Innovation in high-performance sports medicine

Innovation in sport medicine and science: a global social network analysis of stakeholder collaboration in rugby union

Objectives

To investigate the network of stakeholders involved in rugby union research across the globe.

Methods

Using author affiliations listed on scientific publications, we identified the organisations that contributed to rugby union research from 1977 to 2022 and examine collaboration through coauthorship indicators. We determined the locations and sectors of identified organisations and constructed a collaboration network. Network metrics, including degree centrality and betweenness centrality, are computed to identify influential organisations and measure intersector collaboration.

Results

There is an increase in scientific knowledge creation and collaboration between organisations for rugby union research over time. Among the sectors, the university, professional sports team and sports governing body sectors exhibit the highest intersectoral and intrasectoral density. Predominantly, influential actors are located in England, Australia, France, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa. Australian Catholic University, Leeds Beckett University, Stellenbosch University, Swansea University, University College London and the University of Cape Town emerge as influential actors between 2016 and 2022.

Conclusions

Our study underscores the ongoing growth of scientific knowledge generation in rugby union, primarily led by organisations in tier 1 rugby-playing nations within the university sector. Intersectoral collaboration with sports governing bodies plays a crucial role, acting as a broker between sectors. However, the overall collaboration landscape between and within sectors is low. These results highlight an opportunity for improved collaboration opportunities, as the organisations driving knowledge creation have been identified.

Rethinking innovation and the role of stakeholder engagement in sport and exercise medicine

In sport and exercise medicine, increasing pressure to improve athlete health outcomes and performance with limited resources has prompted an emphasis on innovation. A key component to innovation is stakeholder participation and engagement, that is, the involvement of those affected by the outcomes, such as end users and actors (the person(s) performing the required actions/behaviour change), of the research process. Several research frameworks in sport and exercise medicine highly recommend stakeholder engagement as part of the research process. There are, however, different levels to how engaged a stakeholder can be in a research project, and this level of engagement may be dependent on the researchers' goals. Stakeholder engagement can be organised on a continuum based on the stakeholder's relationship to the research and how involved they are in the project's decision-making process. This continuum can be used as a rating scale to evaluate and monitor the degree of perceived stakeholder participation in a research project. There are different paths to innovation in research, which are interlinked, and ideas and knowledge flow between them. Considering the continuum of stakeholder engagement and paths to innovation, this article highlights how different research types require different degrees of stakeholder engagement.

Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Injury Surveillance App for Cricket: Protocol and Qualitative Study

Background

Injury surveillance and workload monitoring are important aspects of professional sports, including cricket. However, at the community level, there is a dearth of accessible and intelligent surveillance tools. Mobile apps are an accessible tool for monitoring cricket-related injuries at all levels.

Objective

The objective of this paper is to share the novel methods associated with the development of the free TeamDoc app and provide evidence from an evaluation of the user experience and perception of the app regarding its functionality, utility, and design.

Methods

TeamDoc mobile app for Android and Apple smartphones was developed using 3 languages: C++, Qt Modeling Language, and JavaScript. For the server-side connectivity, Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) was used as it is a commonly used cross-platform language. PHP includes components that interact with popular database management systems, allowing for secure interaction with databases on a server level. The app was evaluated by administrating a modified user version of the Mobile App Rating Scale (uMARS; maximum score: 5).

Results

TeamDoc is the first complementary, standalone mobile app that records cricket injuries through a smartphone. It can also record cricketing workloads, which is a known risk factor for injury. The app can be used without the need for supplementary computer devices for synchronization. The uMARS scores showed user satisfaction (overall mean score 3.6 [SD 0.5]), which demonstrates its acceptability by cricketers.

Conclusions

Electronic injury surveillance systems have been shown to improve data collection during competitive sports. Therefore, TeamDoc may assist in improving injury reporting and may also act as a monitoring system for coaching staff to adjust individual training workloads. The methods described in this paper provide a template for researchers to develop similar apps for other sports.