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Purpose: This study aimed to prospectively investigate the association between isolated and functional lower extremity muscle strength and the risk for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in Norwegian female elite handball and football players. Methods: From 2007 through 2015, premier league players participated in strength testing and were prospectively followed for ACL injury risk. At baseline, we recorded player demographics, playing and ACL injury history, and measured peak concentric isokinetic quadriceps and hamstring torques (60°⋅s-1), hamstring-to-quadriceps ratio, isometric hip abduction strength, and one-repetition maximum in a seated leg press. We followed a predefined statistical protocol where we generated five separate logistic regression models, one for each of the proposed strength risk factors and adjusted for confounding factors. New ACL injury was the outcome, using the leg as the unit of analysis. Results: A total of 57 (6.6%) of 867 players (age = 21 ± 4 yr, height = 170 ± 6 cm, body mass = 66 ± 8 kg) suffered from a noncontact ACL injury after baseline testing (1.8 ± 1.8 yr). The OR of sustaining a new injury among those with an ACL injury history was 3.1 (95% confidence interval = 1.6-6.1). None of the five strength variables selected were statistically associated with an increased risk of ACL rupture when adjusted for sport, dominant leg, ACL injury history, and height. Conclusion: Peak lower extremity strength was not associated with an increased ACL injury risk among female elite handball and football players. Hence, peak strength, as measured in the present study, cannot be used to screen elite female athletes to predict injury risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical measurement, controlled laboratory study. OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationships among real-time observational screening of frontal plane knee control and knee valgus angles and abduction moments calculated from 3-D motion analysis during a vertical drop jump. A secondary purpose was to investigate interrater agreement for 3 independent physiotherapists. BACKGROUND: Current approaches to screen for anterior cruciate ligament injury risk are based on complex biomechanical analyses or 2-dimensional video reviews. There is a need for simple and efficient, low-cost screening methods. METHODS: Sixty Norwegian elite female football (soccer) players performed a vertical drop-jump task. Using real-time observational screening, 3 physiotherapists independently scored each participant's frontal plane knee control as good, reduced, or poor, based on specific criteria. Screening test scores were correlated to frontal plane knee kinematics and kinetics using 3-D motion analysis. Interrater agreement was determined using kappa correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Knee valgus angles differed significantly among players rated as having poor, reduced, or good knee control (10.3° ± 3.4°, 5.4° ± 4.1°, and 1.9° ± 4.3°, respectively). The correlation between the observation test scores and valgus angles was moderate for all raters (0.54-0.60, P?.001), but the observation scores correlated poorly with abduction moments (0.09- 0.11, P>.05). The highest discriminative accuracy was found for knee valgus angles across all raters (area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve, 0.85-0.89). The interrater agreement between the physiotherapists was substantial to almost perfect, with percentage agreement and kappa coefficients ranging from 70% to 95% and 0.52 to 0.92, respectively. CONCLUSION: Physiotherapists can reliably identify female athletes with high knee valgus angles in a vertical drop-jump landing using real-time observational screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that investigated the risk factors for lower extremity injuries in elite female soccer players. Players in the Norwegian elite female soccer league were included in the baseline screening tests before the 2009 competitive soccer season. A total of 173 players had complete screening tests and registration of injuries and exposure during the season. It is said that a greater body mass index was associated with lower extremity injuries in elite female soccer players.

Objective: A periodic health evaluation (PHE) is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary investigation of athlete health widely used in elite sport, but its contents and benefits can be questioned. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of conditions identified by a PHE among Paralympic and Olympic athletes over four consecutive Games cycles from Rio de Janeiro 2016 to Beijing 2022 and to assess the benefits and potential pitfalls of a comprehensive PHE programme in detecting existing injuries, illnesses and other health issues., Methods: We collected extensive health history and clinical examination data on elite athletes: medical history, ECG, blood pressure, blood samples, spirometry, musculoskeletal health, cognitive function, mental health and compliance with public health programmes., Results: The final cohort included 87 Paralympic and 367 Olympic athletes, representing 565 PHE cycles. Musculoskeletal problems and unspecified pain, infections and allergies were the most frequent health issues. High blood pressure was the most prevalent cardiovascular finding, and vitamin D deficiency the most common laboratory abnormality. Most athletes complied with the public childhood vaccination programmes, but fewer with recommended cancer screening. Follow-up of health issues was variable., Conclusion: Our PHE programme identified musculoskeletal problems, infections, allergies, elevated blood pressure and vitamin D deficiency as common health conditions. Longitudinal follow-up of health conditions identified during screening and improved compliance with public health and cancer screening programmes is needed to determine the true benefits of athlete care prompted by the PHE., Competing Interests: Competing interests: KS is the coeditor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine-Injury Prevention and Health Protection. In the period, these data were collected, the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center has had a non-financial research partnership with FitStats Technologies (2017 to present)., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The protection of an athlete's health and preventing injuries and illnesses in sport are top priorities for the IOC and its Medical Commission. The IOC therefore partners with selected research centres around the world and supports research in the field of sports medicine. This has enabled the IOC to develop an international network of expert scientists and clinicians in sports injury and disease prevention research. The IOC wants to promote injury and disease prevention and the improvement of physical health of the athlete by: (1) establishing long-term research programmes on injury and disease prevention (including studies on basic epidemiology, risk factors, injury mechanisms and intervention), (2) fostering collaborative relationships with individuals, institutions and organisations to improve athletes' health, (3) implementing and collaborating with applied, ongoing and novel research and development within the framework and long-term strategy of the IOC and (4) setting up knowledge translation mechanisms to share scientific research results with the field throughout the Olympic Movement and sports community and converting these results into concrete actions to protect the health of the athletes. In 2009, the IOC also identified four research centres that had an established track record in research, educational and clinical activities to achieve these ambitions: (1) the Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention (ACRISP), Australia; (2) the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre (SIPRC), Canada; (3) the Clinical Sport and Exercise Medicine Research (CSEM), South Africa and (4) the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC), Norway. This paper highlights the work carried out by these four IOC Centres of Excellence over the past 6 years and their contribution to the world of sports medicine., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Background: The development of strategies to prevent illnesses before and during Olympic Games provides a basis for improved health and Olympic results., Objective: (1) To document the efficacy of a prevention programme on illness in a national Olympic team before and during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games (OWG), (2) to compare the illness incidence in the Norwegian team with Norwegian incidence data during the Turin 2006 OWG and (3) to compare the illness incidence in the Norwegian team with illness rates of other nations in the Vancouver OWG., Methods: Information on prevention measures of illnesses in the Norwegian Olympic team was based on interviews with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Nutrition and Sport Psychology Officers, and on a review of CMO reports before and after the 2010 OWG. The prevalence data on illness were obtained from the daily reports on injuries and illness to the International Olympic Committee., Results: The illness rate was 5.1% (five of 99 athletes) compared with 17.3% (13 out of 75 athletes) in Turin (p=0.008). A total of four athletes missed one competition during the Vancouver Games owing to illness, compared with eight in Turin. The average illness rate for all nations in the Vancouver OWG was 7.2%. Conclusions Although no definite cause-and-effect link between the implementation of preventive measures and the prevalence of illness in the 2010 OWG could be established, the reduced illness rate compared with the 2006 OWG, and the low prevalence of illnesses compared with other nations in the Vancouver OWG suggest that the preparations were effective.

Background: Participants' compliance, attitudes and beliefs have the potential to influence the efficacy of an intervention greatly., Objective: To characterise team and player compliance with a comprehensive injury prevention warm-up programme for football (The 11+), and to assess attitudes towards injury prevention among coaches and their association with compliance and injury risk., Study Design: A prospective cohort study and retrospective survey based on a cluster-randomised controlled trial with teams as the unit of randomisation., Methods: Compliance, exposure and injuries were registered prospectively in 65 of 125 football teams (1055 of 1892 female Norwegian players aged 13-17 years and 65 of 125 coaches) throughout one football season (March-October 2007). Standardised telephone interviews were conducted to assess coaches' attitudes towards injury prevention., Results: Teams completed the injury prevention programme in 77% (mean 1.3 sessions per week) of all training and match sessions, and players in 79% (mean 0.8 sessions per week) of the sessions they attended. Compared with players with intermediate compliance, players with high compliance with the programme had a 35% lower risk of all injuries (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.91, p=0.011). Coaches who had previously utilised injury prevention training coached teams with a 46% lower risk of injury (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.87, p=0.011)., Conclusions: Compliance with the injury prevention programme was high, and players with high compliance had significantly lower injury risk than players with intermediate compliance. Positive attitudes towards injury prevention correlated with high compliance and lower injury risk.

Background: Identifying and understanding injury risk factors are necessary to develop and target measures to prevent injuries. Because youth teams rarely have health care professionals working directly with the team, identifying players at increased risk through elaborate clinical tests is not feasible. Questionnaires may be a possible alternative as screening instruments., Purpose: To examine whether injury history and lower limb function assessed by a self-administered questionnaire represent risk factors for injury., Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2., Methods: At baseline, female soccer players (aged 14-16 years) were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire covering sports participation; history of previous injuries to the ankle, knee, hamstring, or groin; as well as present function of these 4 specific regions. A total of 1430 (71% of the entire cohort) were followed up to record injuries during the subsequent 8 months., Results: A history of a previous injury to the ankle (rate ratio, 1.2 [1.1-1.3]; P < .001), knee (rate ratio, 1.4 [1.2-1.6]; P <.001), or groin (rate ratio, 1.6 [1.2-2.1]; P = .004) increased the risk of new injuries to the same region. Reporting a reduced function (defined as <80% of the maximum score) for the ankle (rate ratio, 1.7 [1.1-2.7]; P =.021) or knee (rate ratio, 3.2 [1.8-5.7]; P <.001) was also a significant risk factor. However, the sensitivity of previous injuries and lower limb function in predicting new injuries was low., Conclusion: A history of previous injury and reduced function at baseline were significant risk factors for new injuries to the same region during the following season.

Background: Artificial turf is becoming increasingly popular, although the risk of injury on newer generations of turf is unknown., Aim: To investigate the risk of injury on artificial turf compared with natural grass among young female football players., Study Design: Prospective cohort study., Methods: 2020 players from 109 teams (mean (SD) 15.4 (0.8) years) participated in the study during the 2005 football season. Time-loss injuries and exposure data on different types of turf were recorded over an eight-month period., Results: 421 (21%) players sustained 526 injuries, leading to an injury incidence of 3.7/1000 playing hours (95% CI 3.4 to 4.0). The incidence of acute injuries on artificial turf and grass did not differ significantly with respect to match injuries (rate ratio (RR) 1.0, 95% CI 0.8 to 1.3; p = 0.72) or training injuries (RR 1.0, 95% CI 0.6 to 1.5, p = 0.93). In matches, the incidence of serious injuries was significantly higher on artificial turf (RR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.2; p = 0.03). Ankle sprain was the most common type of injury (34% of all acute injuries), and there was a trend towards more ankle sprains on artificial turf than on grass (RR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.2; p = 0.06)., Conclusion: In the present study among young female football players, the overall risk of acute injuries was similar between artificial turf and natural grass.