PARTNERS
McGill University
Calgary University
FUNDING
Amsterdam Movement Sciences
BACKGROUND
Although physical activity reduces disability and mortality, and improves mental health, being active also entails a risk of injury. Injury is an important reason for dropout from exercise in adults. Also among youth, sport injuries are a relevant cause for reduced physical activity levels. In total, 30-40% of all injuries lead to medical attention, producing substantial health care costs.
Injury refers to tissue damage. Biomechanically, an injury occurs when the stress applied to a tissue (load) is greater than the stress the tissue can withstand (load capacity). Common injury prevention programs are mainly focused on increasing the load capacity. Overuse-related injuries occur when the load is too high over a longer period without the appropriate recovery. Traumatic injuries may occur due to fatigue (reduced load capacity) that decreases physical control and psychological focus. Therefore, an appropriate recovery time is required between activity sessions.
Striking a balance between activity load and injury risk is a common goal for individuals and athletes of all levels and ages. However, there is currently little high-quality evidence on the association between activity load and injury risk, as existing studies are based on (too) small samples with short follow-up of a limited number of adult elite team sports. Further, the used analytical methods are known to produce biased estimates.
OBJECTIVES
The goal is to establish sports injury risk profile charts. These charts will visualize the individual risk of sport participants based on their multifactorial risk profile. The outcomes will support sports and clinical practice in managing activity load and recovery to prevent injury. This aim will be achieved through three objectives:
(1) Combining existing large-scale prospective data sets on injury risk factors, activity load, and injury outcomes;
(2) Establishing a multifactorial injury risk model out of this combined data set, using state-of-the-art analytical approaches; and
(3) Translating the outcomes into clinically usable risk profiles.