Hewett and colleagues tested whether preseason neuromuscular training lowers the rate of serious knee injury in female high school athletes.
Prospective cohort of 1263 high school soccer, volleyball and basketball athletes, comparing trained females with untrained females and untrained males through one season.
Methods
Design
Prospective cohort
Not randomized: teams elected whether to use the program
Data source
43 teams at 12 Cincinnati high schools
Weekly reports of practice and game exposures and injury mechanism
Patients
1263 high school athletes
Soccer, volleyball and basketball
366 trained females
463 untrained females
434 untrained males
Exposure
6‑week preseason neuromuscular (plyometric) training for trained females
No training for female and male controls
Follow-up
One high school season per sport
Outcomes
Serious knee injuries per 1000 athlete‑exposures
Injury mechanism (contact vs noncontact)
Key Findings
Serious knee injury occurred at 0.43 per 1000 athlete‑exposures in untrained females, vs 0.12 in trained females and 0.09 in males (p = 0.02 across groups).
Of the 14 serious knee injuries, 10 were among the 463 untrained females, 2 among the 366 trained females and 2 among the 434 males.
Untrained females had 3.6 times the injury rate of trained females (p = 0.05) and 4.8 times the rate of males (p = 0.03).
Noncontact ACL tears occurred in 5 untrained females and 1 male, a significant difference between those groups (p = 0.05).
Citing their prior study, the authors reported that training raised the female hamstring‑to‑quadriceps ratio from near 50% to about 65%, the male level.
In that same earlier study, knee adduction and abduction moments at landing fell by an average of 50% after training.
Board pearl
After the preseason plyometric program, the knee injury rate of trained females did not differ significantly from that of untrained males (p = 0.86).
Authors' conclusion
This prospective study demonstrated a decreased incidence of knee injury in female athletes after a specific plyometric training program.
Hewett and colleagues tested whether preseason neuromuscular training lowers the rate of serious knee injury in female high school athletes.
Prospective cohort of 1263 high school soccer, volleyball and basketball athletes, comparing trained females with untrained females and untrained males through one season.
Methods
Design
Prospective cohort
Not randomized: teams elected whether to use the program
Data source
43 teams at 12 Cincinnati high schools
Weekly reports of practice and game exposures and injury mechanism
Patients
1263 high school athletes
Soccer, volleyball and basketball
366 trained females
463 untrained females
434 untrained males
Exposure
6‑week preseason neuromuscular (plyometric) training for trained females
No training for female and male controls
Follow-up
One high school season per sport
Outcomes
Serious knee injuries per 1000 athlete‑exposures
Injury mechanism (contact vs noncontact)
Key Findings
Serious knee injury occurred at 0.43 per 1000 athlete‑exposures in untrained females, vs 0.12 in trained females and 0.09 in males (p = 0.02 across groups).
Of the 14 serious knee injuries, 10 were among the 463 untrained females, 2 among the 366 trained females and 2 among the 434 males.
Untrained females had 3.6 times the injury rate of trained females (p = 0.05) and 4.8 times the rate of males (p = 0.03).
Noncontact ACL tears occurred in 5 untrained females and 1 male, a significant difference between those groups (p = 0.05).
Citing their prior study, the authors reported that training raised the female hamstring‑to‑quadriceps ratio from near 50% to about 65%, the male level.
In that same earlier study, knee adduction and abduction moments at landing fell by an average of 50% after training.
Board pearl
After the preseason plyometric program, the knee injury rate of trained females did not differ significantly from that of untrained males (p = 0.86).
Authors' conclusion
This prospective study demonstrated a decreased incidence of knee injury in female athletes after a specific plyometric training program.