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Abstract
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CONTEXT: Former collegiate athletes may be at risk for negative health outcomes like lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL), higher disablement, and lower lifetime physical activity (PA) participation. A history of severe sports injury may play a role in these outcomes.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the role prior sports injury plays in self-reported HRQoL, levels of disablement, and PA behaviors of former Division I women's soccer players.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Online Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Former NCAA Division I women's soccer players (n = 382, Mage = 36.41 ± 7.76) completed demographics, injury history, the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS; HRQoL), the Disablement for the Physically Active Scale (DPA; disablement), and the Godin Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (PA). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The dependent variables were physical and mental component summary scores for HRQoL and disablement, and frequency of moderate-to-vigorous PA. Means, standard deviations, and correlations among the main outcome variables were examined for those who reported a severe injury (n = 261) and those who did not (n = 121). To address the primary aim of the study, multiple regression analyses were used to predict PA, disablement, and HRQoL based on history of severe injury, accounting for age.
RESULTS: Having a severe injury was significantly predictive of having worse physical disablement and worse physical HRQoL, with severe injury predicting a greater than 5-point increase and 2-point decrease on the respective scales. Injury status was not predictive of mental disablement, mental HRQoL, or PA.
CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants reported suffering a prior severe soccer-related injury, which may have a negative long-term impact on health outcomes for former women's soccer players. Athletic trainers should be aware of risk for decreased HRQoL and increased disablement with injury and encourage continued monitoring of relevant patient-reported outcomes (PROs).
Language: en |