Rehabilitation of Long-Standing Groin Pain in Athletes: A Scoping Review of Exercise Content and Reporting
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reporting quality and exercise characteristics of exercise-based rehabilitation programs for athletes with long-standing groin pain. DESIGN: Scoping review. LITERATURE SEARCH: We searched the Scopus, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases in March 2025. STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA: We included original research studies on exercise-based rehabilitation programs for athletes (≥18 years) with long-standing groin pain. DATA SYNTHESIS: Reporting quality was evaluated according to Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) (score range of 0-19) and Fundamental Resistance Exercise Descriptors (FRED) (score range of 0-13) recommendations. Intervention content was extracted. RESULTS: Twenty-two reports were included. Four reports used the same rehabilitation protocol and were considered as 1 study. According to the CERT, 3 studies had moderate and 16 studies had low reporting quality. The mean CERT score was 7.7 (SD, ±4.3; range, 1-14), and the mean FRED score was 3.7 (SD, ±1.8; range, 0-7). The CERT items reported by most studies were whether exercises were generic or tailored (89%), the setting (68%), and whether there were nonexercise components (68%). The FRED items reported by most studies were the repetition and set number (73%), the session number per day/week (73%), and the program duration (63%). CONCLUSION: The quality of reporting in the rehabilitation of long-standing groin pain was generally poor and should be improved to help with replication in future research and clinical practice. Most protocols included exercises targeting the injured and uninjured structures, tending toward a more general exercise prescription for rehabilitation of long-standing groin pain in athletes. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2026;56(7):427-447. Epub 19 May 2026. doi:10.2519/jospt.2026.13708.
