Evert Verhagen

Amsterdam University Medical Center | VUmc · Department of Public and Occupational Health

Background A better understanding of adverse health and underlying risk factors in the context of military and law enforcement is essential to developing future preventative strategies. We conducted an umbrella review to provide an overview of the current literature regarding risk factors for adverse health in military and law enforcement populatio...

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) consensus statement on ‘methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport’ recommended standardising methods to advance data collection and reporting consistency. However, additional aspects need to be considered when these methods are applied to specific sports se...

Endurance events are popular worldwide and have many health benefits. However, runners and Para athletes may sustain musculoskeletal injuries or experience other health consequences from endurance events. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) Runner Health Consortium aimed to generate consensus-based survey items for use in prosp...

Para athletes present a broad range of sports-related injuries and illnesses, frequently encountering barriers when accessing healthcare services. The periodic health evaluation (PHE) is a valuable tool for continuously monitoring athletes’ health, screening for health conditions, assisting in the surveillance of health problems by establishing bas...

Background and Objective Competitive alpine skiing, snowboarding and freestyle skiing, all different in nature and risks, are known for their high injury and illness burden. Testing measures and training methods may be considered for athletes’ preparation to support performance enhancement while safeguarding their health. We explored the perspectiv...

Background/aim The participation of individuals with physical impairment in sports has numerous benefits, yet there is also the risk of sustaining sport-related injuries or illnesses. Therefore, prevention programmes of these problems are needed to ensure that individuals can maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. Currently, very few prevention inte...

Background Injury and illness surveillance helps establish the infrastructure to provide adequate medical support at regattas and is the foundation for developing prevention strategies. Objective(s) To assess the prevalence and characteristics of injuries in the 4 weeks before the start of the 2022 World Rowing Beach Sprints Finals (WRBSF) (the ‘P...

This study explored stakeholders’ perspectives on current practices, challenges and opportunities related to the return-to-sport (RTS) process in high-performance Snowsports. We conducted fourteen semi-structured interviews with athletes, coaches and health professionals from multiple countries using online video platforms. The data were transcribe...

Objectives To describe the frequency, type, and severity of health problems in long-track speed skating to inform injury prevention strategies. Methods We prospectively collected weekly health and sport exposure data on 84 highly trained Dutch athletes aged 15–21 years during the 2019/2020 season using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre questi...

Background Children spend a lot of time in school, and there are many ergonomic hazards and postural malalignments that put children at greater risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise therapy on preventing and treating musculoskeletal disorders among school-aged children. Method T...

Objectives Shared decision-making (SDM) is a trending topic in athlete health care; however, little is known about its use in a sports context. This study aimed to measure knowledge and self-perceived practice of SDM among healthcare professionals working with athletes. This study evaluates SDM attitudes and preferences and explores how healthcare...

Background The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Commission has supported collating and sharing evidence globally by developing sports medicine consensus statements (‘Statements’'). Publishing the Statements requires substantial resources that must be balanced by use and impact on policy and practice. This study aimed to...

Context Baseball pitching requires fast and coordinated motions of the whole body to reach high ball speeds, putting considerable strain on the musculoskeletal system, particularly the shoulder and elbow. Design Descriptive epidemiology study. Objective To describe musculoskeletal symptoms and the functional status of the shoulder and elbow in ma...

Long‐track and short‐track ice speed skating are integral to the Winter Olympics. The state of evidence‐based injury prevention in these sports is unclear. Our goals were to summarize the current scientific knowledge, to determine the state of research, and to highlight future research areas for injury prevention in ice speed skating. We conducted...

This review discusses female‐specific health considerations in injury and illness surveillance and provides rugby‐specific recommendations for future surveillance. Identifying priority injury and illness problems by determining those problems with the highest rates within women's rugby may highlight different priorities than sex comparisons between...

Background Sports injury surveillance systems aid in injury prevention, but their development without considering end-users’ perspectives has led to low adherence and honesty in self-reporting by players, compromising their effectiveness. Context-specific injury surveillance systems have been proposed to address these challenges, but there is a lim...

Background Long-track speed skating has a long Olympic History and places high physiological and technical demands on the athletes. However, there is little evidence-based knowledge on injuries in this sport. Objective To describe the frequency, type and severity of injuries in long-track speed skating. Design Prospective Cohort Setting The 2019...

Background Trail runners participate in remote natural environments posing challenges for medical providers to access and/or evacuate injured runners. This highlights the need for improved injury prevention in trail running using up-to-date evidence on factors associated with injury in trail running. Objective To systematically review and frequent...

Background Many effective injury prevention programs have been developed, as 11+ (kids). Nevertheless, lower extremity injuries remain a problem in football. Unsuccessful implementation might be a reason. Objective The project’s aim was to evaluate a pilot implementation of VoetbalFit in amateur football, a newly developed injury prevention warm-u...

