Coach-led exercise training programs to players to prevent lower limb injuries in sport: should the focus be on injury prevention gains, likely performance benefits or both?
- Authors: Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Applied Sport Science and Medicine: Case Studies from Practice p.114-118
- Full Text: false
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Sports Injuries
- Authors: Joseph, Corey , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Reference Module in Biomedical Research p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Sport is a common context for injury. It is the most common reason for hospital-treated injury in adolescents and young adults and there is some evidence that injury rates at the population level are increasing. Sports injuries can occur to participants across all forms of sport ranging from elite/professional sport to competitive sport in clubs/colleges/schools to school sport to a range of fitness and physical activity programs usually undertaken for health and social reasons. Over recent years, evidence has accumulated that the majority of these injuries should be preventable if sports injury interventions are successfully implemented. The challenge remains to demonstrate the effectiveness of many sports injury interventions in appropriate real-world settings and to better understand the drivers and barriers to sports injury prevention implementation efforts. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Caregivers’ perceptions of environmental risk factors for child drowning in different aquatic environments
- Authors: Petrass, Lauren , Blitvich, Jennifer , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Advances in Environmental Research Chapter 4 p. 97-124
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Unintentional injury is a major cause of child mortality and morbidity, with drowning a leading cause of child death. Injury prevention efforts are frequently directed towards making changes to the environment to make it safer or to modifying behaviours in hazardous settings, or a complex interaction of the two. However, not all physical environments can be modified adequately to totally remove risks, or to reduce them to a negligible level. Similarly, not all behaviours of people within those environments can be changed easily to provide the solution to reducing risk. Accordingly, it is now recognised that a multifaceted approach to injury prevention is required. For drowning incidents, particularly in environments that include natural bodies of water, environmental modifications are not always practical or all encompassing of the major risk present. Consequently, additional strategies are needed that focus more on people recognising these hazards and modifying their behaviour accordingly. To date, aquatic studies have identified a number of risk factors for child drowning. Few studies however, have investigated perceptions of the risk of drowning among those engaged in recreational swimming at beaches and/or investigated the association between risk perception and safe swimming behaviour or caregiver supervision of children in aquatic environments. Consequently, the aim of this chapter is to address this knowledge gap. Using a purpose designed questionnaire, caregivers were asked about specific environmental factors which might contribute to their perceptions of the level of child injury/drowning risk. To reflect a comprehensive approach, other non-environmental factors were also considered in the questionnaire. One-hundred and fourteen caregivers, whose supervisory behaviour had been unobtrusively observed, completed the questionnaire. Caregiver demographics; perceptions of injury/drowning risk in different aquatic settings; and factors which contributed to risk perception varied among participants. Responses indicated that drowning risk was considered extreme/high on days when waves were plunging/dumping; waves were >1m; and when strong rips/currents were present. In calmer conditions (spilling waves; ≤1m; no rips/currents), caregivers were significantly more likely to report low/no drowning risk. The majority of caregivers reported that their child was at low risk of drowning in pool environments (public and home) and at flat beaches (patrolled by lifeguards or unpatrolled); moderate risk at lake, dam or lagoon; and patrolled surf beaches; and high risk at unpatrolled surf beaches. Caregivers reported water depth; type of waves; and currents/rips as environmental factors which contributed to their perceived level of risk at the beach, whilst rocks, reefs and headlands; stingers; strong winds; and water temperature were of less importance to them when judging risk. This chapter provides new insight into caregivers’ assessment of child drowning risk in diverse aquatic environments. Increased understanding of caregivers’ risk perception, coupled with understanding of factors which contribute to this perception, may guide future development of caregiver education programs and water safety campaigns which aim to reduce child drowning risk.
Implementing and evaluating interventions
- Authors: Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Injury research: Theories, methods, and approaches p. 619-639
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Real-world implementation of injury prevention interventions and evaluation of their effectiveness need to take into account the broad ecological context in which they are introduced. This chapter provides perspectives and guidance on (1) the design, conduct, and evaluation of studies that are concerned with the effectiveness of injury prevention and safety promotion interventions and (2) research to better understand the context for intervention delivery. It begins with an overview of why research into intervention delivery and evaluation of its outcomes is necessary for the broad field of injury prevention and control. This includes a comparison of the aims and approaches of efficacy and effectiveness studies and the recognized gap between the two. The ecological context for injury prevention is summarized and the implications for intervention delivery and evaluation are described. The chapter then covers key theoretical, conceptual, and methodological issues involved in evaluation research and introduces some of the current thinking about translation research. Particular emphasis is given to Intervention Mapping as a tool to assist in the intervention development process, Diffusion of Innovations theory to guide efforts in the planning of intervention strategies and the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) health promotion framework and their reported applications to injury prevention interventions to date.
