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Shoulder injuries prevention programmes in handball: a systematic review with meta-analysis
Jules Yonneau1, Marie-Martine Lefèvre-Colau2, Maxence Compagnat1
1Médecine Physique et Réadaptation, CHU Limoges, Limoges, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
Objective:
Handball is a popular team sport with injury risks, especially to the shoulder. This systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness of prevention programmes in reducing the incidence of shoulder injuries in handball.
Design:
Systematic review with meta-analysis.
Data Sources:
The systematic review was conducted using Embase, PubMed and Cochrane databases with specified keywords.
Eligibility Criteria For Selecting Studies:
Inclusion criteria encompassed randomised clinical trials focusing on adult and youth handball players, involving a preventive programme with specific exercises to reduce shoulder injuries, with a control group maintaining regular warm-up.
Results And Summary:
The initial database search identified 224 records (107 articles from Embase, 85 from PubMed and 32 from Cochrane). Five articles met inclusion criteria which recruited 1872 players (977 females/895 males). The programmes were varied but all included muscle strengthening exercises. Depending on the programme, they also incorporated exercises concerning range of motion, scapular, trunk and neuromuscular. Results from three studies included in the meta-analysis showed no significant difference in shoulder injury incidence rates between prevention programme and usual warm-up (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.17; n=747).
Conclusion:
This study did not demonstrate the effectiveness of prevention programmes for handball shoulder injuries and emphasises the need for more standardised research protocols to improve knowledge in this area.
Prospero Registration Number:
CRD42022356497.
