title: A prevention strategy to reduce the incidence of injury in high school basketball: a cluster randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effectiveness of a sport-specific balance training program in reducing injury in adolescent basketball.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cluster randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five high schools in Calgary and surrounding area.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine hundred and twenty high school basketball players (ages 12-18).
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were randomly allocated by school to the control (n = 426) and training group (n = 494). Both groups were taught a standardized warm-up program. The training group was also taught an additional warm-up component and a home-based balance training program using a wobble board.
  
  
  METHODS
  All injuries occurring during basketball that required medical attention and/or caused a player to be removed from that current session and/or miss a subsequent session were then recorded and assessed by a team therapist who was blinded to training group allocation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A basketball-specific balance training program was protective of acute-onset injuries in high school basketball [RR = 0.71 (95% CI; 0.5-0.99)]. The protective effect found with respect to all injury [RR = 0.8 (95% CI; 0.57-1.11)], lower-extremity injury [RR = 0.83 (95% CI; 0.57-1.19)], and ankle sprain injury [RR = 0.71 (95% CI; 0.45-1.13)] were not statistically significant. Self-reported compliance to the intended home-based training program was poor (298/494 or 60.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A basketball-specific balance training program was effective in reducing acute-onset injuries in high school basketball. There was also a clinically relevant trend found with respect to the reduction of all, lower-extremity, and ankle sprain injury. Future research should include further development of neuromuscular prevention strategies in addition to further evaluation of methods to increase compliance to an injury-prevention training program in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Sport Medicine Centre, Roger Jackson Centre for Health and Wellness Research, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. caemery@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Carolyn A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Emery
authors.forename: M Sarah
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Jenelle R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Willem H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Meeuwisse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001490:Basketball; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D052580:Muscle Stretching Exercises; D011315:Preventive Medicine; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D013178:Sports Medicine; D013334:Students