A Warm-Up Program to Reduce Injuries in Youth Field Hockey Players: A Quasi-Experiment

• Published in: Journal of athletic training Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 374 - 383
• Main Authors: Barboza, Saulo Delfino, Nauta, Joske, Emery, Carolyn, van Mechelen, Willem, Gouttebarge, Vincent, Verhagen, Evert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Athletic Trainers Association 01-04-2019
• Subjects: Age; Athletes; Athletic Injuries - epidemiology; Athletic Injuries - prevention & control; Child; Children & youth; Clubs; Computation; Control Groups; Evidence; Exercise; Female; Field hockey; Health Behavior; Hockey - injuries; Humans; Incidence; Injuries; Injury Prevention; Male; Outcome Measures; Parents; Participation; Physical Activities; Physical fitness; Public health; Quasi-experimental methods; Quasiexperimental Design; Questionnaires; Research Design; Sports injuries; Studies; Systematic review; Team Sports; Teams; United States - epidemiology; Warm-Up Exercise; United States; Netherlands; risk management; field hockey; sports; adolescents; athletic injuries; neuromuscular training; quasi-experimental design; injury prevention
• ISSN: 1062-6050; 1938-162X
• DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-79-18

Field hockey is popular worldwide; however, it entails a risk of injury. Injuries hamper players' participation in the sport and impose a burden on public health.
To investigate the effectiveness of a structured exercise program among youth field hockey players on the injury rate, severity, and burden.
Quasi-experimental study.
On field during 1 season of field hockey (October 2016 through June 2017).
A convenience sample of 22 teams (291 players): 10 teams (135 players, mean age = 11.5 years [95% confidence interval (CI) = 11.2, 11.7 years]) in the intervention group and 12 teams (156 players, mean age = 12.9 years [95% CI = 12.6, 13.2 years]) in the control group.
The Warming-up Hockey program, a sex- and age-specific, structured, evidence-informed warm-up program consisting of a preparation phase (ie, agility and cardiovascular warm-up exercises), movement skills (ie, stability and flexibility exercises), and sport-specific skills (ie, speed and strength exercises in field hockey situations). Participants in the control group performed their usual warm-up routines.
Injury rate (ie, the number of injuries per 1000 player-hours of field hockey exposure), severity (ie, days of player time-loss), and burden on athletes' availability to play (ie, days of time loss due to injury per 1000 player-hours of field hockey exposure).
The injury rate was lower in the intervention group (hazard ratio of 0.64 [95% CI = 0.38, 1.07]); however, this result was not statistically significant. The severity of injuries was similar in both groups (
statistic
.73). The burden of injuries on players' field hockey participation was lower in the intervention group (difference of 8.42 [95% CI = 4.37, 12.47] days lost per 1000 player-hours of field hockey).
Exposure to the Warming-up Hockey program was not significantly associated with a lower injury rate. No reduction was observed in the severity of injuries alone; however, the burden of injuries on players' field hockey participation was lower in the intervention group.