Original research
A retrospective service audit of a mobile physiotherapy unit on the PGA European golf tour

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2010.09.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

A 2-year retrospective audit was conducted to evaluate injury diagnosis and treatment provision from a mobile physiotherapy unit serving the Professional Golf Association (PGA) European Tour.

Design

Across two competitive seasons (2005/06), service data was collected at 36 tournaments (18 in 2005 and 18 in 2006). Service at each tournament was from Tuesday to Sunday, and equated to 216 days in total. Each approach made to the unit throughout this time was anonymously recorded as either i) a ‘contact’ where an injury diagnosis and/or treatment was provided, or ii) a ‘non-contact’ where no service was administered and players used the on-board fitness suite.

Results

Across the audit period a total of 7430 approaches were made to the unit, equating to 206 per event or 34 per service day. From all approaches 6705 ‘contacts’ were documented with 2328 injuries recorded. A total of 9933 separate treatments were administered equating to 276 per event or 46 per day. Non-contacts equated to 725, representing only 9.8% of all approaches. Of the 2328 reported injuries, 66.6% (1551) were back-related, with 16.6% (385) and 16.8% (392), being related to upper and lower limbs, respectively. Of the 9933 treatments, 71.3% (7087) related to massage (40.7%), manipulation (15.6%) and stretching therapies (15.0%). As an overall trend, the total number of injury diagnoses and treatments increased across the 2-year period. The number of reported injuries rose by 25.6% (2005 = 1032; 2006 = 1296), whilst treatments rose by 17.2% (2005 = 4575; 2006 = 5359).

Conclusions

This retrospective audit provides a valuable insight into a servicing mobile physiotherapy unit on a professional sporting tour. Findings reveal the specific type and location of injuries encountered by PGA European Tour players as well as the range of treatments administered. In developing effective support services to the professional player on tour, data presented will allow for a more structured injury management system based of typical injury occurrence and treatment provision.

Introduction

With a growing worldwide schedule on the professional golf tour, the demand on players to repeatedly perform optimally to ensure ranking points and secure income can place tremendous strain on the body’s physical capabilities. Explained through playing habits and inappropriate biomechanical swing characteristics (McCarroll and Gioe, 1982, Thériault and Lachance, 1998) such strain can lead to acute physical breakdown (McHardy, Pollard, & Luo, 2006). Considering the physical requirements to perform repeated dynamic movement (Hume, Keogh, & Reid, 2005) coupled with the pressures to succeed on the professional circuit, the likelihood of injury occurrence throughout the season will as a consequence be increased (McCarroll & Gioe, 1982). With the resultant negative impact on performance success, any injury onset for the touring player must be appropriately managed whilst on tour to ensure optimal playing capabilities are reinstated as quickly as possible.

It must be viewed that with in excess of 2000 swings being performed by the professional through practice and competition per week (Pink, Perry, & Jobe, 1993), such repetitive musculo-skeletal involvement will increase the risk of golf-specific injuries. Consequently, the concern for the tour professional is that when injury ensues, a correct diagnosis, followed by immediate and effective treatment ensures rapid and effective recovery.

As reported in previous epidemiological studies, the prevalence of injury-related conditions on the professional player has highlighted trends in injury frequency and site location (Gosheger et al., 2003, Hadden et al., 1992, McCarroll and Gioe, 1982, Sugaya et al., 1999). Self-assessment retrospective questionnaire data from select respondents has provided some insight into the actual injury prevalence during the professional season. To date however no data are currently available to illustrate typical treatments administered during professional tournament play. The need for diagnostic evaluations by clinical practitioners to accurately catalogue player injury profiles during the long tour schedule would add validity to findings. Furthermore, documentary detail outlining injury treatments would update existing epidemiological data to allow for the development of more effective and efficient service provision supporting professional athletes during competitive involvement.

Averaging two injuries per year (McCarroll & Gioe, 1982), the touring player needs to receive supportive attention to assist in the management of injuries in order to prevent lost playing time. Based on previous reports (Hellström, 2002, McHardy et al., 2006), it is not unrealistic to assume that players who develop injuries during the course of the season carry these from one tournament to the next. Complete recovery may only occur when such injury causes extended rest from the player’s schedule or a natural break in their schedule allows for more specific rehabilitation. For the player therefore, access to specialists during the tournament may provide the ‘quick fix’ solution until the end of season when more extended treatment can be applied.

The purpose of the study therefore was to conduct a 2-year retrospective audit on service provision provided by a mobile physiotherapy unit attending a number of PGA European Tour events. By providing a valuable insight into such service provision offered by a mobile unit, it is hoped that data will allow for more structured management of injuries during tournament play to assist the player in reinstating optimal playing capabilities. Furthermore, it is hoped that findings from the present study will allow for the development of more golf-specific diagnostic and treatment tools in order to provide effective support services to the professional player both within and between tournament play.

Section snippets

Design

This retrospective cohort study design utilized service data collected at 36 separate events over a 2-year competition period on the PGA European Tour (Table 1). Exposure data was obtained from the unit’s annual summative records with all personal details removed. All players provided consent for the use of anonymous summative data in accordance with the European PGA Tour privacy policy and approval for the study was granted by the ethics committee in accordance with the University of Lincoln’s

Results

This study was undertaken to evaluate a mobile physiotherapy unit serving 36 separate events on the PGA European Tour in 2005/2006. The unit provided service for a total of 216 days throughout this period. As seen in Table 2, throughout the course of the 36 tournaments attended by the unit, a total of 7430 approaches were made by players, averaging 206 per event or 34 per service day (Tuesday to Sunday). A total of 6705 ‘contacts’ were recorded, accounting for 90.2% of all approaches. In 2005,

Discussion

During 36 PGA European Tour events spanning two competitive seasons (2005/2006), service data was collected from a mobile physiotherapy service unit that provided professional players with an injury management system. Offering diagnostic and treatment-related support, injury occurrence and treatment delivery were securely-recorded to provide a primacy account as to work undertaken by the unit. In evaluating retrospective cohort data, the current audit provides a valuable insight into the

Statement of ethics

In accordance with institutional ethics procedures and guidelines, ethical approval was granted for this original piece of research.

Funding

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this original article.

Conflict of interest statement

None.

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