Citation

Goossens L, Cardon G, Witvrouw E, De Clercq D. Br. J. Sports Med. 2014; 48(7): 600.

Affiliation

Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bjsports-2014-093494.109

PMID

24620150

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Since physical education teacher education (PETE) students have to deal with a considerable amount of non-contact injuries to the lower limbs (Goossens et al., 2013), strategies relying on preventive exercises might reduce injury incidence in this population. OBJECTIVE: Is a prevention program for injuries to the lower limbs efficacious in reducing the injury incidence and does it enhance functional performance, self-reported behaviour and consciousness, motivation and knowledge towards injury prevention?. DESIGN: The study followed a historically controlled design with prospective injury registration and a pre-post design without control group concerning the other outcomes. SETTING: Freshmen academic bachelor PETE students (±7 hours of intracurricular sports activities weekly) of three consecutive years took part in the study. PARTICIPANTS: The control group (CG) consisted of 128 freshmen students in academic year (AY) 2010-11 and 102 freshmen students in AY 2011-12. The intervention group (IG) consisted of 88 freshmen students in AY 2012-13. INTERVENTION: The prevention program ran during 1 AY and had 2 main components: an injury awareness program (information brochure, theoretical course, posters, website, technical training) and the application of active strategies (warm-up, cool-down, stretching, dynamic stabilization, functional strength and core stability). MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Injury risk and incidence rate were the primary outcomes. Functional performance of Lateral Step Down (LSD) and Single Leg Hop and Hold for Distance (SLHHD), self-reported behaviour, consciousness, motivation and knowledge towards injury prevention were secondary outcomes. RESULTS: The IG had a lower injury risk (0.77 Vs. 0.89) and incidence rate (2.34 Vs. 2.72) than the CG. Self-reported behaviour (P<.01), consciousness (P<.01) and knowledge (P=.01) towards injury prevention and functional performance of LSD (P<.01) and SLHHD (P<.01) were significantly better after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: An intervention for the prevention of injuries to the lower limbs in PETE students is efficacious, but more feasibility studies are needed.

Language: en