Gender- and/or sex-specific considerations for sport-related injury : a concept mapping approach for the Female, woman and/or girl Athlete Injury pRevention (FAIR) consensus

Abstract

OBJECTIVE : This study aimed to gather and represent experts' perspectives on the gender- and/or sex-specific factors relevant to injury risk for female/woman/girl athletes. METHODS : Mixed-methods concept mapping study. Sixty-six experts including cisgendered (1) athlete/coach/carers, (2) clinicians, (3) sports science/high-performance professional, (4) administrators and (5) researchers brainstormed statements to a prompt ('What gender-specific and/or sex-specific factors do you think contribute to injury risk among female, woman and girl athletes?') before thematically sorting and rating the statements/factors for importance and modifiability (5-point Likert scales). RESULTS : Ten clusters were constructed from 101 unique statements/factors. The clusters (number of statements) include: (1) Inequitable organisational funding and support (n=17); (2) Athletes' lack of, and access to, resources (n=7); (3) Lack of knowledge and expertise among support staff (n=6); (4) Lack of evidence for, and implementation of gender and sex-appropriate injury prevention (n=20); (5) Sex-related factors (n=14); (6) Gendered health (n=8); (7) Gendered expectations to conform to athletic ideals and norms (n=10); (8) Gendered harassment (interpersonal violence) and social biases (n=9); (9) Gendered sport environment (7); (10) Gendered communication (n=3). Lack of knowledge and expertise among support staff was deemed the most important and modifiable cluster to address gender- and/or sex-specific factors relevant to injury prevention for female/woman/girl athletes. CONCLUSION : Ten gender- and/or sex-specific clusters, ranging from organisational to biological considerations and societal influences, were defined that could impact female/woman/girl athlete injury risk factors. Advancing stronger evidence for gender and sex appropriate injury prevention is urgently needed.