Background: Foam rolling is a type of self massage using tools such as foam rollers or roller massagers. As no consensus on contraindications and cautions of foam rolling exists to date, current suggestions in the literature are drawn from the field of therapeutic massage. A methodological approach to help closing the gap in the current research landscape is to obtain a reliable opinion consensus of expert groups. The goal of the study is to elaborate experts’ recommendations on the contraindications and cautions for foam rolling techniques by the means of a Delphi process.
Methods: The present study includes a preparatory phase as well as three rounds of the actual Delphi process. Academic experts, defined as having (co-)authored at least one scientific paper on foam rolling, are identified via literature search and invited to participate. Consensus on contraindications and cautions of foam rolling will be targeted with a 70 percent agreement after the third round of the Delphi process. Anonymity between participants as well as an iterative approach with controlled feedback constitute key features of the method. Exemplary cases may be reported after round three of the Delphi process in an anonymous manner to supplement the aggregated data.
Discussion: Measures to improve panelist recruitment and retention, such as person-to-person cascade approaches and the use of publicly-available information to identify experts are considered to be crucial for the success of the study. Benefits and risks of carrying out the study via online questionnaires need to be considered when interpreting the results. Findings from this Delphi process will provide an overview of the risks related to foam rolling and assist in selecting the scope for future studies.