Usefulness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Sports Athletes in the Orthopedic Field: A Systematic Review

This study aimed to examine the usefulness of cognitive behavioural therapy as psychological support for sports athletes in the field of orthopedic surgery using a systematic review approach and to obtain suggestions for future support construction. This systematic review utilized the Minds Practice Guidelines Development Manual 2020 ver. 3. The Central Journal of Medicine Web, PubMed, CINAHL/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO were searched. Two articles met the eligibility criteria for primary and secondary screening and were reviewed by two investigators to assess the effectiveness of the intervention program. Although the content of the intervention programs and the duration and time of intervention differed between studies, the results suggest that cognitive-behavioural therapy is useful in the mental care of orthopedic sports athletes in preparation for returning to competition. However, the usefulness of cognitive behavioural therapy for sports athletes could not be sufficiently verified because of the paucity of previous studies and differences in the content of interventions in the literature. Additionally, the accumulation of studies using randomized controlled trials is an issue.

Keywords: Orthopedics, Sports, Athletes, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Systematic Review