The biomechanical basis of injury during childhood
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Twomey, Dara
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Paediatric biomechanics and motor control: Theory and application p. 209-232
- Full Text: false
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A systematic review of the factors which are most influential in children's decisions to drop out of organised sport
- Authors: Siesmaa, Emma , Blitvich, Jennifer , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Sport participation: Health benefits, injuries and psychological effects p. 1-45
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Sport participation is popular among millions of children in countries throughout the world. The well-documented health benefits of children‘s sport participation are important to help reduce childhood obesity and the burdens of other associated childhood diseases. Despite efforts to promote sport participation, unfortunately involvement for some children can be short-lived with sport dropout (or attrition) rates being relatively high, particularly during adolescence. Although research investigating the area of child sport dropout began more than 30-years ago, there is still much to learn about the issue, and correspondingly it has been identified as a major concern by both sport practitioners and researchers. Whilst previous studies have uncovered some factors that distinguish children who do and do not drop out of sport, a detailed examination of the published literature is required to characterise these issues further and to identify where knowledge gaps exist more fully. This Chapter reports the results of a systematic review of existing peer-reviewed literature related to reasons why children decide to drop out of sport. The Chapter identifies and critically reviews relevant studies and provides a summary of their findings to contribute to a clearer understanding of the factors influencing child sport dropout. In doing so, it identifies potential opportunities for preventing child sport dropout and for promoting long-term sport participation by all children. Using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria associated with the defined systematic literature search strategies, few relevant studies were identified which addressed the issue of child sport dropout. Nonetheless, this review has identified prominent factors that contribute to child sport dropout, such as conflict of interests and time availability, the re-orienting of interests and the pursuit of participation in other activities. An important finding of the review is the identification of a clear gap in knowledge surrounding the impact of sport injury as a contributing factor to child sport dropout. In fact, sport injury appears to be largely overlooked and/or removed from studies that seek to determine the factors that contribute to dropout in children‘s organised sport. In light of international public health concerns about sport injury, and global strategies to increase participation in sport and other physical activities, it seems pertinent to obtain a better understanding of the true impact that sport injury has on the long-term retention of children in sport.
An overview of the epidemiological evidence linking injury risk to fatigue in sport: Identification of research needs and opportunities
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Williamson, Ann , O'Brien, Brendan
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Regulation of fatigue in exercise, Chapter 9, p. 155-176
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Despite the large literature on the role of fatigue and injury risk in road and occupational settings, evidence for a direct causal link between sports injury risk and fatigue has not previously been reported. This Chapter summarises the epidemiological evidence linking fatigue to sport injury risk, identifies gaps in knowledge relating fatigue and sport injury risk and examines the potential for translating fatigue research from other injury contexts as a means of improving the knowledge base with regards to sports injury. Drawing on the broader fatigue and injury literature linking injury risk to fatigue, fatigue can potentially impact on sport performance/injury risk in one of two ways (or a combination of both): from a cognitive or central fatigue view or through musculoskeletal fatigue. In terms of cognitive-related fatigue, the likely contributors are: 1) sleep homeostasis factors including how long since slept, length of sleep period, quality of recent sleep; 2) circadian or time-of-day factors; and 3) task-related factors (e.g. level of activity) inherent in sport. In terms of musculoskeletal fatigue, physiological factors appear to be mainly associated with inhibited motor control and failure of the brakes of excessive tension development within muscles. This Chapter highlights the lack of epidemiological studies directly linking fatigue to injury risk and where they exist, the poor conceptualisation and measurement of fatigue which limits conclusions. Most of the published studies in this area are related to football codes: rugby (league or union) or soccer. Fatigue is generally identified in these studies in terms of associations between observed injury incidence patterns and the phase-of-play or time-of-season when the injury occurred. Most importantly, whilst the epidemiological studies may conclude that fatigue is a likely or possible risk factor for injury, no prospective study has yet attempted to formally measure fatigue and directly relate it to injury incidence. Overall, this Chapter highlights a need for further epidemiological research on the role of fatigue in sports injury. In lieu of direct evidence, the Chapter reviews the physiological basis for a link between fatigue and musculoskeletal injury risk and discusses the evidence for effects of "cognitive" fatigue on sports performance that is likely to raise injury risk. The Chapter then combines this fundamental evidence for fatigue effects with aetiological models for sports injury causation to highlight key areas where significant knowledge gaps currently exist. Finally, suggestions for a future research agenda that adopts a truly multidisciplinary research strategy are given, for this very important topic.
