Higher level of communication between the medical staff and the performance staff is associated with a lower hamstring injury burden: a substudy on 14 teams from the UEFA Elite Club Injury Study

Abstract

Objectives External risk factors connected to club, team and coaching are believed to be important in the causation of hamstring injuries, but little is known about the preventive measures used. The objective was to analyse the association between preventive factors and hamstring muscle injury burden.Methods 14 teams participated in the Union of European Football Associations Champions/Europa Leagues from 2019/2020 to 2022/2023. An open question was sent out in January 2023 to the four teams with the lowest hamstring muscle injury burden, asking why their teams had successfully avoided hamstring muscle injuries and which preventive methods they had used. A questionnaire that investigated the use of these methods was sent to all 14 teams in February 2023. A multiple linear regression model was applied, using injury burden as an outcome variable and the questionnaire responses as possible explanatory variables possibly adjusted for team and season.Results The preventive methods included factors such as the level of communication between the coach, the medical staff and the performance staff. The adjusted multiple linear regression model indicated that communication between the medical staff and the performance staff was negatively associated with an increased hamstring muscle injury burden, where for every ‘higher’ grade of the communication variable, the average injury burden decreased by 4.1 (95% CI −8.2 to −0.04, p=0.048) days per 1000 hours.Conclusions Better communication between the medical and the performance staff and continuous involvement of the medical staff in load management was associated with a lower hamstring injury burden in male professional football teams.