Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

Intoduction

Kathrin Steffen will defend her PhD thesis ”Injuries in female youth football” for the degree Doctor Scientiarum at Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences on Friday, the 29th of February 2008.

Kathrin Steffen (born 170272) grew up near Bielefeld, Germany. Steffen has her Msc from the German Sports University, Cologne, and from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences within the topics of sport orthopedics and physical activity and health.
She started her PhD studies at the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center in the fall 2003. Professor dr. med. Roald Bahr has been her main advisor, PT Grethe Myklebust her co-advisor.
  
Background for the PhD projects
Female football has experienced an enormous increase in popularity and in the number of active players worldwide. Previous research in female football has shown that the overall injury rate for female players is nearly as high as that for male players. As a consequence, effective injury prevention methods are needed for both genders at all age and skill levels. Especially for women, little is known about risk factors and mechanisms for injury which makes it difficult to develop injury prevention programs and to target these towards injury-prone athletes.

An exercise program, the “11”, has recently been designed by FIFA Medical Assessment Research Center (F-MARC) to prevent the most common injury types in football; knee and ankle sprains, hamstring and groin strains. The “11” is a 15-min program consisting of ten exercises focusing on core stability, lower extremity strength, balance, agility, as well as a fair-play appeal, but its effect on injury risk is not known. If such training protocols are designed to not only prevent injuries, but to also increase player performance, this could potentially increase coach and athlete compliance.

The main aim of this thesis was to assess the effect of the “11” on injury risk and on selected performance variables in young female football players. In addition, some potential risk factors for injury were examined: play on artificial turf, injury history and lower limb function, as well as psychological player characteristics. The thesis consisted of two randomized controlled trials, and the results were described in five papers.
 
 
Effect not as expected
The main findings from the two projects showed no significant effects on different performance variables among adolescent female football players from two Sport elite high schools participating in the “11” for ten weeks, compared to players who trained as usual. Neither was there observed a reduction in injury rates for 58 teams in the intervention group (1073 players, 14-16 years from the southeast of Norway) compared to the 51 teams in the control group (947 players). The exercise prescription of the “11” was most likely insufficient to result in measurable performance enhancements and injury reduction. A low compliance with the intervention program was an important limitation with the approach used. 
 
No difference in injury risk on artificial turf compared to natural grass
The third paper analyzed the risk of play on artificial turf compared to natural grass. After eight months of data collection, there was no significant difference on the total injury risk between these two turf types, which also was supporting two other studies on newer generations of artificial turf. Further expansion of artificial turfs should be closely reflected.
 
Previous injury, limb function and stress level important injury risk factors
Before the start of the season, all players were asked to complete an extensive questionnaire on injury history, lower limb function and psychological variables which formed the basis for the papers four and five. About 70% of all players reported to have suffered from at least one previous injury to the lower limbs. For these players as well as for players with a reduced lower limb function, injury risk was two-fold increased. An analysis of players´ perceived goal orientation, motivational climate and stress, showed that injury risk was increased by 70% for players who reported a high level of stress before the start of the season. These results emphasize the importance of sufficient rehabilitation of previous injuries and of a positive and stress less training climate.
 
Dissertation Committee:
Head Professor Kari Bø, Norges idrettshøgskole
1. opponent Professor dr. med. Jan Ekstrand, Linköping University, Sweden
2. opponent Professor dr. med. Inggard Lereim, NTNU Trondheim, Norway
 
Programme:
10.15 am -11.00 am Trial lecture
13.00 pm -16.00 pm PhD presentation and defense
 
WELCOME!