Disclosures: Megan E. Craig, OMS-IV: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: Athletes access manual medicine as part of standard care for musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries. In our case, football (FB) players can self-select for pre-game Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT). The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between pre-game OMT and MSK injury.

Design: This retrospective cohort study assessed the association of pre-game OMT provided to starting football players at a collegiate Division I school and their MSK injuries during the 2015-2017 seasons. Osteopathic sports medicine physicians did a screening osteopathic structural evaluation and provided OMT based on the results. Data were collected over 3 consecutive seasons. Pre-game OMT and MSK injury data were collected from historical medical records. Participants were an average age of 20.6 years. Univariable and multivariable generalized estimating equation models were used to determine if recent OMT was associated with an injury. Multivariable models were adjusted for age, position (offense or defense), year, and BMI.Setting : Division I Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) universityParticipants : A cohort of 65 athletes met inclusion criteria. Non-starters were excluded and athletes with multiple injuries in the season were excluded.

Interventions: not applicable

Main Outcome Measures: The number of injuries during the season was measured among the athletes who received pre-game OMT.

Results: Considering the athletes who suffered one injury, we found that players who had OMT were twice as likely (OR = 2.14; CI = (1.40-3.28); p < 0.001) to suffer an MSK injury in the following week.Conclusions: This finding was interesting and unexpected, but it should not be interpreted as causal. The results most likely suggest that players may self-select for pregame OMT as part of an overall self-care strategy for managing current MSK issues as well as smaller, pre-clinical injuries or other unreported MSK injuries.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/pre-competition-manipulation-and-musculoskeletal-injury-risk-among-division-i-collegiate-football-players-during-the-2015-2017-football-seasons/