Injury Risk Assessment

AGADA Physical Therapy & Integrative Health Center  

Several programs have been developed to help decrease an athlete’s risk of injury. UC-Santa Monica developed the PEP Program. Prevent Injury, Enhance Performance. Research performed by Gilchrist et al. in 2009 confirmed excellent outcomes with the use of the PEP program including overall incidence of ACL injury was 1.7x less likely, and non-contact injuries were 3.3x less likely.

ACL Injury Prevention

Chances are if you play sports, or have a child in sports, you know someone who has torn their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Females have a 2-8x higher risk of ACL tear based on intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors include hormonal and anatomic differences including wider pelvis, increased Q-angle, knee valgus, and foot pronation.

Extrinsic factors include Biomechanical and Neuromuscular considerations such as: cutting and landing with more erect hip/trunk and less knee flexion; “quadriceps dominant” (males fire their hamstrings 3x the level of females when landing from a jump and cutting), and muscle fatigue/ dynamic stability. The cost for surgical repair of a torn ACL is an astounding $17,000. The overall cost is $680 million/year.

Coaches, parents and athletes should be asking two very important questions: How can we determine who is at risk for injury? What can we do to decrease that risk and prevent injury?