The biopsychosocial approach and its application to sports injuries and athlete management
The biopsychosocial approach is well-defined and widely known amongst health care providers, but often unclear when it comes to its application to sports injuries and athlete management. For example, a runner who experiences knee pain of gradual onset: The one school of thought is that the pain is not an indication of pathology, that pain during a loading activity, such as running is normal, and that the athlete should run through the pain. The other school of thought is that the groin pain is an indication of potential pathology which need to be investigated and managed, as it may be as a result of biomechanical adaptations, and it may worsen into a time-loss injury. Current research in these areas should be pooled, new research questions should be identified and awareness should be created amongst health care professionals to create a paradigm shift.
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