Happy hips

How ‘hip’ can a medical journal be? Hopefully, this edition of BJSM goes some way to answering this question. We headline products from the Oxford consensus on primary cam morphology and femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome, which builds on previous collaborative processes also published in BJSM.1 Led by Paul Dijkstra, the Young Athlete’s Hip Research (YAHiR) Collaborative has produced two excellent consensus statements. The first (see page 325) addresses primary cam morphology and its definitions, terminology, taxonomy and imaging, while the second (see page 342) focuses on developing a roadmap for research priorities, policy and funding. Despite the vast amount of information on FAI syndrome and its potential consequences, the authors do a sterling job of using text boxes, graphics and figures to deliver succinct clinical and research messages. Formulated by an inclusive and comprehensive consensus process that involved diverse stakeholders, athletes, and even a dissenting opinion analysis, these papers place a distinct emphasis on knowledge translation, ensuring that the concepts deliberated on do not remain in the conference room or on journal pages and that the both the clinician and patient understand the concept and importance of ‘happy hips’. For the full BJSM experience why not listen to the podcast by Oxford Consensus coauthor and BJSM Editor Joanne Kemp ‘What makes a happy hip?’2

A model consensus

The YAHiR collaboration and consensus format represents an inclusive process in every sense, from the make-up of the diverse international expert panel (18 countries, 6 stakeholder groups, 40% women), the two-round Delphi process, rigorous deliberations and voting procedure all of which are documented in the papers and supplements. This format aligns well with both the BJSM guidelines for consensus statements3 and the recently released equity, diversity and inclusion reporting guidelines.4

For a synopsis of the natural history of FAI syndrome that informs clinical practice and research, the authors have also produced a concise 14-point summary and easy-to-follow infographic highlighting three potential clinical outcomes (see page 382) . Used in conjunction with the two consensus papers, this is an excellent desktop guide to patient care in young athletes with FAI syndrome.

While on the consensus theme, look out for the sixth international consensus statement on concussion in sport and accompanying systematic reviews to be published in May 2023.

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Young athletes’ physical and mental well-being

Using a parallel-group cluster randomised controlled trial, Jenny Jacobson leads a group of prominent Swedish researchers in demonstrating the efficacy of a universal prevention intervention for youth athletes via a digital health platform, lowering injury incidence in a season of outdoor track-and-field compared with a control group (see page 364) . Using email alerts over a 4-month period, athletes, parents and coaches in the intervention cohort were prompted to log on to a website covering topics such as overuse and acute injuries, recovery and training planning. The injury incidence was significantly lower in the intervention group who also had a prolonged time to first injury compared with controls, providing some insight into potential ways of implementing injury prevention programmes across sports organisations.

The current issue moves from musculoskeletal injuries to cardiac screening in paediatric athletes. A systematic review and quality appraisal of current policies for cardiovascular screening of youth athletes was performed by a multinational group led by Guido Pieles of Aspetar (see page 371) . The authors have highlighted a lack of clear evidence-based guidelines specific to the paediatric athlete population, indicating a need for better research to develop data-informed cardiac screening recommendations for our youngest athletes.

There is seldom an edition of BJSM that does not highlight the benefits of regular physical activity (PA) in a range of scenarios. In this edition, researchers from Wisconsin evaluated changes in mental health, quality of life and PA among adolescent athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic as organised sports resumed (see page 359) . Using a range of validated mental health screening tools, over 17 000 adolescent participants were screened. Mental health worsened with COVID-19 sport restrictions and significantly improved as restrictions were lifted. Concerningly though, levels of depression and anxiety among adolescent athletes remained higher even after sports resumption, sending a clear message that attention to youth mental health, as well as physical health, should be prioritised.

Enjoy this edition of BJSM and be sure to join the ‘young and hip’ sport and exercise medicine crowd by not only reading the high quality peer-reviewed papers but also utilising the journal’s resources page, blogs and podcasts.