Background : To better understand physical activity behavior and its health benefits in people living with health conditions, we studied people with and without 20 different self-reported health conditions with regard to (1) their physical activity levels, (2) factors correlated with these physical activity levels, and (3) the association between p...

Objective To explore the beliefs and perceptions of professional female footballers and staff regarding injury prevention and performance protection in professional women’s football. Methods This qualitative study applied semistructured interviews with 18 participants from 3 top-tier teams from 2 countries (Portugal and England) and 4 nationalitie...

Objectives We investigated the perspective on workload within the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, part of the Dutch armed forces. Methods This qualitative study follows an emergent design based on Grounded Theory principles and used semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 91 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee employees. The interviews (n = 31...

Objective To compare the perception towards injury risk reduction approach between athletes who have already experienced an injury and those who have not. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using a one-time online survey asking athletics athletes licensed at the French Federation of Athletics ( http://www.athle.fr ) about their perceptio...

Introduction: The optimal pre-participation screening strategy to identify athletes at risk for exercise-induced cardiovascular events is unknown. We therefore aimed to compare the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) pre-participation screening strategies against extensive cardiovascular evaluations...

Background Golf is an individual sport that is usually done without the supervision of a trainer or coach. Therefore, an injury prevention programme in golf will primarily be performed without supervision and feedback. However, the effectiveness of any preventive exercise programme is determined by exercise fidelity. Objective To investigate the d...

Objective This process evaluation aimed to gain insight into the implementation of the VolleyVeilig Youth program by Dutch volleyball clubs within the context of an effectiveness trial. Methods We applied the UK Medical Research Council framework for process evaluations and assessed the context, implementation and mechanisms of impact. Trainers pa...

Objectives High-performance snow sports (HPSS) athletes compete in a performance-driven context with a high risk of injury. While there is a lack of evidence on effective prevention measures in snow sports, this study explored the perspectives and perceptions of HPSS stakeholders on sports injury prevention. Methods We conducted an exploratory qua...

To explore warm-up and activation (W&A) practices in high-performance snowsports to describe their importance, application and potential improvements based on the perspectives of elite-level athletes and staff members. Qualitative study consisting of semistructured interviews with 13 international elite-level athletes, on-snow coaches, strength and...

Background Our goal was to summarize and contextualize the available literature on alpine ski racing injury epidemiology, injury etiology, injury prevention measures, injury prevention context, and implementation issues. Materials and Methods We searched four electronic databases using predetermined search terms. We included original studies that...

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) has various different risk factors, numerous signs and symptoms and is heavily influenced by one’s environment. Accordingly, there is no singular validated diagnostic test. This 2023 International Olympic Committee’s REDs Clinical Assessment Tool—V.2 (IOC REDs CAT2) implements a three-step process of: (1)...

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) was first introduced in 2014 by the International Olympic Committee’s expert writing panel, identifying a syndrome of deleterious health and performance outcomes experienced by female and male athletes exposed to low energy availability (LEA; inadequate energy intake in relation to exercise energy expendit...

In the past decade, the study of relationships among nutrition, exercise and the effects on health and athletic performance, has substantially increased. The 2014 introduction of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) prompted sports scientists and clinicians to investigate these relationships in more populations and with more outcomes than had...

Background Ankle sprains are frequent injuries in general practice. However, no effective treatment is available yet. Aim To examine the effectiveness of an unsupervised e-health-supported neuromuscular training programme in combination with usual care compared with usual care alone in patients with acute lateral ankle sprains in general practice....

Snow sports such as alpine skiing or snowboarding are associated with a high risk of injury and reinjury and are subject to a very special environment with specific rehabilitation challenges that must be addressed. Due to geographic decentralisation, seasonal climatic limitations, alternation of training in off-snow and on-snow settings and unique...

Contact and collision sports are those sports in which contact with the opponent is common or intentional. This chapter systematically presents current knowledge regarding sports-related injuries within three contact sports (basketball, handball, and football) and three collision sports (rugby, ice hockey, and martial arts). Each sport is covered s...

Background Intrinsic values and priorities influence decision-making and are, therefore, important to consider explicitly in intervention development. Although health is generally considered an important value, individuals often make unhealthy choices, indicating a values disconnect. Study aim To investigate how becoming aware of a disconnect betw...

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dementia, depression and cancers, are on the rise worldwide and are often associated with a lack of physical activity (PA). Globally, the levels of PA among individuals are below WHO recommendations. A lack of PA can increase morbidity and mor...

