Heijne A, Flodström F, von Rosen P. Phys. Ther. Sport 2019; 36: 28-33.
Affiliation
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences, and Society (NVS), Division of Physiotherapy, Huddinge, Sweden. Electronic address: philip.von.rosen@ki.se.
OBJECTIVES: The primary aim of this study was to explore if specific exercises based on the nine test screening battery (9SB) reduce short-term and seasonal injury occurrence in adolescent elite athletes. SETTING: Youth elite sports.
DESIGN: Prospective intervention study over 1-year. PARTICIPANTS: Adolescent elite athletes (n = 216) in age 15-20 from seven different sports. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Seasonal/short-term injury incidence and seasonal substantial/injury prevalence was obtained via weekly surveys completed by study participants.
RESULTS: There was a significant (p = 0.036) difference in the seasonal substantial injury prevalence across number of times the exercises were performed (exercise category), where athletes performing the exercises ≥4 times/week reported significantly (p = 0.048) higher seasonal substantial injury prevalence compared to athletes completing the exercises once a week (median 15.4 vs 0%, r = 0.25). No statistically significant difference in injury incidence (p = 0.429) or seasonal injury prevalence (p = 0.171) was found across exercise category. Performing the exercises once a day compared to not at all did not reduce the short-term risk of new injury or substantial injury.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide supporting evidence that completing specific exercises based on the 9SB have no group effect on short-term or seasonal injury occurrence in adolescent elite athletes.