ArticleSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2020
Return-to-Play Practices Following Hamstring Injury: A Worldwide Survey of 131 Premier League Football Teams.
Article in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Criteria and Design for Return-to-Play Following Muscle Injury in Football are Not Standardized: A Systematic Review Including Descriptive Analysis of RTP Criteria Distribution and Study Design Heterogeneity.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Return-to-Play Criteria Following Lower Limb Muscle Injuries in Soccer: A Systematic Review with Evidence Synthesis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- The utility of psychological readiness scales in predicting return to sport: a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Ready or Not; A Narrative Synthesis of Sports Medicine Practitioners' Practices During Return to Play in the Management of Musculoskeletal Injuries.European journal of sport science · 2025Pooled it
- The Effects of Fixture Congestion on Injury in Professional Male Soccer: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- The "Bunny Tail" Lesion: An MRI Pattern of Proximal Biceps Femoris Tendon Injury With Rapid Return to Play in Elite Soccer Players-a Retrospective Observational Case Series.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Return to performance criteria in soccer after musculoskeletal injury: A scoping review.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2026Article
- Epidemiology, injury mechanisms, and prevention strategies in Ultimate Frisbee.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Review
- Psycho-social-contextual landscape of return to sport after hamstring strain injuries: a scoping review.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- How do muscle injuries relate to return-to-performance metrics in male elite football players?Biology of sport · 2026Article
- Consensus of Return-to-Play Criteria After Adductor Longus Injury in Professional Soccer.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Ultrasound-guided interventions in elite soccer players.Skeletal radiology · 2025Review
- Hamstring T-Junction Surgical Repair: An Elite Footballer's Return to Play Journey Through a New Football-Centered Complex Approach.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2025Article
- Shared decision-making with athletes: a survey study of healthcare professionals' perspectives.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Coaches' Perceptions of Common Planning Concepts Within Training Theory: An International Survey.Sports medicine - open · 2023Article
- Managing Lower Limb Muscle Reinjuries in Athletes: From Risk Factors to Return-to-Play Strategies.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2023Review
- Typical weekly physical periodization in French academy soccer teams: a survey.Biology of sport · 2023Article
- A Framework for Clinicians to Improve the Decision-Making Process in Return to Sport.Sports medicine - open · 2022Review
- Recovery following the extra-time period of soccer: practitioner perspectives and applied practices.Biology of sport · 2022Article
- On-field rehabilitation in football: Current knowledge, applications and future directions.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeReturn-to-play (RTP) is an on-going challenge in professional football. Return-to-play related research is increasing. However, it is unknown to what extent the recommendations presented within research are being implemented by professional football teams, and where there are gaps between research and practice. The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if premier-league football teams worldwide follow a RTP continuum, (2) to identify RTP criteria used and (3) to understand how RTP decision-making occurs in applied practice.
methodsWe sent a structured online survey to practitioners responsible for the RTP programme in 310 professional teams from 34 premier-leagues worldwide. The survey comprised four sections, based on hamstring muscle injury: (1) criteria used throughout RTP phases, (2) the frequency with which progression criteria were achieved, (3) RTP decision-making process and (4) challenges to decision-making.
resultsOne-hundred and thirty-one teams responded with a completed survey (42%). One-hundred and twenty-four teams (95%) used a continuum to guide RTP, assessing a combination of clinical, functional and psychological criteria to inform decisions to progress. One-hundred and five (80%) teams reported using a shared decision-making approach considering the input of multiple stakeholders. Team hierarchy, match- and player-related factors were common challenges perceived to influence decision-making.
conclusionsGeneral research recommendations for RTP and the beliefs and practices of practitioners appear to match with, the majority of teams assessing functional, clinical and psychological criteria throughout a RTP continuum to inform decision-making which is also shared among key stakeholders. However, specific criteria, metrics and thresholds used, and the specific involvement, dynamics and interactions of staff during decision-making are not clear.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.