TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Comprehensive warm-up programme to prevent injuries in young female footballers: cluster randomised controlled trial
JO  - British medical journal: BMJ
A1  - Soligard, Torbjorn
A1  - Myklebust, Grethe
A1  - Steffen, Kathrin
A1  - Holme, Ingar
A1  - Silvers, Holly
A1  - Bizzini, Mario
A1  - Junge, Astrid
A1  - Dvorak, Jiri
A1  - Bahr, Roald
A1  - Andersen, Thor Einar
SP  - a2469
EP  - a2469
VL  - 337
IS  - 
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of a comprehensive warm-up programme designed to reduce the risk of injuries in female youth football (soccer). DESIGN: Cluster randomised controlled trial with clubs as the unit of randomisation. SETTING: 125 football clubs from the south, east, and middle of Norway (65 clusters in the intervention group; 60 in the control group) followed for one league season (eight months). PARTICIPANTS: 1892 female players aged 13-17 (1055 players in the intervention group; 837 players in the control group). INTERVENTION: A comprehensive warm-up programme to improve strength, awareness, and neuromuscular control during static and dynamic movements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Injuries to the lower extremity (foot, ankle, lower leg, knee, thigh, groin, and hip). RESULTS: During one season, 264 players had relevant injuries: 121 players in the intervention group and 143 in the control group (rate ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.49 to 1.03). In the intervention group there was a significantly lower risk of injuries overall (0.68, 0.48 to 0.98), overuse injuries (0.47, 0.26 to 0.85), and severe injuries (0.55, 0.36 to 0.83). CONCLUSION: Though the primary outcome of reduction in lower extremity injury did not reach significance, the risk of severe injuries, overuse injuries, and injuries overall was reduced. This indicates that a structured warm-up programme can prevent injuries in young female football players. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN10306290.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0959-8138
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a2469
ID  - ref1
ER  -