Effectiveness of anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention warm-up programmes in female soccer athletes : a review

Background: As opposed to their male counterparts, female soccer athletes are more prone to ACL injuries due to anatomical and biomechanical risk factors. These injuries can be detrimental to their playing careers. Multiple studies have designed intervention programmes that target the neuromuscular deficits to reduce the risk of these injuries. Aim: To review the effectiveness of warm-up programmes in reducing the risk of ACL injuries in female soccer athletes. Methods: A review was done searching SPORTDiscus and PubMed databases for relevant journal articles published. After a manual review of relevant articles, authors and journals including references from identified articles was performed, seven studies were included in this review. Results: Only two studies indicated a statistically significant decrease in ACL injuries with the intervention warm-up programme and one additional study showed a statistically significant decrease in a sub-group analysis. Two other studies did show a trend towards decreased ACL injuries with the intervention, but were unable to attain statistical significance. Despite having a statistically significant decrease in total knee injuries, two studies did not have any specific data on ACL injuries. Intervention warm-up programmes with a multifaceted approach proved to be most beneficial. Interestingly, one study actually showed an increase in injuries with the intervention warm-up programme. Conclusion: ACL injury prevention warm-up programmes may be beneficial in reducing injury risks when used in addition to training. However, due to the varying methodologies used in studies and the overall lack of statistical significance, recommendations of a universal ideal warm-up programme will be unsuitable. Keywords: ACL injury prevention programme; warm-up; female; soccer; athleteBachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management