A warm-up program to reduce injuries in youth field hockey players: A quasi-experiment

Abstract

Context: Field hockey is popular worldwide; however, it entails a risk of injury. Injuries hamper players’ participation in the sport and impose a burden on public health. Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a structured exercise program among youth field hockey players on the injury rate, severity, and burden. Design: Quasi-experimental study. Setting: On field during 1 season of field hockey (October 2016 through June 2017). Patients or Other Participants: A convenience sample of 22 teams (291 players): 10 teams (135 players, mean age ¼ 11.5 years [95% confidence interval (CI) ¼ 11.2, 11.7 years]) in the intervention group and 12 teams (156 players, mean age ¼ 12.9 years [95% CI ¼ 12.6, 13.2 years]) in the control group. Intervention(s): The Warming-up Hockey program, a sex- and age-specific, structured, evidence-informed warm-up program consisting of a preparation phase (ie, agility and cardiovascular warm-up exercises), movement skills (ie, stability and flexibility exercises), and sport-specific skills (ie, speed and strength exercises in field hockey situations). Participants in the control group performed their usual warm-up routines. Main Outcome Measure(s): Injury rate (ie, the number of injuries per 1000 player-hours of field hockey exposure), severity (ie, days of player time-loss), and burden on athletes’ availability to play (ie, days of time loss due to injury per 1000 player-hours of field hockey exposure). Results: The injury rate was lower in the intervention group (hazard ratio of 0.64 [95% CI ¼ 0.38, 1.07]); however, this result was not statistically significant. The severity of injuries was similar in both groups (t statistic P ¼ .73). The burden of injuries on players’ field hockey participation was lower in the intervention group (difference of 8.42 [95% CI ¼ 4.37, 12.47] days lost per 1000 player-hours of field hockey). Conclusions: Exposure to the Warming-up Hockey program was not significantly associated with a lower injury rate. No reduction was observed in the severity of injuries alone; however, the burden of injuries on players’ field hockey participation was lower in the intervention group.