An intervention plan for preventing and handling amateur soccer players' injuries

The majority of amateur soccer players are vulnerable to soccer-related injuries and many such injuries are avoidable with an adequate education.

The present study aimed to measure the impact of an intervention educational plan on improving amateur soccer players' knowledge and skills in preventing and handling soccer-related injuries.

The study design is a group-clustered randomized intervention-control trial, and it was carried out in Taif city, Saudi Arabia. The "Neighborhood League of Football" players were randomly allocated to a soccer injury prevention education group (intervention group) and a control group. A predesigned and validated questionnaire was used to study the changes in knowledge and skills about soccer injuries before the intervention (response a) and after (response b).

The study included 246 participants in the intervention group and 256 in the control group (n = 502). The median age was 22 years. The comparison of both groups' participants' performance showed significant differences in response b analyses and participants in the intervention group achieved significantly higher scores than the control group in total score levels (P < .0001), injury mechanisms (P < .0001), injury treatment and prevention (P < .0001), and health status (P < .034). The intervention group's scores on response b (after the educational sessions) were significantly higher than response a (before the educational sessions, P < 0.001).

In multiple scales and overall score levels, intervention group participants achieved significantly higher scores than their control group counterparts. Educational assistance appears to have had a good impact on their knowledge and skills.