HealthPACT: a framework for prevention of sports injuries on the field

PROJECT PARTNERS

  • Dutch National Olympic Committee

FUNDING

This project is funded through the CAPES Foundation, a public foundation established in 1951 within the Ministry of Higher Education, as a Brazilian government agency awarding scholarship grants to graduate students at universities and research centers in Brazil and abroad.

BACKGROUND

Regular participation in physical activity and sports increases the individual’s exposure to injury. Over the past decades the knowledge about prevention and treatment of various sports and physical activity related injuries (SPRI’s) has exponentially grown. Fortunately, based on the current available evidence it is reasonable to state that we are able to significantly cut down the risk of SPRI’s in for most participants in a wide array of sports and physical activities. However, wide-scale implementation of (cost-)effective measures under real-life conditions proves to be an ongoing challenge. 

Our aim is to develop and evaluate a knowledge framework in which team medical specialists and researchers share their experiences and knowledge regarding the treatment and prevention of SPRI, with an overall goal to implement applicable scientific evidence on the prevention and treatment of injuries to the end-users. 

We propose to implement a continuous injury and risk exposure registration of athletes from which ongoing team and athlete specific feedback can be provided. Specifically the proposed study seeks to answer whether coaches, athletes and team medical staff adopt scientific evidence on the prevention and treatment of SPRI when they are presented with evidence that is applicable to their current situation; and to establish the facilitators and barriers to implement scientific evidence on the prevention and treatment of SPRI. 

We will effectuate a validated online prospective injury registration system within the participating sports clubs and teams. The registration will run for an entire sports season, after which the outcomes for each athlete and team will be evaluated and discussed with the coach and team medical staff. In agreement, evidence of solutions to team and individual specific health and injury issues will be sought and translated into the specific setting of each athlete and team. 

Outcome measures of this study revolve around the uptake of the individualised advice. During a follow-up season, coaches, team medical staff and athletes will be monitored to register the continuing adherence to the given recommendations. During this second season, attitudes, barriers and facilitators in relation to the uptake and adherence to recommendations will also be recorded. The resulting framework can also be employed in a broader setting. We propose to evaluate a user-generated solution that aims to result in a blueprint for a general approach to translate existing knowledge on the prevention and care of injuries to (elite) sports.

Recent posts

Featured
A Warm-Up Program to Reduce Injuries in Youth Field Hockey Players (A Quasi-Experiment)
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.

Injuries impact health and hamper performance in elite field-hockey players
Injuries impact health and hamper performance in elite field-hockey players

Our latest study provides knowledge on the magnitude, severity, and nature of injuries experienced by elite field-hockey players. While injuries may hamper players’ performance and availability for training and competing, prevention is essential in field-hockey, and the use of protective equipment has been encouraged in previous studies. The use of protective equipment is important for injury prevention. However, the present study shows that non- contact injuries, that may not be preventable with protective gear, are also a burden on field hockey players' health. In sports, these injuries may be prevented with structured exercise, and load management. Therefore, the investigation of such strategies is encouraged in elite field-hockey.

Health monitoring should complement strategies already in place to protect athlete health
Health monitoring should complement strategies already in place to protect athlete health

Athletes can only perform at their best level when in full health. The library of evidence on this notion has increased considerably over the past decade and health monitoring of health athletes has gained a lot of ground recently. With contemporary technologies and methodologies we are now able to monitor athlete's health continuously, by which we are better equipped to protect their health and aid athletes to gain their performance goals. We wondered though, what are the acceptability and the perceptions of athletes and staff members (ie, end-users) towards such online sports-health surveillance systems. In our latest paper we sought an answer to this question.