Effectiveness of a warm-up programme to reduce injuries in youth volleyball players : a quasi-experiment

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Authors

Verhagen, Evert
Vriend, Ingrid
Gouttebarge, Vincent
Kemler, Ellen
De Wit, Jacqueline
Zomerdijk, Daniel
Nauta, Joske

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Publisher

BMJ Publishing Group

Abstract

OBJECTIVES : To establish the effectiveness of the ‘VolleyVeilig’ programme on reducing injury rate, injury burden and injury severity in youth volleyball players. METHODS : We conducted a quasi-experimental prospective study over one season of youth volleyball. After randomisation by competition region, we instructed 31 control teams (236 children, average age 12.58±1.66) to use their usual warm-up routine. The ‘VolleyVeilig’ programme was provided to 35 intervention teams (282 children, average age 12.90±1.59). This programme had to be used during each warm-up before training sessions and matches. We sent a weekly survey to all coaches, collecting data on each player’s volleyball exposure and injuries sustained. Multilevel analyses estimated differences in injury rates and burden between both groups, and we used non-parametric bootstrapping to compare the differences in injury numbers and injury severity. RESULTS : We found an overall reduction in injury rates of 30% for intervention teams (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.39 to 1.33). Detailed analyses revealed differences for acute (HR 0.58; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.97) and upper extremity injuries (HR 0.41; 95% CI 0.20 to 0.83). Compared with control teams, the intervention teams had a relative injury burden of 0.39 (95% CI 0.30 to 0.52) and a relative injury severity of 0.49 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.95). Only 44% of teams fully adhered to the intervention. CONCLUSION : We established that the ‘VolleyVeilig’ programme was associated with reduced acute and upper extremity injury rates and lower injury burden and severity in youth volleyball players. While we advise implementation of the programme, programme updates to improve adherence are needed.

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Keywords

Warm-up programme, Injury rate, Injury burden, Injury severity, Youth, Volleyball players

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Citation

Verhagen, E., Vriend, I., Gouttebarge, V., et al. Effectiveness of a warm-up programme to reduce injuries in youth volleyball players: a quasi-experiment. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2023;57(8):464-470, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105425.