Caroline Bolling. Proud to say her qualitative work has created waves and found its way to the British Journal of Sports Medici e. This particular study explored how sports injury prevention takes place in elite sport practice and to describe the perspectives of athletes, coaches and physiotherapists regarding the most critical factors that help prevent injury in the elite sports context.
Read MoreEvery second retired elite female football player has MRI evidence of knee osteoarthritis before the age of 50 years
This latest article to which we contributed, assessed knee health in retired female football players, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and self-report. The focus of analysis were degenerative changes of the tibiofemoral joint, and their relationship to osteoarthritis symptoms and previous knee injury. Serious degenerative changes were found in a high number of former elite female football players knees as soon as 10years after their professional career with a significant impact on their QOL.
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A Warm-Up Program to Reduce Injuries in Youth Field Hockey Players (A Quasi-Experiment)
Field hockey is a popular sport worldwide. However, it entails a risk of injury. Injuries hamper players’ participation in the sport and impose a burden on public health. Our latest study - just published in the Journal of Athletic Training - investigated the effectiveness of a structured exercise program among youth field hockey players on the injury rate, severity, and burden.
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