Factors that are most influential in children's continued and discontinued participation in organised sport: the role of injury and injury risk perceptions
- Authors: Siesmaa, Emma , Blitvich, Jennifer , Telford, Amanda , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Sport participation: Health benefits, injuries and psychological effects p. 47-84
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Children‘s involvement in sport has increased over the past decade, with the health benefits associated with regular physical activity and, more specifically sports, now well established. Sport participation makes an important contribution to children‘s overall physical activity levels, and reduces the risks of childhood obesity and other associated childhood diseases. Although the benefits of sport participation are known and sport injury among children has become an international public health concern, it remains unclear how sport injury impacts on children‘s long-term sport involvement. This Chapter presents the detailed findings from a qualitative investigation of the key factors that influence children‘s continued sport participation, possible sport dropout and their sports choices, while exploring the potential impact that sport injury and injury risk perception has on children‘s organised sport behaviours. In this study a total of 43 children, aged 9-17 years, who were involved in an organised (after school) sport, took part in one of eight focus group discussions. Children were recruited from one of six sports (Australian football, badminton, golf, netball, soccer and swimming) and all participated at a community club or sub-elite level. Each focus group consisted of 5-6 children and each separate discussion was approximately 30-minutes duration. Focus groups were conducted until saturation of themes was obtained. Questions focused on children‘s sport participation, reasons for their continuation/discontinuation of sport and the encouragement/discouragement they received from parents. Other key factors that were discussed included injuries that children had sustained while participating and whether sport injury or child‘s perception of injury risk discouraged their participation and/or impacted on their parents‘ support of their participation. Overall, few children were concerned about the risk of injury while participating in sport. However, many children discussed not wanting to play contact sports such as Australian football, rugby or boxing, perceiving these sports as being too rough, and with an increased chance of injury. The main reasons the sport-active children reported for discontinuing their prior sport involvement were a lack of enjoyment and restrictions on their time. Children reported parents to be supportive of their participation in sport regardless of safety concerns. No instances of parents preventing child sport involvement were reported by children. The results from this study can be used to inform sporting bodies and health agencies of the sport injury and safety concerns held by children and how these impact on their choice of sporting activity, while highlighting areas that can be targeted in order to retain child participants.
The long-term impact of overuse injuries on life-long participation in sport and health status
- Authors: Cook, Jill , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Sport participation: Health benefits, injuries and psychological effects p. 85-104
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Overuse injuries are common in many sports and it is well known that they can negatively influence ongoing participation in sport, especially during the period when people recover and rehabilitate from these injuries. Much less is recognised about the longer-term impact of these overuse injuries, with most focus in the literature appearing to be on the outcomes of acute, traumatic injuries. This chapter provides an overview of the available evidence that links overuse injuries to restriction of sport participation and other physical activities in both the short term and longer term, as well as the associated health issues that may be associated with this. In particular, residual musculoskeletal deficits that might affect future joint and tendon health and injury risk are reviewed. By drawing on models describing the chronicity of problems such as poor tendon health and osteoarthritis and the recently presenting LOAD (List of All Deficits) injury outcome framework, this chapter presents a new conceptual approach towards understanding the significant impact of overuse injuries that arise during sport on subsequent health and sports participation across the lifespan.
Implementing studies into real life
- Authors: Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Sports injury research p. 213-235
- Full Text: false
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Statistics used in effect studies
- Authors: Hayen, Andrew , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Sports injury research Chapter Part 5 : Evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of preventive measures p. 183-196
- Full Text: false
The relationships between pre-match hydration status, match performance, injury and body mass changes in elite Australian footballers
- Authors: Quinn, John , Finch, Caroline , Coutts, Aaron
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Science and football VI: The proceedings of the Sixth World Congress on Science and Football p. 260-263
- Full Text: false
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Protective equipment to prevent wrist fractures
- Authors: Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: World report on child injury prevention Chapter 5 p. 108
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: 2003006719
Sports injuries
- Authors: Dennis, Rebecca , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International Encyclopedia of Public Health p. 206-211
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Participation in sport is encouraged by government agencies and physical activity experts because participation provides health, physical, mental, social, and economic benefits to the individual and community. However, an increased level of participation in sport can increase exposure to the hazards and risks associated with injury. This overview of sports injury describes their epidemiology, the types of injuries that can be sustained, the activities most commonly associated with injury, and the potential risk factors. Injury prevention strategies are also described, with examples to demonstrate the range of approaches available to sports participants, coaches, referees, and administrators. © 2008 Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.