Players, Head Coaches, And Medical Personnels Knowledge, Understandings and Perceptions of Injuries and Injury Prevention in Elite-Level Womens Football in IrelandShow others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: SPORTS MEDICINE-OPEN, ISSN 2199-1170, Vol. 9, no 1, article id 64Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
BackgroundTo manage injuries effectively, players, head coaches, and medical personnel need to have excellent knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours in relation to the identification of risk factors for injuries, the implementation of injury prevention initiatives, as well as the implementation of effective injury management strategies. Understanding the injury context, whereby specific personal, environmental, and societal factors can influence the implementation of injury prevention initiatives and injury management strategies is critical to player welfare. To date, no qualitative research investigating the context of injuries, has been undertaken in elite-level womens football. The aim of our study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of players, head coaches, and medical personnel in the Irish Womens National League (WNL) to injury prevention and injury management.MethodsWe used qualitative research methods to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of players, head coaches, and medical personnel in the Irish WNL to injury prevention and injury management. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 17 players, 8 medical personnel, and 7 head coaches in the Irish WNL. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Our study is located within an interpretivist, constructivist research paradigm.ResultsThe participants had incomplete knowledge of common injuries in elite-level football, and many held beliefs about risk factors for injuries, such as menstrual cycle stage, which lacked evidence to support them. Jumping and landing exercises were commonly used to reduce the risk of injuries but evidence-based injury prevention exercises and programmes such as the Nordic hamstring curl, Copenhagen adduction exercise, and the FIFA 11+ were rarely mentioned. Overall, there was dissatisfaction amongst players with their medical care and strength and conditioning (S & C) support, with resultant inadequate communication between players, head coaches, and medical personnel.ConclusionPoor quality and availability of medical care and S & C support were considered to be a major obstacle in the effective implementation of injury risk reduction strategies and successful return-to-sport practices. More original research is required in elite-level womens football to explore injury risk factors, injury prevention initiatives, and contextual return-to-sport strategies, so that players, head coaches, and medical personnel can use evidence that is both up-to-date and specific to their environment.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SPRINGER , 2023. Vol. 9, no 1, article id 64
Keywords [en]
Football; Sports medicine; Injuries; Women; Prevention
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-196625DOI: 10.1186/s40798-023-00603-6ISI: 001036961500001PubMedID: 37515647OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-196625DiVA, id: diva2:1788570
2023-08-162023-08-162023-12-21