Increasing compliance with neuromuscular training to prevent ankle sprain in sport : Does the 'Strengthen your ankle' mobile App make a difference? A randomised controlled trial
- Authors: van Reijen, Miriam , Vriend, Ingrid , Zuidema, Victor , van Mechelen, Willem , Verhagen, Evert
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 19 (2016), p. 1200-1205
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: E-health has the potential to facilitate implementation of effective measures to prevent sports injuries. Aim: We evaluated whether an interactive mobile application containing a proven effective exercise programme to prevent recurrent ankle sprains resulted in higher compliance as compared with regular written exercise materials. Methods: 220 athletes participated in this randomised controlled trial with a follow-up of 8 weeks; 110 athletes received a booklet explaining an 8-week neuromuscular training programme; 110 athletes participated in the same programme in an interactive mobile App (Strengthen your ankle). The primary outcome was compliance with the exercise programme. Secondary outcome measure was the incidence density of self-reported recurrent ankle sprains. Results: The mean compliance to the exercise scheme was 73.3% (95% CI 67.7% to 78.1%) in the App group, compared with 76.7% (95% CI 71.9% to 82.3%) in the Booklet group. No significant difference in compliance was found between groups. The incidence densities of self-reported time-loss recurrences were not significantly different between both groups (HR 3.07; 95% CI 0.62 to 15.20). Summary: This study shows that the method of implementing the exercises by using an App or a Booklet does not lead to different compliance rates. New findings: The use of a mobile App or a Booklet lead to similar compliance and injury rates in the short term. Trial registration number: The Netherlands National Trial Register NTR 4027. The NTR is part of the WHO Primary Registries. © 2016, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Sport injuries sustained by athletes with disability : A systematic review
- Authors: Weiler, Richard , van Mechelen, Willem , Fuller, Colin , Verhagen, Evert
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 8 (2016), p. 1141-1153
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background Fifteen percent of the world's population live with disability, and many of these individuals choose to play sport. There are barriers to sport participation for athletes with disability and sports injury can greatly impact on daily life, which makes sports injury prevention additionally important. Objective The purpose of this review is to systematically review the definitions, methodologies and injury rates in disability sport, which should assist future identification of risk factors and development of injury prevention strategies. A secondary aim is to highlight the most pressing issues for improvement of the quality of injury epidemiology research for disability sport. Methods A search of NICE, AMED, British Nursing Index, CINAHL, EMBASE and Medline was conducted to identify all publications up to 16 June 2015. Of 489 potentially relevant articles and reference searching, a total of 15 studies were included. Wide study sample heterogeneity prevented data pooling and meta-analysis. Results Results demonstrated an evolving field of epidemiology, but with wide differences in sports injury definition and with studies focused on short competitions. Background data were generally sparse; there was minimal exposure analysis, and no analysis of injury severity, all of which made comparison of injury risk and injury severity difficult. Conclusion There is an urgent need for consensus on sports injury definition and methodology in disability sports. The quality of studies is variable, with inconsistent sports injury definitions, methodologies and injury rates, which prevents comparison, conclusions and development of injury prevention strategies. The authors highlight the most pressing issues for improvement of the quality in injury epidemiology research for disability sport.