RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Universal prevention through a digital health platform reduces injury incidence in youth athletics (track and field): a cluster randomised controlled trial
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP 364
OP 371
DO 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105332
VO 57
IS 6
A1 Jenny Jacobsson
A1 Jan Kowalski
A1 Toomas Timpka
A1 Per-Olof Hansson
A1 Armin Spreco
A1 Orjan Dahlstrom
YR 2023
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/6/364.abstract
AB Objectives To examine whether universal prevention via a digital health platform can reduce the injury incidence in athletics athletes aged 12–15 years and if club size had an influence on the effect of the intervention.Methods This was a cluster randomised trial where young athletics athletes were randomised through their club following stratification by club size into intervention (11 clubs; 56 athletes) and control (10 clubs; 79 athletes) groups. The primary endpoint was time from baseline to the first self-reported injury. Intervention group parents and coaches were given access to a website with health information adapted to adolescent athletes and were encouraged to log in and explore its content during 16 weeks. The control group continued training as normal. Training exposure and injury data were self-reported by youths/parents every second week, that is, eight times. The primary endpoint data were analysed using the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyse the second study aim with intervention status and club size included in the explanatory models.Results The proportion of completed training reports was 85% (n=382) in the intervention group and 86% (n=545) in the control group. The injury incidence was significantly lower (HR=0.62; χ2=3.865; p=0.049) in the intervention group. The median time to first injury was 16 weeks in the intervention group and 8 weeks in the control group. An interaction effect between the intervention and stratification factor was observed with a difference in injury risk between athletes in the large clubs in the intervention group versus their peers in the control group (HR 0.491 (95% CI 0.242 to 0.998); p=0.049).Conclusions A protective effect against injury through universal access to health information adapted for adolescent athletes was observed in youth athletics athletes. The efficacy of the intervention was stronger in large clubs.Trial registration number NCT03459313.Data are available on reasonable request.