The
Role of Athletic Trainers in Preventing and Managing Posttraumatic
Osteoarthritis in Physically Active Populations: a Consensus Statement of the
Athletic Trainers’ Osteoarthritis Consortium.
Palmieri-Smith RM, Cameron
KL, DiStefano LJ, Driban JB, Pietrosimone B, Thomas AC, Tourville TW, Athletic
Trainers’ Osteoarthritis Consortium. J Athl Train. 2017 Jun 2;52(6):610-623.
doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-52.2.04.
  
The Athletic Trainers’ Osteoarthritis Consortium has
released a consensus statement on the role of athletic trainers in preventing
and managing post-traumatic osteoarthritis in physically active populations. The consensus statement offers 7 recommendations and a nice summary of key information relevant to sports medicine. This
was part of the Journal of Athletic Training’s Special Issue on Osteoarthritis. The editorial to this issue highlights why athletic trainers need to adopt their important
role in preventing and treating osteoarthritis. We also released a special podcast episode discussing this special issue.



This topic is particularly relevant for athletic trainers since the current version of the proposed Curricular Standards now notes the importance of developing and implementing wellness strategies to reduce the risk of long-term health conditions like osteoarthritis:


“Standard 53: Develop and implement wellness strategies to mitigate the risk for long-term health conditions across the lifespan. These conditions include but are not limited to:
A. Osteoarthritis
B. Cardiovascular disease
C. Neurocognitive disease
D. Obesity
E. Diabetes”