GIM – Gender-Specific Injury Monitoring in Elite Sport
Injuries are among the most common causes of training absences, performance decline, and premature career endings in elite sport. Systematic health monitoring can help identify risks at an early stage and enable targeted countermeasures. However, current monitoring approaches frequently neglect gender-specific differences and the need to align prevention strategies with the physical and physiological characteristics of female athletes in elite sport. A comprehensive implementation is still lacking, and too little is known about which factors promote or hinder successful adoption in clubs and federations.
This research project, funded by the Federal Institute of Sport Science (BiSp), addresses exactly this gap. The research team at the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Münster investigates how a gender-sensitive, practice-oriented, and sustainable injury monitoring system can be established in organised elite sport.
The primary objective is the development of a modular implementation toolkit with concrete recommendations for action, checklists, and transfer materials to support clubs and federations in integrating gender-specific injury monitoring incrementally and in a way that fits their existing structures.
The project builds on the IOC Consensus Statement on women's specific health domains — including menstrual health, cycle irregularities, hormonal influencing factors, and nutrition-related risks such as REDs — and pursues three goals:
- Definition of a scientifically grounded minimum dataset of gender-specific monitoring parameters
- Identification of facilitators and barriers to implementation
- Participatory development of practice-oriented recommendations as the basis for the implementation toolkit
Methodologically, the project combines literature reviews, Delphi procedures, online surveys, qualitative interviews, and co-design approaches. In this way, the perspectives of athletes and support staff will directly feed into the implementation toolkit, which will be made freely available upon project completion.
Research Team:
- Prof. Dr. Claudia Voelcker-Rehage
- Matthias Hendricks
- Dr. Jessica Coenen
- Dr. Ross Julian
- Dr. Mara Konjer
Funding Period:
01.04.2026 – 30.09.2027 (18 Monate)
Funded by:
Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft (BISp)
Contact: