Effect of adherence to exercise-based injury prevention programmes on the risk of sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Review written by Dr Travis Pollen info

Key Points

  1. This meta-analysis of injury prevention programs explored the relationship between adherence and injuries across sports and levels of play.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Previous meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have shown that injury prevention programs (IPPs) reduce the risk of athletic injuries (1,2). The effectiveness of IPPs tends to be stronger with greater adherence to the intervention.

For example, this relationship between adherence and effectiveness has been demonstrated in meta-analyses of IPPs for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries (3,4). However, no previous meta-analysis had explored whether this adherence–effectiveness relationship extends across all injury types. The present study addressed this gap.

Research has shown that injury prevention programs reduce the risk of athletic injuries, the effectiveness of these programs tends to be stronger with greater adherence to the intervention.
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On average, when athletes completed ≥74% of prescribed sessions, injury risk was halved compared to controls.

METHODS

  • The investigators searched six online databases for randomized, quasi-randomized, and cluster-randomized controlled trials that reported injury incidence and IPP adherence (i.e. the percentage of provided IPP sessions completed). All sports and levels of play, from amateur to professional, were included.
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