Evaluating the Efficacy of a Ladies Gaelic Football-Specific Injury Prevention Programme

December 19, 2025 updated by: Dublin City University

Evaluating the Efficacy of a Ladies Gaelic Football-Specific Injury Prevention Programme: A Cluster Randomised Trial

The aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of an injury prevention programme on injury risk factors and performance outcomes in Ladies Gaelic Football players. This injury prevention programme was designed with input from Ladies Gaelic football stakeholders and experts and this study will determine if this programme reduces injury risk and improves physical performance over time. Participants will complete physical performance tests before and after the intervention, which consists of incorporating the injury prevention programme into regular team training sessions for 12 weeks. The study will also integrate a qualitative component to assess player's perceptions of the programme and their willingness to implement it.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

197

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Ireland
      • Dublin, Ireland
        • Dublin City University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Current Ladies Gaelic Football player competing at adult or minor level from teams consenting to participate in the trial

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Players with a current injury preventing full training participation

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Group
Those in the Control Group continue with their regular training/injury prevention practices during the intervention period.
Experimental: Intervention Group
Those in the Intervention Group perform the injury prevention programme twice weekly as part of their regular training sessions.
Behavioral: Ladies Gaelic Football-Specific Injury Prevention Programme
This intervention is an injury prevention programme designed with input from Ladies Gaelic football stakeholders (players and coaches) as well as experienced athletic therapy and physiotherapy practitioners and academics from the disciplines of injury prevention and coaching science.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Y-Balance Composite Score
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Change from pre-testing to post-testing in Ladies Gaelic Football players Y-Balance Composite Score. The Y-Balance Composite Score is a single percentage value from the Y-Balance Test indicating overall stability. Lower scores suggest greater injury risk and higher composite scores suggest less injury risk.
12 weeks
Change in 20 Metre Sprint Time
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Change in Ladies Gaelic Football players' 20 metre sprint times from pre-testing to post-testing. Lower time is better.
12 weeks
Change in 505 Agility Test Time
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Change in Ladies Gaelic Football players' 505 Agility Test Time from pre-testing to post-testing. Lower time is better.
12 weeks
Change in Landing Error Scoring System Score
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Change in Ladies Gaelic Football players' Landing Error Scoring System scores from pre-testing to post-testing. Lower score is better. The minimum possible score is 0 (indicating excellent, low-risk performance), and the maximum possible score is 19 (indicating poor, high-risk performance).
12 weeks
Change in Isometric Hamstring Strength (Maximal Force)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Change in Ladies Gaelic Football Isometric Hamstring Strength (Maximal Force) from pre-testing to post-testing as measured by the VALD ForceFrame. Greater Newtons of force is better.
12 weeks
Change in Power Output (measured via a Countermovement Jump)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Change in Ladies Gaelic Football players' Power Output (measured via a Countermovement Jump) as measured by the VALD ForceDecks. Greater power output (Watts) is better.
12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of sports-related injuries suffered during the intervention period relative to match hours and training hours (injury incidence)
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Difference between the control group and intervention group in terms of the number of sports-related injuries suffered during the intervention period relative to match hours and training hours completed by each group
12 weeks
Player/Coach perceptions of the programme and willingness to implement it
Time Frame: 12 weeks
Interview/Focus groups following the intervention period will assess how players and coaches in the intervention group perceive the injury prevention programme and their willingness to implement it in the future.
12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Dublin City University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 23, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 3, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

October 3, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 11, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

September 17, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 26, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DCUREC/2025/056

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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