Study on Hamstring Re-Injury Prevention

Hamstring injury has a high re-injury rate in football players. Re-injuries primarily occur during the first weeks after Return to Play (RTP) and are commonly more severe than the initial injury. Previous studies showed that the Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) effectively prevents primary hamstring injury. No study investigated the secondary preventing effect of NHE on re-injury after RTP following hamstring injury. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise for preventing hamstring re-injury after RTP following hamstring injury in football players. The secondary purpose is to determine in a sub-study the effect of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise on sprint and jumping performance among the subjects.

We hypothesise that subjects randomised to perform NHE (Nordics group) will have lower hamstring re-injury incidence in 12 months of follow-up than the subjects in the control group. In the secondary study purpose, we hypothesize subjects in the Nordics group will improve significantly in sprint and jumping performance than the subjects in the control group.

The subjects in both groups continue their regular football training, but the Nordics group will performed an additional Nordic Hamstring Exercise program for 12 months (total 69 sessions). An online questionnaire to monitor hamstring re-injury, adherence, exposures, and self-initiated prevention program was sent to the subject in both groups once per week within ten weeks, then continue at 6th, 9th, 12th months. The selected subjects will completed a sprint and jumping performance test three times, at the beginning of the study (pre-test), after ten weeks of intervention (post-test 1), and after 12 months (post-test 2).

Nordic Hamstring Exercise