Secondary injury prevention reduces hamstring strain and time-loss groin injury burdens in male professional football.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a systems-based secondary injury prevention intervention aimed at early detection and management of hamstring strain injury (HSI) and time-loss groin injury in an Australian male professional football club.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Australian male professional football club.
Participants: Data were collected from male professional football players (n = 73) from a single football club.
Main Outcome Measures: Unilateral knee flexion and side-lying hip adduction maximum voluntary isometric contractions were monitored routinely in-season, two days post-match (≥40 h [h]) during a three-season intervention period. Strength reductions greater than the tests' minimal detectable change percentage prompted intervention. HSI and time-loss groin injury burdens were calculated per 1000 player hours and compared with those from an immediately preceding two-season control period, to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.
Results: Across the intervention period, there was a decrease in HSI (4.98 days absence/1000 h (19.8%) decrease) and time-loss groin injury burdens (0.57 days absence/1000 h (49.1%) decrease) when compared with the control period.
Conclusions: A systems-based secondary injury prevention intervention shows preliminary positive findings in reducing HSI and time-loss groin injury burdens within a male professional football club, compared with usual care only.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)