Sport Injury Prevention Overview

Principles

Definition

Sport injury prevention is a multidisciplinary research field and applied methodology dedicated to identifying, understanding, and mitigating the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that contribute to injuries in sport participants. Its significance lies in developing and implementing evidence-based strategies and interventions to enhance athlete health, safety, and performance longevity.

Ontological type

Preventive Interventions

Risk Factors

Screening and Assessment

Key developments

Key Figures

Exposure and Multifactorial Prevention era

Jan Ekstrand [1] of Karolinska Institutet [3] and the University of Iowa [4] helped shape the early epidemiology of soccer injuries during the Exposure and Multifactorial Prevention era. His key contributions in 1983 include Soccer injuries and their mechanisms [7], The Avoidability of Soccer Injuries [8], and Incidence of soccer injuries and their relation to training and team success [9], which illuminated how injuries relate to participation exposure and training load and underpinned targeted prevention approaches. Jan Gillquist [2] of Uppsala University [5] and Linköping University [6] contributed to the era's preventive epidemiology through these soccer injury studies. For Gillquist, Soccer injuries and their mechanisms [7], The Avoidability of Soccer Injuries [8], and Incidence of soccer injuries and their relation to training and team success [9] collectively informed prevention strategies such as preseason screening, conditioning, and loading management that reduced injury burden in this era.

Neuromuscular and Translational Prevention era

Roald Bahr [1] is a leading sport scientist whose work in this era spanned the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences [3] and the University of Minnesota [4]. Bahr [1] helped shape the IOC consensus on load in sport and risk of injury [7], the consensus statement on injury definitions and data collection procedures for studies of injuries in rugby union [8], and Matching the choice of injury/illness definition to study setting, purpose and design: one size does not fit all! [9], which were crucial for standardizing prevention evidence across contexts. Martin Raftery [2] is a prominent scholar whose work during this era connected Heidelberg University [5] and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin [6]. Raftery [2] and Bahr [1] contributed to the IOC consensus documents [7], the rugby injury definitions and data collection procedures [8], and the injury/illness definition study-design guidance [9], with affiliations at Heidelberg University [5] and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin [6] illustrating how these institutions underpinned the translation of neuromuscular prevention into routine practice in youth and elite sport.

Surveillance and Data-driven Prevention era

Benjamin Clarsen [1], affiliated with the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences [3] and The University of Sydney [4], exemplifies scholarly leadership in the Surveillance and Data-driven Prevention era (2017–2023). His contributions center on advancing standardized recording and reporting of injury and illness in sport, including the International Olympic Committee consensus statement on recording and reporting of epidemiological data in sport [7], the improved reporting of overuse injuries and health problems in sport [8], and the golf-specific extension of the IOC framework [9], which collectively enabled cross-sport comparability and data pooling essential for predictive prevention. Evert Verhagen [2], with the University of Groningen [5] and The University of Queensland [6], reflects the era's collaborative, multi-institutional effort to systematize injury surveillance. His contributions include the tennis-specific extension of the IOC consensus statement [10], alongside broader IOC consensus work [7] and the Oslo Sport Trauma Research Center questionnaires update [8], which extend standardized surveillance to sport-specific contexts and strengthen predictive risk estimation, driving data-driven prevention.