Background Despite the relative high injury prevalence in recreational judo athletes, there is an absence of evidence-based prevention programmes in judo. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a trainer-supervised judo-specific injury prevention warm-up programme (Injury Prevention and Performance Optimization Netherlands (IPPON) intervention) on the overall injury prevalence compared to usual warm-up in judo athletes. Design Two-arm, cluster randomized controlled trial. Setting Judo athletes were randomised per judo school-cluster in a group performing the trainer-supervised IPPON intervention (IPPON group) or a group performing the warm-up and practice as usual (control group). Participants The main inclusion criterion was =12 years of age. 269 judo athletes (117 IPPON group and 152 control group) were included for analysis. Intervention IPPON intervention with 16 to 26 weeks of follow-up. Main Outcome Measurements The primary outcome was the overall injury prevalence (%) measured every fortnight with the online Oslo Sports and Trauma Research Centre questionnaire. Secondary outcome scores included prevalence of substantial injuries, overall incidence, time-loss injuries, exposure, adherence and experiences. Results The mean injury prevalence was 23% (95% CI 20-26) in the IPPON group and 28% in the control group (95% CI 25-30). The risk of reporting injuries was 18% lower in the IPPON group (OR 0.72 95% CI 0.37-1.39, adjusted p-value of 0.33). Secondary outcome scores showed no differences between groups. For substantial injuries there was a 22% lower risk in the IPPON group (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.36-1.78, adjusted p-value 0.58). Trainers and athletes experienced the IPPON intervention as successful. Conclusions The IPPON trainer-supervised judo-specific injury prevention programme did not reach statistical significance in reducing the overall injury prevalence. The best-estimate of 18% injury reduction rate and successful experience indicate that the IPPON intervention might be practicable and relevant for the judo community.
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