Mørtvedt et al. Perspectives on usability and adoption of a new ACL injury prevention programme for female handball players: a mixed methods approach: BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2025;11:e001965.

The full article can be found here

Tell us more about yourself and the author team.

Our research team comprises Dr. Anne Inger Mørtvedt, Dr. Erich Petushek, and Dr. Tron Krosshaug. Dr. Erich Petushek is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Human Factors at Michigan Technological University. His interdisciplinary research integrates human factors, biomechanics, psychometrics, and meta-analytic methods to reduce traumatic injuries and illnesses. By combining these approaches, he advances injury prevention and human-centered design to develop innovative, user-friendly tools that enhance safety, usability, and informed decision-making.

Dr. Tron Krosshaug is a professor at the Oslo Sports Trauma and Research Center, with a strong background in biomechanics. His research interests include the study of biomechanics, movement analysis, and strength training exercises, with a particular focus on injury mechanisms and risk factors for various sports injuries, including those affecting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), ankles, and head injuries in ball sports and alpine sports. His work aims to improve injury prevention strategies by understanding human movement and sport-specific risks.

Dr. Anne Inger Mørtvedt is a physiotherapist with a Master’s in Sports Physiotherapy and a PhD in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors. Her academic journey has been shaped under the mentorship of both Dr. Krosshaug and Dr. Petushek. Dr. Krosshaug and Dr. Petushek were key supervisors during her MSc studies, and Dr. Petushek continued as her PhD supervisor. Together, they have built a strong collaboration that spans different disciplines and geographical borders, and they are eager to continue their research collaborations to contribute to advancing the field of injury prevention and rehabilitation.

What is the story behind your study?

ACL injuries remain a massive problem in female sports such as soccer, handball and basketball. Injury prevention training can reduce injury risk by up to 50% in this population. Unfortunately, adherence to effective injury prevention programs is insufficient in the target population. Various reasons for this have been identified, including program design. We designed a new injury prevention program and tested it with a group of handball players to understand whether features like enjoyability or time demands impacted their willingness to stick with it.

In your own words, what did you find?

Our study found that young ambitious players need to understand and believe in the effectiveness of injury prevention measures to be motivated to perform them. To them, it seems okay that injury prevention is not considered fun as long as they believe it will prevent injuries and/or improve performance. We also saw a correlation between perceived effectiveness and reduced injury risk (e.g. reduction in knee abduction moment).

What was the main challenge you faced in your study?

In our study, we were less involved in executing the intervention. The main challenge we faced was that these players and coaches were very well aware that they were part of an experimental program, making it hard to sell the potential value of the program and have them understand what their contribution was worth to themselves and others.

If there is one take-home message from your study, what would that be?

To truly prevent injuries, we must empower players and coaches as co-creators of these programs, helping them see injury prevention not as a chore but as a tool for better performance and career longevity.