Smart Textile Solutions as Biofeedback Method for Injury Prevention for Latvian Football Youth League Players

Lower limb injuries are the most common in youth football leagues, accounting for 72% to 93% of all injuries. The leading prevention program in football today is the FIFA 11+ warm-up program, which reduces the risk of injury by 30%. Evidence from several studies confirms the addition of feedback during training reduces the incidence of injury by 40% . Recent studies have shown that the smart textile sock system is an objective, easy-to-use tool for real-time foot monitoring and is an interactive feedback tool for athletes. However, there is a lack of information on the impact of the objective feedback provided by the Smart Textile Sensor Socks System on the outcome measures of football players prevention programs. In the first phase of the project, a cross-sectional study involving youth league footballers will be conducted to identify the most effective feedback elements of the smart sock system. In the second phase, a pilot study will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention exercises using the feedback provided by smart textile sensor socks. The results of the functional tests and the study outcomes will be selected as performance indicators to evaluate the smart textile sensor sock system. Conclusions on the use of the smart textile sensor sock system as a feedback method for injury prevention in Latvian Youth Football League players will be drawn based on the results obtained from the project.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Sport Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Smart Textile Solution Biofeedback Method

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Guna Semjonova, Ph.D.; Phone Number: +37126035528; Email: guna.semjonova@rsu.lv
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Anna Davidovica, M.H.Sc.; Email: anna.davidovica@rsu.lv

Study Locations

• Latvia
  • Riga, Latvia, LV-1013
    • Recruiting
    • Latvian Football Federation
    • Contact: Sergejs Davidovics, M.Sc.; Email: sergejs.davidovics@gmail.com
    • Principal Investigator: Anna Davidovica, M.Sc.
    • Principal Investigator: Guna Semjonova, Ph.D.
    • Principal Investigator: Linda Lancere, Dr.Sc.Ing.
    • Principal Investigator: Signe Tomsone, Dr.Med.
    • Sub-Investigator: Alise Jonate, B.Sc.
    • Principal Investigator: Aleksandrs Okss, Dr.Habil.Sc.Ing.
    • Principal Investigator: Aleksejs Katasevs, Dr.Sc.Ing.
    • Sub-Investigator: Lydia Kamynina, B.Sc.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. youth football league players;
2. agree to participate in the study;
3. age from 14 to 18 years;
4. understands and speaks Latvian.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. operative treatment in the lower limb within the last 9 months;
2. injuries or pain in the lower limb during the last 6 months;
3. disorders of the vestibular apparatus
4. presence of metallic implants in the sensor application areas.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Football Youth League Players group; Intervention for all participants: 12 weeks of prevention exercise program in football FIFA 11+ tasks of part 2: single leg stance and squats. Followed by exercise monitoring instructions in the FIFA 11+ user manual.	Device: Smart Textile Solution Biofeedback Method; The Smart Textile Solution Biofeedback Method for injury prevention in youth league football players integrates sensors within socks to monitor key biomechanical indicators such as center of pressure and plantar pressure of the foot in real-time. By providing immediate feedback and alerts on potential injury risks, the system helps players adjust their techniques during training sessions and prevent injuries during training and games.
Experimental: Smart Textile Biofeedback Football Youth League Players group; Using the biofeedback method provided by the DAid® smart sock system as the monitoring method of positioning the lower limb for the study group during 12 weeks of prevention exercise program in football FIFA 11+ tasks of part 2: single leg stance and squats.	Device: Smart Textile Solution Biofeedback Method; The Smart Textile Solution Biofeedback Method for injury prevention in youth league football players integrates sensors within socks to monitor key biomechanical indicators such as center of pressure and plantar pressure of the foot in real-time. By providing immediate feedback and alerts on potential injury risks, the system helps players adjust their techniques during training sessions and prevent injuries during training and games.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Foot plantar pressure changes during functional tasks (FIFA 11+; Part 2)	Data from the biofeedback method provided by the biofeedback DAid® smart sock system	12 weeks
Functional Movement	Change of Functional Movement Screening (FMS™) Scores	2 times: pre and post 12 week intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Age	Age in years	1 time.
Sex	Answers: male, female	1 time
Foot size	By using In the Continental European system, where the shoe size is the length of the last, expressed in Paris points or 2⁄3 cm (6.67 mm), for both sexes and for adults and children alike. The Continental European system is used in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and most other continental European countries such as Latvia. The system is sometimes described as Stich size (from Pariser Stich, the German name for the Paris point), or Stichmaß size (from a German name of a micrometer for internal measurements). Shoe/ Stichmaß size 32 - 48.	1 time
positions on football field	1 - Goalkeeper · 2 - Right Back · 3 - Left Back · 4 - Center Back · 5 - Center Back · 6 - Defensive Midfield · 7 - Right Wing/Forward · 8 - Central Midfield.	1 time
User experience	Evaluated by System Usability Scale scale, user motivation intrinsic scale. The system usability scale (SUS) is a simple, ten-item attitude Likert scale giving a global view of subjective assessments of usability. The usability of a system, as defined by the ISO standard ISO 9241 Part 11, can be measured by taking into account the context of use of the system-i.e., who is using the system, what they are using it for, and the environment in which they are using it. Furthermore, measurements of usability have several different aspects: - effectiveness (can users successfully achieve their objectives); - efficiency (how much effort and resource is expended in achieving those objectives); - satisfaction (was the experience satisfactory). The formula for computing the final SUS score requires converting the raw scores, by subtracting 1 from each raw score, then utilizing the equation.	Once - after 12 weeks of intervention
Frequency of non-contact injuries (predicted number of injuries)	A one-year follow-up of records of the Frequency of non-contact injuries (predicted number of injuries)	1 year after 12-weeks intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Riga Stradins University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Signe Tomsone, Dr.Med., Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation, Riga Stradiņš University; Principal Investigator: Linda Lancere, Dr.sc.ing., Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences; Principal Investigator: Aleksejs Katasevs, Dr.phys, Riga Technical University; Principal Investigator: Aleksandrs Okss, Dr.Habil.Sci-Eng., Riga Technical University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Following link is for the data management plan description of the project titled "Smart Textile Solutions as Biofeedback Method for Injury Prevention for Latvian Football Youth League Players"

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 25, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 24, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 12, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): August 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 1, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 25, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: biofeedback; soccer; football; smart textile sock system; youth athletes; injurie prevention
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Athletic Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: lzp-2023/1-0027

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: https://zenodo.org/records/12804841

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No