Original paperHip adductor muscle strength is reduced preceding and during the onset of groin pain in elite junior Australian football players
Introduction
Groin injury has a high incidence in all football codes. Elite junior Australian football players have an increased risk of developing groin injury compared with their senior counterparts with over 50 injuries per ten thousand player hours.1 Although this condition is poorly defined and lacks clear diagnostic criteria, it is one that is prone to chronicity and recurrence.2
It has been suggested that groin pain is part of a continuum of pathology and that early identification might be the key to optimal management.3, 4 Several clubs in the Australian Football League reportedly perform screening of hip adductor muscle strength in individual players as they believe a loss of strength may precede the onset of groin injury.4 The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that hip adductor muscle strength is decreased in the weeks preceding the onset of groin injury in a group of elite junior Australian footballers.
Section snippets
Methods
Participants were recruited from the pre-season training squads of two elite under-age Australian football clubs competing in the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) Cup. Players (n = 113, aged 16–18 years) gave informed written consent, which included consent from a parent or guardian, to participate in this study which had been approved by the University Human Research Ethics Committee. Players completed an initial survey of demographic information. A pain provocation test called the “squeeze”
Results
After the application of exclusion criteria 86 players remained in the study (Club 1 = 53; Club 2 = 33). Over the pre-season period nine players (Club 1 = 6; Club 2 = 3) were deselected by coaches from the training squads and consequently dropped out of the study. No other players chose to withdraw from the study. No significant differences in height (p = 0.25), weight (p = 0.36) or baseline hip adductor muscle strength (p = 0.24) were apparent between the two clubs.
The largest variation in the mean hip
Discussion
This study supports the role of regular screening by the use of a hand-held dynamometer to allow for early identification of groin injury. Further investigation is required to establish the real value of this protocol in terms of its impact on groin injury duration.
The finding of a high incidence of groin injury in this population of elite junior Australian footballers is consistent with results reporting an onset of groin injury in 4 out of a group of 18 elite junior soccer players (16–17
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by equipment grants from Sports Medicine Australia (Victoria branch).
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