Effects of a multifactorial injury prevention intervention in physical education teachers: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Physical education (PE) teachers are at a high risk of musculoskeletal sports or work-related injuries because of the physical activity as inherent part of their profession. Such injuries have a negative impact on work and leisure time activities, and effective injury prevention interventions are needed. The present study aimed at testing the effectiveness of an injury prevention intervention that was developed and optimized according to PE teachers' wishes and values. Fifty-five PE teachers were randomly assigned to intervention or control group. Intervention group teachers engaged in two days of training during which they familiarized with eight injury prevention strategies (seven intrinsic and one extrinsic). A special feature of the intervention was that the way of delivery was based on the self-determination theory in order to stimulate participants' motivation to adhere to the proposed strategies. Prospective registrations during one school year were conducted concerning injuries and preventive behaviours. Results showed that the intervention group teachers had a lower number of injuries per 1000 h time of exposure (TOE) than the controls (INT: 0.49, CON: 1.14 injuries/1000 h TOE, OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.06–5.07), and applied a broader variety of strategies including dynamic and static stretching, core stability, balance and strength training, when compared to the controls who mainly engaged in warming-up. In conclusion, with the same amount of time, an injury reduction was found in PE teachers through a more balanced use of provided preventive strategies.