In a collaboration with our colleagues at the Erasmus Medical Center, we studied the impact of initial healthcare on the outcome of neuromuscular training (NMT) for recurrent sprains. Ankle sprains remain one of the most common traumas to the musculoskeletal system, and have long-lasting impact on physical function and the use of medical care, up to 12 months after the injury. Based on our previous preventive studies we questioned whether there is an association between the healthcare provider who treated the index sprain and the effect of NMT on recurrent ankle sprains and, also, whether athlete characteristics differ between the different type of healthcare providers. These characteristics will be useful for healthcare providers to take into account when choosing intervention strategies or determine prognosis.
Read MoreStrengthen Your Ankle
Injury prevention by app or paper? Athletes say both options are fine.
Better late than never .. this one was published some months ago, but we failed to share it yet. The “Strengthen Your Ankle” neuromuscular training program has been thoroughly studied over the past 8 years. This process evaluation is a part of a randomized controlled trial that examined both the short- and long-term effectiveness of this particular program. Although it was shown previously that the program, available both in a printed booklet and as a mobile app, is able to effectively reduce the number of recurrent ankle sprains, participants’ compliance with the program is an ongoing challenge. This process evaluation explored participants’ opinions regarding both methods of delivery.
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Preventing recurrent ankle sprains: the implementation effectiveness of the ‘strengthen your ankle’ app
Last Tuesday Miriam van Reijen successfully defense her PhD Thesis “Preventing recurrent ankle sprains: the implementation effectiveness of the ‘strengthen your ankle’ app”. In her project she set out to investigate whether an effective intervention disseminated through an app helps to increase compliance to the prescribed program. Turns it does not help as much as much as we imagined.
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Are mobile apps superior as an intervention delivery tool?
Just out in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport .. the ink still dripping from the pages. Our most recent result on the effectiveness of mobile applications as a tool for injury prevention in sports. Our study showed that the implementation method of a NMT program by using an App or a Booklet did neither lead to different injury incidence rates in the long term nor did it influence residual functional disability/pain.
Read MoreCompliance affects injury prevention study outcomes, but is ill measured ...
When establishing the effectiveness of any injury prevention intervention, knowledge about which percentage of the studied population complied with the prescribed protocol is required. Especially in an intention-to-treat (ITT) approach, insights into the compliance to the intervention provides valuable and, arguably, necessary information to judge the efficacy and effectiveness of an intervention.
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