Frohm Nine-Test Screening Battery for Elite Soccer Players: A Cross-Sectional Study

Football as a sport may result in various injuries of the upper and lower limbs, which impose considerable time and money to rehabilitate and cure. Identifying people at risk is possible through evaluating the movement patterns and individual performance. The Frohm functional test is one of the most comprehensive screening tools. Therefore, the aim of the current research was to compare the results of Frohm functional tests in injured and uninjured elite soccer players. 148 elite young soccer players participated in the present study in four groups of “without injury”, “upper limb”, “ankle”, and “knee” injury. The injuries were confirmed through Fuller's questionnaire and with the approval from the team's doctor and coach. Nine performance tests were taken from them. Then, in order to compare test scores between football players with and without injury, Kruskal-Wallis statistical method was used and logistic regression was used to predict the injury report from the test. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test showed that injury caused a significant decrease in deep squat test, one-legged squat test, in-line lunge test, active hip flexion test, seated rotation test, functional shoulder mobility test, total score (P = 0.001), and push-up test (P = 0.004) in elite soccer players with and without injuries. Besides, the results of multivariable regression in soccer players with and without history of injury showed that one-legged squat test [odds ratio (OR) = 11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.66-32.99] and deep squat test (OR = 13.751, 95% CI = 5.186-36.462) could predict injury report in soccer players. Frohm nine-test screening battery can predict injury reports and these tests can be effective for pre-season screening to predict injury, eliminate possible injuries, and increase sports performance of athletes.