Epidemiology of injuries during Iran wheelchair basketball professional league: predictive risk factors and prevention strategies

BACKGROUND

Very few studies have investigated athletes with disabilities during a long period of competitions, such as a professional league. Also, there are limited findings related to specific mechanisms and risk factors of injury, and prevention strategies in Wheelchair Basketball. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the rate and characteristics of injuries in the 2021-2022 Iran Wheelchair Basketball League and present prevention strategies.

METHODS

This retrospective study was conducted after the 2021-2022 (Mar 2021-Sep 2022) competition season. The sample size consists of 36 players, who were randomly selected among 129 players. All the data was processed using SPSS (version 21).

RESULTS

111 injuries were registered, equivalent to 132 per 100 players (95% CI: 100-180) and 8.16 Injuries per 1000 hours of athlete exposure (6.2-9.8). Also, 77.8% occurred during training and 22.2% in competitions. Most injuries affected the fingers and hands (35.13%), and shoulders (22.57%). The most common types of injuries were contusions (30.63%), laceration and skin lesion (23.42%), and muscle spasms (13.51%), in which, half of the injuries were slight (0-1 days), 27.8% (mild 4-7 days), and 22.2% moderate (8-28 days). Also, 66.9% of injuries were new, and 33.1% were recurrent. Most situations and actions leading to injury include quick wheelchair pushing (29.72%), the intense ball hitting (17.14%), and sudden stops or changes of direction of the wheelchair (12.63%). A multiple linear regression analysis (Enter method) demonstrated (R2 Adjusted=0.530) Wheelchair inappropriateness (P=0.015), lack of protective equipment (P=0.028), and previous injury (P=0.003) explained close to 55% of the injury rate.

CONCLUSIONS

The injury rate during the league period was higher than the amounts reported from Paralympic games. Prevention strategies should be focused on rethinking athletes' pre-season readiness evaluation, return to play assessments and protection equipment technologies.

Demographic Factors and Instantaneous Lower Extremity Injury Occurrence in a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Population

CONTEXT

Temporal prediction of the lower extremity (LE) injury risk will benefit clinicians by allowing them to better leverage limited resources and target those athletes most at risk.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the instantaneous risk of LE injury by demographic factors of sex, sport, body mass index (BMI), and injury history.

DESIGN

Descriptive epidemiologic study.

SETTING

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletic program.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

A total of 278 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I varsity student-athletes (119 males, 159 females; age = 19.07 ± 1.21 years, height = 175.48 ± 11.06 cm, mass = 72.24 ± 12.87 kg).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

Injuries to the LE were tracked for 237 ± 235 consecutive days. Sex-stratified univariate Cox regression models were used to investigate the association between time to first LE injury and sport, BMI, and LE injury history. The instantaneous LE injury risk was defined as the injury risk at any given point in time after the baseline measurement. Relative risk ratios and Kaplan-Meier curves were generated. Variables identified in the univariate analysis were included in a multivariate Cox regression model.

RESULTS

Female athletes displayed similar instantaneous LE injury risk to male athletes (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.29; 95% CI= 0.91, 1.83; P = .16). Overweight athletes (BMI >25 kg/m2) had similar instantaneous LE injury risk compared with athletes with a BMI of <25 kg/m2 (HR = 1.23; 95% CI = 0.84, 1.82; P = .29). Athletes with previous LE injuries were not more likely to sustain subsequent LE injury than athletes with no previous injury (HR = 1.09; 95% CI = 0.76, 1.54; P = .64). Basketball (HR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.51, 6.44; P = .002) and soccer (HR = 2.78; 95% CI = 1.46, 5.31; P = .002) athletes had a higher risk of LE injury than cross-country athletes. In the multivariate model, instantaneous LE injury risk was greater in female than in male athletes (HR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.00, 2.39; P = .05), and it was greater in male athletes with a BMI of >25 kg/m2 than that in all other athletes (HR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.19, 1.00; P = .05), but these findings were not significantly different.

CONCLUSIONS

In a collegiate athlete population, previous LE injury was not a contributor to the risk of future LE injury, whereas being female or being male with a BMI of >25 kg/m2 resulted in an increased risk of LE injury. Clinicians can use these data to extrapolate the LE injury risk occurrence to specific populations.

