The full article can be read here.
Tell us more about yourself and the author team.
All authors belong to the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC). Thor Einar and I also have a clinical position at the Norwegian FA’s Sports Medicine Centre, where we primarily see athletes having hip and groin injuries. We assess athletes with longstanding groin and hip pain with a multidisciplinary team, which allows us to spend much time on clinical reasoning, treatment options and rehabilitation challenges. Lena is a massive contributor to the research team with her biostatistics knowledge and experience, which has been vital when conducting this study.
What is the story behind your study?
As a sports physiotherapist at the FA Centre, I have daily contact with players, medical practitioners, and coaches from clubs all over Norway. Although most Norwegian professional and some amateur clubs have a structured injury prevention program, including the Copenhagen Adduction exercise – many teams still experience players with longstanding groin problems. When asked, “What more can we do?” secondary prevention through early detection of groin pain and a structured injury surveillance program are my key messages to the medical staff. While professional clubs already have a sound system in place, there is still massive potential for improvement at lower levels of play in adult and youth football. Previous studies have documented that HAGOS effectively detect players with increased hip and groin pain risk in the subsequent season. However, completing the whole HAGOS questionnaire is time-consuming and can be a barrier. We had good data from our previous RCT, and we were excited to look at the potential of using some HAGOS sub-scales only to detect players at increased risk of hip and groin problems.
In your own words, what did you find?
In line with other studies, our study underscores the utility of HAGOS in identifying players at increased risk for groin injuries. Notably, our findings reveal that lower scores on the QOL subscale can lead to longer periods of groinmore extendedems throughout the season. Moreover, our data suggest that employing the entire questionnaire may not be necessary, as the QOL seems to be the superior sub-scale for estimating subsequent groin problem duration. This insight holds promise in addressing potential time constraints as barriers to implementing preventive measures.
What was the main challenge you faced in your study?
If you have time, I could spend considerable time explaining the challenges of conducting an RCT, following up more than 600 players for one season back in 2015. However, in the present study—not collecting any new data—I think the most challenging part has been being able to “translate” advanced statistical approaches (for me, at least) into a clear take-home message for clinicians and coaches.
If there is one take-home message from your study, what would that be?
HAGOS QOL may be used to detect players at increased risk, but most importantly, know your players’ previous history of injuries and incorporate an individualized injury risk management plan into your team.