Prescribing practices and interventions in elite football: Patterns and perspectives

Background & Aims: Current practice trends in medical prescribing within elite football are relatively unknown with previous studies focusing on player-reported data. This paper aims to examine the utilisation and frequency of management strategies in elite football in the areas of analgesia, muscle injury intervention, bone injury, well-being and concussion management. Methods: An online survey was distributed to medical staff working within elite football. This included medical clinicians and non-medical prescribers. Anonymised data were transformed and analysed using SPSS v29. Results: 126 completed surveys were eligible for inclusion. 81% worked for teams at National Tier One or above and 85% in the men ’ s game with 79% based in the UK. On average, 26% of prescriptions were due to clinician-perceived pressure to prescribe. Clinicians in the UK prescribe paracetamol and opiates more frequently (p < 0.001) than those from other geographical regions. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used more frequently in the UK (p = 0.022) and selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor use is more common in higher tier teams (p < 0.001). Use of leucocyte-poor platelet-rich plasma was more frequently used by clinicians outside the UK (p = 0.020). No significant differences in prescribing existed between clinicians in men ’ s and women ’ s football. Conclusion: Wide variation in prescribing practice exists in the setting of professional football. This study highlights key areas which warrant further investigation in the form of follow-up qualitative study or interventions databases to enhance evidence-based practice in the future.