Practitioners' perspective of non-contact injury risk factors and injury prevention programming in professional North American male soccer.

Objective: To evaluate non-contact injury prevention strategies of professional men's soccer clubs in elite North American league soccer. To understand the application, perceived effectiveness and barriers to implementation.

Design: Online cross-Sectional Study.

Setting: North American elite soccer teams.

Participants: 96 medical and performance support staff of elite North American teams.

Main Outcome Measure: The survey consisted of 20 questions and captured 1) practitioners' demographics; 2) perceptions of risk factors; 3) the use of assessment and monitoring strategies; and 4) perceptions of the implementation of injury prevention programmes'.

Results: Injury prevention programmes were perceived as 'effective' (Median 4, Interquartile range 4-4) and reduced injury rates (n = 94, 98%, 95 CI% 93 to 99). A range of potential risk factors were rated as "very important" (4.58 ± 0.52 Likert scale points; mean ± standard deviation). A multi-disciplinary approach to the design, application and monitoring of programmes was generally adopted. Competing training priorities (n = 75, 78%, 95 CI% 69 to 85) and game schedules (n = 71, 74%, 95 CI% 64 to 82) were the most prevalent barriers to injury prevention implementation.

Conclusions: Injury prevention programmes were perceived as effective in reducing non-contact injuries. Managing the conflicting priorities between scheduling training, tactical and conditioning goals were considered the key barriers to desired implementation.