Sports injury prevention programmes from the sports physical therapist's perspective: An international expert Delphi approach

Abstract

ObjectiveTo provide consensus on how to plan, organize and implement exercise-based injury prevention program (IPP) in sports. DesignDelphi. SettingLimeSurvey platform. ParticipantsExperienced sports physical therapists from the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy member countries. Main outcome measuresFactors related to sports IPP planning, organization and implementation. ResultsWe included 305 participants from 32 countries. IPP planning should be based on an athlete's injury history, on pre-season screening results, and on injury rates (respectively, 98%, 92%, 89% agreement). In total 97% participants agreed that IPP organization should depend on the athlete's age, 93% on the competition level, and 93% on the availability of low-cost materials. It was agreed that IPP should mainly be implemented in warm-up sessions delivered by the head or strength/conditioning coach, with physical training sessions and individual physical therapy sessions (respectively, 94%, 92%, 90% agreement). ConclusionStrong consensus was reached on (1) IPP based on the athlete's injury history, pre-season screening and evidence-based sports-specific injury rates; (2) IPP organization based on the athlete's age, competition level, and the availability of low-cost materials and (3) IPP implementation focussing on warm-up sessions implemented by the strength/conditioning coach, and/or individual prevention sessions by the physical therapist.