Cost-effectiveness of an injury prevention program in male amateur soccer

In the Netherlands annually, out of 1.5 million sports injuries 51% are linked
with medical treatment and work/education absenteeism costing ¤590 million a
year. Outdoor soccer causes the largest number of injuries each year
(N=420.000), corresponding with a significant amount of the total costs of
sports injuries. Most soccer injuries are located in the lower extremities.
Research has shown that a combination of poor neuromuscular control, lack of
agility and poor eccentric and plyometric strength leads to an increase in the
injury risk in lower extremities. In literature there is strong evidence that
improvement of these risk factors through specific exercises is an important
factor in the prevention of sports injuries. An injury prevention program
called *The F-MARC Bricks*, developed with the support of the World Football
Association FIFA, aims at lowering the impact of these risk factors in soccer.
Research in Swiss junior soccer players (14-19 years) has shown that the 10
exercises of this program directed at improving neuromuscular control, agility
and eccentric hamstring strength, reduced injury rates significantly. However,
the cost-effectiveness of such an intervention program is still unknown.

This project focuses on injury prevention-related cost-effectiveness of the
"F-MARC Bricks".
We hypothesize that the exercises of the *F-MARC Bricks*, integrated in the
warm up, reduce injury incidence and/or injury severity and corresponding
(para)medical costs and work/education absenteeism.

cluster randomized Trial (see protocol)

Preventive exercise program called the F-MARC Bricks in the warm up of each
soccer practice session and matches during the season.

The risks are negligible and the burden is minimal.
The population consists of healthy athletes active in outdoor soccer.
The exercises used in the intervention are generally performed in other sports
settings and without any risk for injury