The Effect of a Behavioural Intervention on Injury Prevention Program Adherence in Female Youth Soccer
Condition: Sport Injury
MeSH terms: Wounds and Injuries; Athletic Injuries
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Soccer accounts for more than 10% of all sport injuries in youth requiring medical attention.
      The injury rates in youth soccer where there is no established injury prevention program are
      estimated at 22-30 injuries/100 participants/year, or 3.4-5.6 injuries/1000 participation
      hours. Risk reductions ranging from 32-43% have been found for youth players participating in
      neuromuscular training programs, such as the FIFA 11+, that include agility, balance
      training, and strengthening components. Although studies have shown that the FIFA 11+ is
      effective at reducing injuries, there is poor uptake of the program in the youth soccer
      community. It is therefore important to develop ways of delivering the program to soccer
      coaches and players in order to maximize its protective benefit. The Health Action Process
      Approach (HAPA) is a behavior change theory that has been used to successfully predict the
      uptake of health behaviours in a number of populations, such as cancer screening and
      exercise, but has not been tested in sport injury prevention settings.

      The primary objective of this study is to examine the effect of a HAPA-based coach education
      intervention on adherence to the FIFA 11+ in a group of female youth soccer players over the
      course of one outdoor and one indoor season. The secondary objective is to examine the
      dose-response relationship between program adherence and injury, comparing program adherence
      and injury rates in outdoor and indoor soccer. Our hypothesis is that teams whose coaches
      receive a HAPA-based intervention will have greater adherence to the program than teams whose
      coaches do not receive the intervention, and that that injury incidence will decrease as
      adherence to the program increases. It is expected that program adherence will be lower and
      injury rates will be higher in indoor soccer compared to outdoor soccer.
    

Detailed description: 
      The first wave of 16 teams will be recruited in spring 2013, and will be followed through the
      2013 outdoor season, followed by the 2013-2014 indoor season. The second wave of 16 teams
      will be recruited in fall 2013, and will be followed through the 2013-2014 indoor season,
      followed by the 2014 outdoor season.
    

Intervention name(s): HAPA-based coach education workshop; placebo attention control
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): A 3.5 hour workshop will target HAPA constructs by providing injury risk information (risk perceptions), FIFA 11+ effectiveness evidence (outcome expectancies), and hands-on experience administering the 11+ program to a soccer team (task self-efficacy). Action planning and coping planning exercises will also be conducted.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: prevention; sport injury; soccer; youth; neuromuscular training; intervention; behaviour