The Gap Between Research and Clinical Practice for Injury Prevention in Elite Sport: A Clinical Commentary

As clinicians strive to apply evidence-based principles, team-based practitioners have identified a large gap as it relates to published research, ideal applications of evidence-based practice, and actual clinical practice related to injury prevention in elite sport within the United States. For rehabilitation professionals, especially those intimately involved in the research of injury prevention, the solution often seems quite clear and defined. However, preventing injury by implementing the latest recommendation from the most recent prospective study on the using the FIFA 11 + warm-up, a Copenhagen Adduction exercise, or a plyometric drill with elite athletes may not be as effective as was seen among the cohort used in the study. In addition to extrapolating research, clinicians face additional challenges such as variance among professions, schedule density, and off-season contacts with athletes. There is an inherent difficulty in the application of research to practice in elite sport as it relies on the teamwork of not only the practitioner and athlete, but the entire sporting organizational structure and those involved in athlete participation. The purpose of this clinical commentary is to explore the difficulty with application of research in clinical practice and to discuss potential strategies for improving carry over from research to clinical practice.