Prescribing practices and interventions in elite football: Patterns and perspectives

Current practice trends in medical prescribing within elite football are relatively unknown with previous studies focusing on player-reported data. This paper aims to examine the utilisation and frequency of management strategies in elite football in the areas of analgesia, muscle injury intervention, bone injury, well-being and concussion management. An online survey was distributed to medical staff working within elite football. This included medical clinicians and non-medical prescribers. Anonymised data were transformed and analysed using SPSS v29. 126 completed surveys were eligible for inclusion. 81% worked for teams at National Tier One or above and 85% in the men’s game with 79% based in the UK. On average, 26% of prescriptions were due to clinician-perceived pressure to prescribe. Clinicians in the UK prescribe paracetamol and opiates more frequently (p<0.001) than those from other geographical regions. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used more frequently in the UK (p=0.022) and selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor use is more common in higher tier teams (p<0.001). Use of leucocyte-poor platelet-rich plasma was more frequently used by clinicians outside the UK (p=0.020). No significant differences in prescribing existed between clinicians in men’s and women’s football. Wide variation in prescribing practice exists in the setting of professional football. This study highlights key areas which warrant further investigation in the form of follow-up qualitative study or interventions databases to enhance evidence-based practice in the future.