The Epidemiology of Pediatric Basketball Injuries Presenting to US Emergency Departments: 2011-2020

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study is to describe the national epidemiology of basketball-related injuries in children and adolescents presenting to US emergency departments (EDs) from 2011 to 2020 and to quantify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database was queried for cases of injury in persons aged 0 to 19 years related to product code 1205 (basketball and related equipment) presenting from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2020. National injury estimates were calculated using National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-recommended weights and strata. The US Census data were used to determine the incidence of injury by age group and by sex. To quantify the effect of COVID-19, an interrupted time series analysis was performed using March 1, 2020 as the interrupting time point. The pre-COVID-19 trend was used to estimate the difference in injuries attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

From 2011 to 2020, an estimated 3,210,953 (95% confidence interval = 2,655,812-3,788,094) visits were made to US EDs for basketball-related injuries in those aged younger than 20 years, corresponding to a mean annual incidence of 391 injuries per 100,000 population. The mean age of injury was 14.4 years (95% confidence interval = 14.3-14.5). Boys were more often injured than girls (76% vs 24% of all injuries, respectively). The foot was the most injured body part, accounting for 24% of injuries. Strains or sprains were the most common injury type (38% of injuries). During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 155,638 fewer injuries than were expected based on pre-COVID-19 trends. During COVID-19, there were no significant differences in the proportions of injury types, body parts involved, sex, or age.

CONCLUSIONS

Basketball remains a frequent cause of injury, especially in adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly reduced the frequency of basketball-related injuries, but did not affect the type and body location of injuries presenting to the ED.

A cross-sectional retrospective survey of injury situation and prevalence in female recreational netball players with a focus on knee injuries

OBJECTIVES

To examine situations of injury and injury prevalence in female adult recreational netball players with a focus on knee injuries.

DESIGN

Cross sectional retrospective online survey.

PARTICIPANTS

193 female adult recreational netball players.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Any injury sustained in the previous 12 months, situation of injury, any knee injuries sustained in the previous five years, the length of time unable to play netball, and knee injury management.

RESULTS

In the previous 12 months, 61% of respondents sustained injury to the lower limb, and 27% to the upper limb. Lower limb injury situations were mostly landings (46%). Upper limb injury situations were mostly collisions with an opponent (27%). 46% reported sustaining a knee injury in the previous five years. Following knee injury, players were unable to play netball for 6.8 ± 7.0 months (training); and 8.2 ± 7.4 months (matches) respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower limb injury is more common than upper limb injury in recreational adult female adult netball players. Landing was the most common situation of injury for the lower limb including knee injuries. In the previous five years, nearly half of the players had sustained a knee injury resulting in more than six months out of the game.

Who Does Not Respond to Injury Prevention Warm-up Programs? A Secondary Analysis of Trial Data From Neuromuscular Training Programs in Youth Basketball, Soccer, and Physical Education

OBJECTIVES: To identify factors associated with nonresponse to neuromuscular training (NMT) warm-up programs among youth exposed to NMT warm-ups. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of youth (aged 11-18 years) in the intervention groups of 4 randomized controlled trials in high school basketball, youth community soccer, and junior high school physical education. Youth who were exposed to NMT and who sustained an injury during the study were considered nonresponders. Odds ratios (ORs) were based on generalized estimating equations logistic regression controlling for clustering by team/class and adjusted for age, weight, height, balance performance, injury history, sex, and sport (soccer/basketball/physical education). RESULTS: A total of 1793 youth were included. Youth with a history of injury in the previous year had higher odds (OR = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.37) of injury during the study, and females were more likely (OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.21, 2.31) to sustain an injury than males who were participating in NMT. Age was not associated with the odds of sustaining an injury (OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.30). Soccer players benefited most from greater adherence, with 81% lower odds of injury (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.57) when completing 3 NMT sessions a week compared with 1 session per week. CONCLUSION: Factors associated with nonresponse to an NMT warm-up program were female sex, history of injury during the previous 12 months, and lower weekly NMT session adherence in some sports (soccer). J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2023;53(2):94-102. Epub: 9 December 2022. doi:10.2519/jospt.2022.11526.

14-year-old boy • Aching midsternal pain following a basketball injury • Worsening pain with direct pressure and when the patient sneezed • Dx?

Aching midsternal pain following a basketball injury ►Worsening pain with direct pressure and when the patient sneezed.

