Warm-up decreases lower extremity injuries in female athletes

January 01, 0001

Warm-up decreases lower extremity injuries in female athletes

These US investigators conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of coach-led neuromuscular warm-up on reducing lower extremity (LE) injuries in female adolescent athletes in a mixed-ethnicity, predominantly low-income, urban population. Participants were 95 coaches who enrolled enrolled 1558 athletes. Ninety coaches and 1492 athletes completed the study. They randomized schools to intervention and control groups. They trained intervention coaches to implement a 20-minute neuromuscular warm-up. Control coaches used their usual warm-up.

They found: "There were 28,023 intervention athlete exposures (AEs) and 22,925 control AEs. Intervention coaches used prescribed warm-up in 1425 of 1773 practices (80.4%). Intervention athletes had lower rates per 1000 AEs of gradual-onset LE injuries (0.43 vs 1.22), acute-onset noncontact LE injuries (0.71 vs 1.61), noncontact ankle sprains (0.25 vs 0.74), and LE injuries treated surgically (0 vs 0.17). Regression analysis showed significant incidence rate ratios for acute-onset noncontact LE injuries (0.33), noncontact ankle sprains (0.38), noncontact knee sprains (0.30), and noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries (0.20)."

The authors concluded: "Coach-led neuromuscular warm-up reduces noncontact LE injuries in female high school soccer and basketball athletes from a mixed-ethnicity, predominantly low-income, urban population."

Warm-up makes a difference in preventing lower extremity injuries.

For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med © 2011 to the American Medical Association
Effect of Neuromuscular Warm-up on Injuries in Female Soccer and Basketball Athletes in Urban Public High Schools: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. Cynthia R. LaBella, Michael R. Huxford, Joe Grissom, et al. Correspondence to Dr. LaBella: clabella@childrensmemorial.org

Category: M. Musculoskeletal. Keywords: athlete, female, lower extremity, injuries, warm-up, cluster randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 22 November 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.