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  • Clinical predictors of time to return to competition and of recurrence following hamstring strain in elite Australian footballers

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Original article
Clinical predictors of time to return to competition and of recurrence following hamstring strain in elite Australian footballers
  1. Price Warren1,
  2. Belinda J Gabbe2,
  3. Michal Schneider-Kolsky3,
  4. Kim L Bennell1
  1. 1Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, School of Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  2. 2Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  3. 3Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Professor Kim L Bennell, Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, School of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; k.bennell{at}unimelb.edu.au

Abstract

Objective To investigate early clinical predictors of time to return to competition and of recurrence following hamstring strain.

Design Prospective observational study.

Setting Elite level of Australian football competition.

Participant 59 players who suffered a hamstring strain in 2002 season.

Predictors Clinical assessment by a physiotherapist and questionnaire.

Main outcome measures Time taken to return to play and recurrence of hamstring injury within 3 weeks.

Results Players taking more than 1 day to walk pain-free were significantly more likely (p=0.018) to take longer than 3 weeks to return to competition (adjusted odds ratio 4.0; 95% CI 1.3 to 12.6). Nine players (15.2%) experienced an injury recurrence, all involving the biceps femoris. Recurrence was more likely in players who reported a hamstring injury in the past 12 months (adjusted odds ratio 19.6; 95% CI 1.5 to 261.0; p=0.025).

Conclusion Time to walk pain-free and previous hamstring injury are predictors of time to return to competition and recurrence, respectively, and should be included in a clinical assessment to aid in prognosis.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2008.048181

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    Footnotes

    • Funding The authors acknowledge the Australian Football League for financial support and the assistance of the AFL doctors and physiotherapists. BJG was supported by a Career Development Award (465103) from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia during the preparation of this manuscript.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Provenance and peer review ed Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Patient consent Obtained.