Background Recently, esports have been argued to impact esports players' health, particularly for those competing at higher levels. Esports are a relatively new phenomenon, and an inside perspective regarding esports players’ needs and experiences is essential to promote adequate health support for this population. Thus, in this qualitative study,...

Background: Para athletes experience high prevalence and incidence of health problems related to sport. Despite this, there are few longitudinal studies. Objective: To describe the characteristics, prevalence, incidence, and severity of health problems in para athletes from one of the Brazilian Paralympic Reference Centers during a sports season...

Objective It is unclear what the incidence, prevalence, and nature of injuries are that can occur during playing padel. This study aimed to systematically review the incidence, prevalence, and nature of injuries in padel. Method A literature search was performed up to December 2022 through MEDLINE Ovid, PubMed, Cochrane Library, SportsDiscus and...

The IOC made recommendations for recording and reporting epidemiological data on injuries and illness in sports in 2020, but with little, if any, focus on female athletes. Therefore, the aims of this supplement to the IOC consensus statement are to (i) propose a taxonomy for categorisation of female athlete health problems across the lifespan; (ii)...

Context: Participation in sports is associated with a risk of sports-related health problems. For athletes with an impairment, sports-related health problems further burden an already restricted lifestyle, underlining the importance of prevention strategies in para-sports. Objective: To provide a comprehensive overview with quality assessment of...

Inleiding: Onderzoek heeft hoge beroepseisen gekoppeld aan meerdere nadelige gezondheidsresultaten, zowel fysiek als mentaal. Voor zover bekend, hebben onderzoekers de eigenschappen van militair politiepersoneel niet geïdentificeerd op basis van beroepseisen. De huidige studie heeft als doel profielen te identificeren op basis van zelfwaargenomen b...

Background: The objective was to compare the performance in field tests, dynamic knee valgus, knee function, and kinesiophobia of soccer players who were psychologically ready and not ready to return to unrestricted training or competitions after ACL reconstruction. Methods: Thirty-five male soccer players who had undergone primary ACL reconstru...

Background: Recently, esports have been argued to impact esports players' health, particularly for those competing at higher levels. Esports are a relatively new phenomenon, and an inside perspective regarding esports players' needs and experiences is essential to promote adequate health support for this population. Thus, in this qualitative study,...

Introduction: Research has linked high occupational demands to multiple adverse health outcomes, both physical and mental. As far as we know, researchers have not identified the profile characteristics of military police personnel based on occupational demands. The current study aims to identify profiles based on self-perceived occupational demand...

Background Research focusing on reducing the risk of injuries has increased over the last two decades showing that prevention implementation in real life is challenging. Objective To explore the experience and opinions of professional football stakeholders regarding injuries, their prevention and the implementation of preventive measures. Design...

on.soundcloud.com/XQb2T Link to first ever fully accessible audio publication of a research study so that people with visual impairments, who are the end users of this study, can access the research. Read by Mr Peter Drury, sports commentator.

Background A healthy lifestyle is indispensable for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases. However, lifestyle medicine is hampered by time constraints and competing priorities of treating physicians. A dedicated lifestyle front office (LFO) in secondary/tertiary care may provide an important contribution to optimize patient-centred lifestyle c...

Objectives To establish the effectiveness of the ‘VolleyVeilig’ programme on reducing injury rate, injury burden and injury severity in youth volleyball players. Methods We conducted a quasi-experimental prospective study over one season of youth volleyball. After randomisation by competition region, we instructed 31 control teams (236 children, a...

Objectives Athletes with impairments play sports with a risk of sustaining head injuries and concussions. However, the scientific knowledge needed to improve care is lacking. This qualitative study explores English blind 5-a-side footballers’ perceptions of concussion, concussion risks and prevention to improve para concussion care. Methods Nine s...

Background Research evidence is commonly compiled into expert-agreed consensus statements or guidelines, with an increasing trend towards their publication in peer-reviewed journals. Prominent among these has been the publication of several International Olympic Committee (IOC) tatements to help inform sport and exercise medicine (SEM) practice. Th...

Objectives Research evidence is commonly compiled into expert-informed consensus guidelines intended to consolidate and distribute sports medicine knowledge. Between 2003 and 2018, 27 International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus statements were produced. This study explored the policy and practice impact of the IOC Statements on athlete health a...

Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of a trainer-supervised judo-specific injury prevention warm-up programme on overall injury prevalence. Methods We conducted a two-arm, cluster randomised controlled trial; the Injury Prevention and Performance Optimization Netherlands (IPPON) study. Judo athletes aged≥12 years were randomised by judo schoo...

Background. Injury risk is high in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students. Insights into specific injury locations per sex, setting, sports, and curriculum year are needed to develop preventive measures. Purpose. To compare injury distributions by body locations in PETE students and how these distributions differ by sex, type, onset,...