Effect of Rehabilitation Physical Training on Basketball Injury under Ultrasound Examination

In order to solve the problem of observing the effect of rehabilitation physical training on basketball player injury, a kind of observation study on the effect of rehabilitation physical training on basketball player injury based on memory ultrasound examination was proposed. This study makes a comprehensive analysis of physical fitness training factors such as physical fitness test plan, training arrangement, training method, training monitoring, and effect evaluation. Through the experiment, it is found that there are still gaps in physical training, diagnostic standards, training plans and requirements, load monitoring, standardization of operation, nutrition, and recovery in the training organization. There are only 23.81% of full-time physical coaches and 25.40% of professional team doctors at all levels of sports teams. There were only 23.81% of full-time physical fitness coaches and 25.40% of professional team doctors in all levels of sports teams. Basketball players in the basketball injury survey had 67 sports injuries throughout the year, with a rate of 3.35 injuries per person and 2.48 injuries per 1000 hours. The location of chronic injuries is usually the lower back, knee joint, and ankle. The main injuries are due to the physical component, with injuries occurring most frequently throughout the training season in July, August, and September. Experiments show that good and professional physical training can reduce the risk of injury to a greater extent than strengthening the specific skills of athletes.

Sports Medicine Image Modeling for Injury Prevention in Basketball Training

In order to solve the problem of sports medical image in basketball training, a sports medical image modeling research method based on injury prevention in basketball training was proposed. By the method, the current situation of sports injury in university basketball was investigated. At the same time, the injury factors were analyzed on four occasions, including basketball class, extracurricular activities, competition, and training. In order to reduce the occurrence of injury and enhance the security of basketball sports for nonbasketball students of physical education, combined with the problems and reasons, the corresponding suggestions were put forward. Through the experiment, it was found that the incidence of basketball injury for nonbasketball male university students was as high as 90.7%. The results of the experiment showed that it was necessary to enhance the awareness of self-protection, control emotions and exhibitionism, strengthen physical training, attach importance to basic skills training, do warm-up activities, stay focused, pay attention to exercise load, and prevent excessive fatigue.

Injuries in College Basketball Sports Based on Machine Learning from the Perspective of the Integration of Sports and Medicine

Basketball is one of the popular sports in colleges. Basketball injuries are a common thing, and the use of machine learning and other technologies can effectively reduce basketball injuries, which should start with prevention. Nonstandard basketball movements and lack of physical coordination will not only reduce sports efficiency for athletes but also increase the probability of injury. Therefore, effective reduction and targeted prevention of nonstandard actions are of great significance to college basketball. With the development of science and technology, artificial intelligence technology is closer to our lives. Based on the machine learning platform, this paper studies basketball injuries from the perspective of the integration of sports and medicine. Research on what aspects cause college students' basketball injuries is needed for the future. Effectively preventing college students from being injured in basketball is an urgent problem in the field of sports medicine. To find the most suitable machine learning platform for college basketball injury research, this article will introduce three different methods for comparative analysis. The techniques used in the experiment in this paper are traditional BP neural network technology, SCG neural network technology, and RBF neural network technology. Through experiments, it is known that, through experiments, RBF neural network technical prediction accuracy rate is as high as 95.4%, which is a relatively good neural network algorithm for studying the basketball loss of college students.

“In your face”: The transition from physical to symbolic violence among NBA players

The NBA has undergone formative changes since commissioner David Stern began his tenure. Stern has endeavored to make the NBA a consumer-friendly and marketable league by implementing sanctions on physical violence. This study takes a closer look at Stern’s efforts by examining the interplay between two forms of violence in NBA basketball players on the court: “old fashioned” physical violence (PV) and symbolic violence (SV). Of the 117 NBA finals broadcast for twenty years from 1998 to 2018, a stratified random sample (36 games or 30.8%) of the violations and commentators’ comments were coded, providing a wide perspective on forms of violence over time. The findings reveal that although the number of PV incidents decreased, SV increased starting in 2014, to the extent that SV incidents were more frequent than PV. A thematic analysis of the commentators’ remarks associated with these incidents showed that they support and encourage PV, whereas SV tends to be perceived as harmless and therefore permissible to ignore. Unlike PV, SV is not perceived to be as worthy of media coverage. The relative lack of commentator interest is indicative of the lack of “glamour” of SV in the NBA league. It is suggested that since viewers of professional sports often emulate the players, the increase of SV within the NBA is likely to be mirrored in fans in their everyday lives and in amateur basketball players. Although the rise in SV causes fewer physical injuries in professional basketball players, it nevertheless can cause psychological harm.

