Award for sports medicine publication of high public interest
The GOTS (Gesellschaft für Orthopädisch-Traumatologische Sportmedizin), the German-Austrian-Swiss Society for Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, has held its annual congress in Berlin from 22nd to 24th June 2017. At this occasion, Prof Daniel Theisen, Head of the Sports Medicine Research Laboratory at LIH’s Department of Population Health and members of his team as well as the sports medicine physicians Dr Christian Nührenbörger and Prof Axel Urhausen from Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) were awarded with the 2nd prize in the category “Paper of the highest public interest 2016” for a review published in the journal “Sports Orthopaedics and Traumatology”.
With more than 1,300 members, the German-speaking GOTS is the world’s second largest association of specialists in sports orthopaedics. The 32rd edition of the GOTS congress attracted again around 500 sports medicine specialists. The congress included a prize ceremony to recognise scientific excellence in the field. At this occasion, the authors of the review entitled “Footwear and running-related injuries - Running on faith?” published in 2016 in the journal the “Sports Orthopaedics and Traumatology” received the 2nd prize in the category “Paper of the highest public interest 2016”. This means that the review was the 2nd most requested article in 2016 from the journal in the publication database Science Direct.
In this review, the sports medicine experts from LIH and CHL, having done an extensive literature search, present recent research findings on the relationship that exists between footgear technology, running biomechanics and running-related injury risk. Although the sport shoe industry developed many advanced technological features such as light-weight material, shock-absorptive midsoles or motion control systems for running shoes in the last decades, there is no strong scientific evidence about the benefits of these features in protecting against injuries of the lower limbs. Studies on this link are often heterogeneous and sometimes even contradict each other. The review provides a comprehensive overview of the most valuable studies and their limitations.
‘There is some evidence that a pronated foot posture and high impact forces are risk factors for injury. However, in contrast with the common belief and with what is advertised by shoe manufactures and recommended by shoe sellers, research has not (yet) provided any strong proof that a particular footgear is able to induce a less injury-prone running style’, states Prof Daniel Theisen, first author of the review.
Link to review: Footwear and running-related injuries – Running on faith?
Certificate for the 2nd prize in the category “Paper of the highest public interest 2016” given to researchers from LIH and CHL at the GOTS congress 2017.
Awardees of the “Paper of the highest public interest 2016” prices at the GOTS congress 2017. Dr Christian Nührenbörger, physician at CHL and one of the authors of the publication “Footwear and running-related injuries - Running on faith?”, is standing in the middle.