Lower limb MSK injuries among school-aged rugby and football players: a systematic review

Objective The objective of this systematic review was to explore the incidence of lower limb musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries sustained by rugby union, rugby league, soccer, Australian Rules and Gaelic football players under 18 years. The review sought to identify the mechanisms and types of injury sustained and to compare between sports.Design This systematic review focused on the incidence of lower limb injury in adolescent team sports that involved running and kicking a ball. A literature search of studies published prior to January 2020 was conducted using SportDiscus, Medline and PubMed databases. The Standard Quality Assessment Criteria appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of each article included in the review. Two or more authors independently reviewed all papers.Results Sixteen papers met the inclusion criteria; prospective cohort (N=14), retrospective (n=1) and longitudinal (n=1). These studies investigated injuries in rugby union and rugby league (n=10), football (soccer) (n=3), Australian Rules (n=2) and Gaelic football (n=1). There were a total of 55 882 participants, aged 7–19 years old, who reported 6525 injuries. The type, site and mechanisms of injury differed across sports.Summary Lower limb injuries were common in adolescent rugby, soccer, Gaelic football and Australian Rules football players, however these studies may not fully reflect the true injury burden where recurrent and overuse injuries have not been considered. There were differences between sports in the mechanisms, types and severity of injury

of the Nature of the Preparation of Practice Educators in Five Health Care Disciplines

Overview This study aimed to investigate university-based preparation of physiotherapy practice-based educators, in order to explore perceived needs and identify principles of good practice. Physiotherapy (alongside occupational therapy, radiography, dietetics and nursing) was studied throughout the UK and Ireland. Questionnaires were sent out to all pre-registration physiotherapy courses (n=37) and 21 were returned, giving a response rate of 57%. The questionnaire findings were synthesised with analysis of policy documents and the wider literature Current practice Students must complete a minimum of 1000 hours of assessed satisfactory clinical practice under the supervision of a practice-based educator, who must be a registered physiotherapist. All universities provide training for clinical educators, but the nature of provision varies. There is a nation-wide shortage of clinical placements within physiotherapy at a time when student numbers are rising. The debate on how to counteract the placement crisis centres on three main issues: • The requirement for specialist physiotherapy practice placements in defined areas. • Models of clinical supervision where physiotherapy practice educators are responsible for more than one student. • The timing of physiotherapy placements within the curriculum and competition for placements in particular geographical areas. The perceived benefits of being a clinical educator include the contribution it makes to continuing professional development, fulfilment of professional responsibility and the opportunity to market services to potential recruits. Problems associated with taking students on placement were perceived to derive largely from resource constraints. Discussion Several areas of innovative practice emerged in the areas of practice educator preparation, interprofessional student learning, models of student supervision and evidencing student competence in specialist areas. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has recently launched a scheme for accrediting clinical educators (ACE) that it hopes will be adopted across all courses. Summary Increasing student numbers places growing pressure on an already stretched placement resource. There are many challenges in providing appropriate clinical learning experiences, particularly as physiotherapy moves increasingly towards primary care and interprofessional working. It is recommended that managers, universities and the multidisciplinary team should adopt key roles in supporting physiotherapy practice-based educators. Profile PHYSIOTHERAPY content