Basketball vs. Hockey-The Changing Face of Sport-Related Injuries in Canada

OBJECTIVE

To characterize and compare the incidence of basketball-related, soccer-related, and hockey-related injuries over a 10-year period.

DESIGN

Cohort analysis of sport-related injuries using multiple Ontario healthcare databases.

SETTING

Emergency department visits in Ontario, Canada.

PATIENTS

Any patient who sustained musculoskeletal injuries sustained while playing basketball, soccer, or hockey between 2006 and 2017 were identified.

ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS

Sport of injury, age, sex, rurality index, marginalization status, and comorbidity score.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Annual Incidence Density Rates of injury were calculated for each sport, and significance of trends was analyzed by assessing overlap of 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

One lakhs eighty five thousand eighty hundred sixty-eight patients (median age: 16 years, interquartile range 13-26) received treatment for sport-related injuries (basketball = 55 468; soccer = 67 021; and hockey = 63 379). The incidence of basketball-related and soccer-related injuries increased from 3.4 (3.3-3.5) to 5.6 (5.5-5.7) and 4.4 (4.3-4.5) to 4.9 (4.8-5) per 10 000 person years, respectively, whereas the incidence of hockey-related injuries decreased from 4.7 (4.6-4.8) to 3.7 (3.6-3.8). Patients with basketball injuries were more marginalized (3.01 ± 0.74) compared with patients with soccer and hockey injuries (2.90 ± 0.75 and 2.72 ± 0.69, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Accurate regional epidemiologic information regarding sports injuries can be used to guide policy development for municipal planning and sport program development. The trends and demographic patterns described highlight general and sport-specific injury patterns in Ontario. Populations with the highest incidence of injury, most notably adolescents and men older than 50, may represent an appropriate population for injury risk prevention.

Hallux Sesamoid Injury Characteristics in Young Athletes Presented to the Sports Medicine Clinic

OBJECTIVE

To investigate clinical diagnoses, sports participation, and return to sport timeline associated with hallux sesamoid injuries with sex comparisons.

DESIGN

Descriptive epidemiology study.

SETTING

Sports medicine clinics at a tertiary-level pediatric medical center.

PATIENTS

Six hundred eighty-three young athletes (546 women and 137 men).

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Sex (women vs men).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Clinical diagnoses, participating sports, and injury timeline.

RESULTS

The most common diagnosis was sesamoiditis (62.6%). The top 3 primary sports were dance (34.6%), running (13.7%), and soccer (11.7%). When stratified by sex, dance (40.1%), running (13.6%), and soccer (10.7%) were the top primary sports for women while running (19.4%), soccer (18.5%), and basketball (11.3%) were the leading diagnoses for male athletes. The mean time between injury occurrence and first clinic visit was 135.5 ± 229.3 days. The mean time between the first clinic visit and return to sport was 104.3 ± 128.2 days. Comparison by sex showed that women had a longer mean time than men (women: 111.5 ± 132.5 days, men: 67.2 ± 96.3 days, P = 0.001). The mean time from injury occurrence to return to sport was 235.2 ± 281.0 days. Women showed a longer mean timeline for return to sport compared with men (women: 245.2 ± 288.2 days, men: 179.3 ± 231.9 days, P = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

Sesamoiditis was the most common diagnosis, and dance, running, and soccer were top 3 sports. The most salient finding was that women taking almost twice as long to return the sport or activity compared with men, which likely stems from delay of reporting symptom onset to clinics.

Early Warning of Basketball Injury Risk Based on Attribute Reduction Algorithm

Basketball is one of the students' favorite ball games, and it is also one of the most popular sports for college students to carry out after class. Especially in recent years, with the spread of NBA culture around the world and the extensive development of CUBA in domestic colleges and universities, Yao Ming has appeared in China to compete in the NBA and achieve brilliant achievements. With the increasing investment in the number of basketball venues, basketball itself, as a sport with low dependence on venues, equipment, and people, has the characteristics of economy, convenience, and remarkable sports effect compared with other sports. College students' basketball skills, basketball awareness, and love for basketball are increasing day by day. Attribute reduction algorithm is one of the core contents of knowledge discovery, which describes whether every attribute in the attribute set of information system is necessary and how to delete unnecessary knowledge. Based on the attribute reduction algorithm, this paper studies the early warning of basketball injury risk. The basketball injury can not only make athletes unable to participate in training or competition, but even cripple or lose their lives, which hinders the normal development of sports. Therefore, we should make a comprehensive and objective analysis of sports training to find out the causes of sports injuries, so as to prevent sports injuries. This algorithm takes the attribute frequency as the heuristic information and solves the attribute selection problem when the attribute frequency is the same.

