Training load management to reduce injuries in elite youth football
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN18177140 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN18177140 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 93841844 |
- Submission date
- 21/12/2017
- Registration date
- 16/02/2018
- Last edited
- 14/10/2020
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Injury, Occupational Diseases, Poisoning
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Youth football has similar injury problems to adult football, and injuries should therefore be considered a problem. An injury to a youth footballer could be detrimental to their ambitions and even worse, make them drop out of organized sports. However, research has shown that it is possible to reduce the rate of injuries in youth football. For example, the FIFA 11+ has shown a large reduction in overall injuries. However, prevention interventions in football have to date focused almost exclusively on interventions designed to alter intrinsic modifiable risk factors, for example through a structured warm up. Although training load seems to be highly associated with injury risk, no intervention has to date investigated training load management. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a training load progression model on injuries in elite youth footballers.
Who can participate?
Male and female footballers aged 15-19 from one of the top three tiers in Norwegian Junior football
What does the study involve?
The participating teams are randomly allocated to either the intervention group or the control group. Teams in the intervention group conduct training based on a load progression model. The control group is asked to continue normal training activity.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The knowledge gained will be of use to researchers, doctors and coaching staff working with all team sports. This program have no side effects and there is no potential risk involved in participating in the study. The total duration of intervention and follow-up is 11 months. The percentage of players reporting a health issue is measured using a questionnaire via text message on the last Sunday of each month.
Where is the study run from?
Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (Norway)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2018 to November 2018
Who is funding the study?
Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (Norway)
Who is the main contact?
Torstein Dalen
torstein.dalen@nih.no
Contact information
Public
Sognsveien 220
Oslo
0863
Norway
| Phone | +47 (0)93841844 |
|---|---|
| torstein.dalen@gmail.com |
Scientific
Sognsveien 220
Oslo
0863
Norway
| Phone | +47 (0)93841844 |
|---|---|
| torstein.dalen@nih.no |
Study information
| Study design | Single-center cluster randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Prevention |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet |
| Scientific title | Training load management to reduce injuries in elite youth football: a cluster randomised controlled trial |
| Study objectives | Individual training load management can reduce risk of injuries among elite youth footballers. |
| Ethics approval(s) | The Norwegian School of Sciences Ethics Board, 21/12/2017, ref: 39-191217 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Risk of injuries among elite youth footballers |
| Intervention | The trialists will cluster randomise on a team level. A computer-generated block randomisation will be performed, with block sizes of 4 and 6 in random order. After a team agrees to participate, the principal investigator will open a sealed envelope revealing their group assignment. The teams will be randomly allocated to either the intervention group (18 teams, 300 players) or the control group (18 teams, 300 players). Intervention group coaches will be given access to a digital tool for training load management. The coaches will plan their player's training weeks based on a progression model. The control group is asked to continue normal training activity. The total duration of intervention and follow-up is 11 months. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Prevalence of health problems (percentage of players reporting a health issue), collected using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Questionnaire via an SMS system on the last Sunday of each month |
| Secondary outcome measures | Incidence of injuries, collected through previously reported method (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27034126) where the teams provide all time-loss injuries and illnesses |
| Overall study start date | 01/01/2018 |
| Completion date | 30/11/2018 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Other |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 600 |
| Total final enrolment | 482 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Elite youth footballers competing in one of the three highest levels 2. Both genders 3. Aged 15-19 |
| Key exclusion criteria | Unable to communicate in Scandinavian language |
| Date of first enrolment | 15/01/2018 |
| Date of final enrolment | 25/01/2018 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Norway
Study participating centre
Norway
Sponsor information
University/education
Department of Sports Medicine
Sognsveien 220
Oslo
0863
Norway
| Phone | +47 (0)23 26 20 00 |
|---|---|
| postmottak@nih.no | |
| Website | www.nih.no |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/045016w83 |
Funders
Funder type
Research organisation
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/03/2020 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and analysed during the current study are available upon request from Torstein Dalen-Lorentsen (Torstein.dalen@nih.no). All data is non-identifiable. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | results | 01/01/2021 | 13/10/2020 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
13/10/2020: Publication reference, total final enrolment number and IPD sharing statement added.
13/11/2019: The intention to publish date has been changed from 31/12/2019 to 01/03/2020.
