New BJSM educational editorial
This editorial illuminates how to distinguish between prevalence-based and incidence-based measures and how they should be interpreted in sports injury research.
In a new BJSM-editorial, Rasmus Nielsen and co-authors reach out for coaches, clinicians and athletes: When reading scientific articles, they should actively distinguish between prevalence and incidence-based measures of sports injury. Whether to report incidence or prevalence is a matter of circumstance, and is dependent on the goals of the study. In the editorial, it is recommended that incidence-based measures are used in studies examining injury etiology, prevention and treatment, whereas prevalence-based measures should be used descriptively to reveal the number or proportion of athletes with injuries at a certain time point or period. The latter further helps to identify the treatment needs and athlete availability.
Reference:
Nielsen, R.O.; Debes-Kristiansen, K.; Hulme, A.; Bertelsen, M.; Møller, M.; Erik Parner; Mansournia, M.A; Are prevalence measures better than incidence measures in sports injury research? Br J Sports Med, 2017; In press.
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