Epidemiology and injury trends in the National Basketball Association: Pre- and per-COVID-19 (2017-2021)

Purpose

The aim this study was to provide an epidemiological injury analysis of the National Basketball Association, detailing aspects such as frequency rate, characteristics and impact on performance (missed games), including COVID-19 related and non-related injuries.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted from the 2017–18 to 2020–2021 season. Publicly available records from the official website of the National Basketball Association were collected, including player’s profiling data, minutes played per game until the injury occurred, unique injuries and injury description [location (body area), diagnosis (or mechanism)], and missed games due to injury.

Results

A total of 625 players and 3543 unique injuries were registered during the period analyzed. There was an increased incidence of missed games and unique injuries ratios, from 2017–18 until 2020–21, even when excluding COVID-19 related cases. The main body areas of injuries corresponded to lower body injuries, specifically knee, ankle and foot. The tendon/ligament group, for both games missed and unique injuries, showed the higher ratios (1.16 and 0.21, respectively), followed by muscle (0.69 and 0.16, respectively) and bones (0.30 and 0.03, respectively). Irrespective of season, the higher percentage of unique injuries occurred in the group of players playing in the 26–35 minutes, followed by the 16–25 minutes played. Guards showed the highest injury ratios compared to other playing positions. Most injuries and missed games due to injury occurred from mid-season to the end of the regular season. The majority of both injuries and missed games were concentrated in the two central experience groups (from 6 to 15 years).

Conclusions

Despite previous efforts to better understand injury risk factors, there has been an increase in unique injuries and missed games. The distribution by body area, type of injury, when they occurred, minutes played and outcomes by play position, age a or years of experience vary between season and franchises.

Honey on Basketball Players' Physical Recovery and Nutritional Supplement

Sports injury is a subject that every athlete will face, and it is the easiest to happen in training and competition, especially for basketball players. Moreover, the excessive fatigue caused by sports not only reduces the person's ability to play sports, but also it reduces the person's participation in normal training and competition. Sugar and fat play a dominant role in energy metabolism, while protein only plays an auxiliary role. For competitive sports, sugar is the most important energy, and the main components of honey are glucose and fructose. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore the effect of honey on the physical recovery and nutritional supplement of basketball players. In this paper, 10 basketball players in our city were selected as the experimental objects and the data of their physiological and biochemical indexes were analyzed. The results showed that the average hemoglobin of the experimental group decreased from 14.45 g·100 ml-1 in the first week to 13.23 g·100 ml-1 in the second week, increased to 14.25·100 ml-1 in the third week, and increased to 15.79.100 ml-1 in the fourth week. Adding honey can improve the content of HB and CK of basketball players in higher vocational colleges and reduce the increase of BUN, to slow down fatigue and accelerate the speed of physical recovery.

Characterization of Rookie Season Injury and Illness and Career Longevity Among National Basketball Association Players

IMPORTANCE

There is limited research investigating injury and illness among professional basketball players during their rookie season. By improving the understanding of injury incidence and risk specific to rookie players, sports medicine clinicians may be able to further individualize injury mitigation programs that address the unique needs of rookie players.

OBJECTIVE

To compare incidence and rate ratio (RR) of injury and illness among professional National Basketball Association (NBA) players in their rookie season with veteran players and to explore the association of sustaining an injury rookie season with career longevity.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This retrospective cohort study used an online data repository and extracted publicly available data about NBA players between the 2007 and 2008 season to the 2018 and 2019 season. Available data for initial injury and all subsequent injuries were extracted during this time frame.

EXPOSURES

Injury and illness based on injury status during the rookie season of professional NBA players.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Injury and illness incidence and RR. Association of injury during the rookie season with career longevity was assessed via Poisson regressions.

