Exercise-Based Injury Prevention Programs for Youth Team-Sport Athletes: What a Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis Found

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with school-age and adolescent athletes in team sports, including clinic-based sports rehabilitation, return-to-sport programming, and school or club settings where warm-up based prevention programs are delivered.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Athletic trainers, strength and conditioning professionals, and other rehabilitation clinicians involved in youth sport may also find the material relevant.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Robles-Palazón FJ, Blázquez-Rincón D, López-Valenciano A, Comfort P, López-López JA, Ayala F. A systematic review and network meta-analysis on the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions for reducing the injury incidence in youth team-sport players. Part 1: an analysis by classical training components. Ann Med. 2024;56(1):2408457. DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2408457. PMID: 39351708. PMCID: PMC11445890.

This course reports only what the article above found and concluded. No claims, figures, or recommendations from other sources have been added.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. State the average reduction in injury incidence that the review attributed to exercise-based injury prevention programs in youth team-sport athletes.
2. Name the three exercise components the review identified as having the greatest apparent injury risk mitigation effects.
3. Explain why the authors described their ranking of individual training components as preliminary rather than settled.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Audio Lesson: Injury Prevention Programs in Youth Team Sports (about nine minutes)
3. The Injury Problem in Youth Team Sports and What the Review Asked
4. How the Evidence Was Gathered and Compared
5. Program-Level Findings: About a One-Third Drop in Injuries
6. Which Exercise Components Carried the Reduction
7. Cautions, Limits, and What the Findings Could Mean in Practice
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Robles-Palazón FJ, Blázquez-Rincón D, López-Valenciano A, Comfort P, López-López JA, Ayala F. A systematic review and network meta-analysis on the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions for reducing the injury incidence in youth team-sport players. Part 1: an analysis by classical training components. Ann Med. 2024;56(1):2408457. DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2408457. PMID: 39351708. PMCID: PMC11445890.
2. This course reports only what the article above found and concluded. No claims, figures, or recommendations from other sources have been added.