Psychological interventions used to reduce sports injuries: A systematic review of real-world effectiveness.

Objective: To systematically review studies examining the role of psychological interventions in injury prevention. The primary research question was: (1) What is the real-world effectiveness of psychological intervention in preventing sports injuries? Design: Mixed method systematic review with best evidence synthesis Data sources: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Science Direct and PubMed Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Randomised control trials (RCTs), non-RCTs that included a comparison group, before and after study designs and qualitative methods. Studies were required to outline specific unimodal or multimodal psychological interventions used in relation to injury prevention in the real-world setting. Outcome measure: Studies were independently appraised with the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). • Results: Thirteen papers (incorporating 14 studies) met the eligibility criteria, of which 93% (13/14) reported a decrease in injury rates (effect size range = 0.2 – 1.21). There was an overall moderate risk of bias in reporting (52%). There is a dominance of stress management-based interventions in literature due to the prominence of the Model of Stress and Athletic Injury within the area. Summary/conclusions: Psychological interventions demonstrate small (0.2) to large (1.21) effects on sports injury rates. The research area demonstrates a cumulative moderate risk in reporting bias (52%). PROSPERO registration: CRD42016035879