Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

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Information about project titled 'The functional movement test 9+ is a poor screening test for lower extremity injuries in professional male football players: a 2-year prospective cohort study'

The functional movement test 9+ is a poor screening test for lower extremity injuries in professional male football players: a 2-year prospective cohort study

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Project status: Published
Project manager: Arnhild Bakken
Supervisor(s): Roald Bahr, Karim Khan
Coworker(s): Stephen Targett, Tone Bere, Cristiano Eirale, Abdulaziz Farooq, Johannes Tol, Rodney Whitely

Description

Introduction: The 9+ screening battery test consists of 11 tests to assess limitations in functional movement believed to predispose athletes to injury.

The aim of the study was to examine the association of the 9+ with lower extremity injuries and to identify a cut-off point to predict injury risk.

Method: A total of 362 professional male football players in Qatar completed the 9+ at the beginning of the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. Time-loss injuries and exposure in training and matches were registered prospectively by club medical staff during these seasons.

Results: In total, 203 of the 362 (56.1%) players sustained at least one lower extremity injury during the two seasons, and a total of 526 lower extremity injuries were reported. There was no association between the 9+ total score and the risk of lower extremity injury. Sensitivity and specificity analysis found no cut-off point that distinguished injured from non-injured players.


Implications:
The results of this study suggest that the 9+ test cannot be recommended (limited clinical applicability) as an injury prediction toll in male professional football players.

The study was performed at Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha, Qatar, and is part of a larger PhD project led by a PhD student at the Oslo Sport Trauma Research Center, Arnhild Bakken.