Background: Approximately 60% of high school accidents in Japan occur during physical education activities. Sports trauma and disorders present significant safety and health issues for Japanese students. While the Courses of Study for High Schools provide theoretical instruction on injury prevention and first aid, practical instruction on self-care and prevention remains inadequate.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of sports trauma and disorder prevention education for high school athletic club members by evaluating their knowledge, awareness, and implementation status before and after the education.

Methods: This study involved 714 second-grade athletic club members from four prefectural high schools (A, B, C, and D) in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Prevention education, including practical training in collaboration with an orthopedic surgeon, was conducted in 2017. Schools A and B received the training in July, School C in September, and School D in October. Each lecture lasted 50 minutes and covered (1) muscle fatigue, (2) anti-inflammatory treatments, (3) stretching, (4) muscle and core strengthening, and (5) conditioning. Following the lectures, students participated in 40 minutes of practical training on topics (1) through (4). Reflections on prevention education were conducted three times at School B and once at School C. Questionnaire surveys, consisting of nine evaluation items (ranging from (1)-1 knowledge of muscle fatigue to (5)-2 implementation of conditioning), were administered before and after the education. Seven of the nine evaluation items were used as analysis items to analyze changes in knowledge, awareness, and implementation status. The surveys were conducted in July (I), September (II), and November (III). Owing to variations in gender composition, sport types, and activity statuses, the analysis was conducted by school and gender.

Results: The assessment results were as follows. The number of analysis items showing a significant change or a significant change at any time after the education (referred to as “quasi significant,” I<III, etc.) by school was: School A: boys (four items) and girls (one item); School B: girls (four items); School C: boys (four items) and girls (five items); School D: boys (three items). Variability in significant changes was observed among schools, with no consistent trend by sex. No clear benefits of reflective learning were observed. The number of schools showing a significant or quasi-significant change by analysis item was: (1)-1 knowledge of muscle fatigue: boys (one school) and girls (one school); (1)-2 implementation of muscle fatigue prevention: boys (two schools) and girls (one school); (2) knowledge of anti-inflammatory treatments: boys (three schools) and girls (three schools); (3) implementation of stretching: boys (three schools) and girls (one school); (4) implementation of muscle and core strengthening: girls (two schools); and (5)-1 awareness of conditioning: boys (two schools) and girls (two schools). No schools showed a significant decrease in scores after the education.

Conclusion: Boys (three schools) and girls (two schools) demonstrated significant improvement (I<III) in three or more of the seven analysis items related to knowledge, awareness, and implementation. Additionally, three of the four schools showed significant improvement (I<III) in (2) knowledge of anti-inflammatory treatments and (3) implementation of stretching. These findings suggest that while improvements in knowledge, awareness, and implementation were observed, the effectiveness of the preventive education was limited.