In sports medicine, a functional movement screen in Sydney is very frequent. Every club strives for a competitive advantage to keep its players healthy and on the field. Should we, however, utilise screens to assess harm risk?
Understanding why injuries happen necessitates investigating injury risk factors. Identifying risk variables can aid in the development of more effective therapies to reduce injury risk.
Risk variables have been studied in the hopes of forecasting an athlete’s injury risk. These investigations frequently involve mobility screenings or performance tests to assess who is at higher risk.
While statistical significance between test score and injury risk may be demonstrated in some screening tests, this is the first step in validating screening systems.
Roald Bahr elaborated on this concept in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. He emphasises that three research phases are required to validate sports medicine and movement screening.
Step 1: Define Cut-Off Values and Identify a Risk Factor
Athletes are usually tested before the start of their season. After that, injuries are tracked throughout the season, and risk factors for injury are discovered. Consider the following scenario.
One regularly utilised test is the Lower Extremity Functional Test (LEFT). After a lower extremity injury, the LEFT measures an athlete’s preparedness to return to athletics. Brumitt et al. (2013) published a study that aimed to use the LEFT for injury prediction.
Before starting each sport’s competitive season, they tested 193 Division III collegiate athletes and followed injuries throughout the season. They discovered that female athletes who completed the test in 118 seconds had 6 times higher risk of developing breast cancer.
Many researchers would have concluded that the LEFT can detect athletes in danger of injury at this point, but this is merely the first step. Validation of tests is required, and the authors performed just that.
Step 2: Use Multiple Cohorts to Validate the Test
The test must be repeated once proven to identify athletes at risk of injury. The same test must be used with the same cut-off criteria to determine the risk of damage in all cohorts that may use the test.
Suppose the LEFT test can identify female athletes at a higher risk of injury. In that case, we must retest female athletes across multiple sports and competition levels using the same cut-off criteria.
The authors of the original LEFT study conducted a follow-up study to confirm their findings. In the second group of Division III collegiate athletes, they employed identical exams, procedures, and cut-off scores. This time, no correlation between LEFT ratings and injury risk was discovered.
Even if the movement screen test has been confirmed before implementing it, one more thing to consider.
Step 3: Investigate the Impact of a Screening and Intervention Program
A screen’s ultimate purpose is to identify athletes at risk of injury and give them an intervention to lower their risk. If we don’t do anything with the results of a screening test, it isn’t very sensible.
This phase shows that a screening and intervention program together is more successful than an intervention program alone.
This should be examined in a randomised controlled study with three groups: a control group, a screening and treatment group (in which only high-risk athletes participate), and a group in which all athletes participate.
After that, the injury rates are compared between the groups. The screen and intervention group must be more effective than the other two groups for the screen to be relevant. The screen must be sensitive enough to detect high-risk athletes who require intervention while simultaneously distinguishing low-risk athletes who would not profit from the involvement.
Conclusion
Perhaps an athlete’s injury from the previous season is still bothering them. Movement screening in Sydney could be useful in discovering any deficiencies. For healthy athletes, screenings can also serve as a performance benchmark. If a player is injured, baseline testing might help determine when they can return to play.
Ascertain that you can avoid injury while also improving your performance. Invigor Health relieves pain and prepares your body for the future. Make an appointment with us for a functional movement screening in Sydney.