RESULTS

Of the 12 basketball seasons analyzed, 904 NBA players were included (mean [SD] age, 24.6 [3.9] years; body mass index, 24.8 [1.8]). The injury and illness incidence for rookie players was 14.28 per 1000 athlete game exposures (AGEs). Among all body regions, ankle injuries had the greatest injury incidence among players injured during their rookie season (3.17 [95% CI, 3.15-3.19] per 1000 AGEs). Rookie athletes demonstrated higher RR compared with veterans across multiple regions of the body (ankle: 1.32; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.52; foot/toe: 1.29; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.61; shoulder/arm/elbow: 1.43; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.77; head/neck: 1.21; 95% CI, 0.61 to 1.81; concussions: 2.39; 95% CI, 1.89 to 2.90; illness: 1.14; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.40), and demonstrated a higher rate of initial injuries compared with veteran players (1.41; 95% CI, 1.29 to 1.53). Players who sustained an injury rookie season demonstrated an unadjusted decrease in total seasons played (-0.4 [95% CI, -0.5 to -0.3] log years; P < .001), but this decrease was not observed within adjusted analysis (0.1 [95% CI, -0.1 to 0.2] log years; P = .36).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, rookie athletes demonstrated the highest injury incidence at the ankle and increased RR across multiple regions. These findings may reflect differences in preseason conditioning or load variables impacting rookie athletes and warrant further investigation. Future research is needed to determine the association of cumulative injury burden vs a singular injury event on career longevity.

Local dynamic stability of the lower-limb as a means of post-hoc injury classification

Since most sporting injuries occur at the lower extremity (50% to 66%) and many of those injuries occur at the knee (30% to 45%), it is important to have robust metrics to measure risk of knee injury. Dynamic measures of knee stability are not commonly used in existing metrics but could provide important context to knee health and improve injury screening effectiveness. This study used the Local Dynamic Stability (LDS) of knee kinematics during a repetitive vertical jump to perform a post-hoc previous injury classification of participants. This study analyzed the kinematics from twenty-seven female collegiate division 1 (D1) soccer, D1 basketball, and club soccer athletes from Auburn University (height = 171 ± 8.9cm, weight = 66.3 ± 8.6kg, age = 19.8 ± 1.9yr), with 7 subjects having sustained previous knee injury requiring surgery and 20 subjects with no history of injury. This study showed that LDS correctly identified 84% of previously injured and uninjured subjects using a multivariate logistic regression during a fatigue jump task. Findings showed no statistical difference in kinematic position at maximum knee flexion during all jumps between previously injured and uninjured subjects. Additionally, kinematic positioning at maximum knee flexion was not indicative of LDS values, which would indicate that future studies should look specifically at LDS with respect to injury prevention as it cannot be effectively inferred from kinematics. These points suggest that the LDS preserves information about subtle changes in movement patterns that traditional screening methods do not, and this information could allow for more effective injury screening tests in the future.

Concussion Epidemiology in Athletes Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Compared With Athletes Who Are Hearing

OBJECTIVE

To compare the epidemiology of concussion between athletes who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HoH) and athletes who are hearing.

DESIGN

Descriptive epidemiology study.

SETTING

Data were collected from 2 Division III athletic programs. One institution is the world's only university designed to be barrier-free for students who are D/HoH.

PARTICIPANTS

Six hundred ninety-three athletes who are D/HoH and 1284 athletes who are hearing were included in this study. Athletes participated in collegiate athletics during the 2012 to 2013 through the 2016 to 2017 academic years.

INTERVENTIONS

Concussion data were provided by the athletic training staff at each institution.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Concussion counts, concussion rate, and injury rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

RESULTS

Thirty athletes who are D/HoH and 104 athletes who are hearing suffered concussions. Athletes who are hearing had an increased injury rate compared with athletes who are D/HoH for all sports combined (IRR = 1.87, 95% CI, 1.26-2.78). Football athletes who are hearing also had an increased injury rate compared with football athletes who are D/HoH (IRR = 3.30, 95% CI, 1.71-6.37). Concussion rate was higher for male athletes who are hearing than male athletes who are D/HoH (IRR = 2.84, 95% CI, 1.62-4.97). No other significant differences regarding concussion risk were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Athletes who are D/HoH in sex-comparable sports may not have a higher rate of concussion than athletes who are hearing. Rate of concussion in football may be greater among athletes who are hearing compared with athletes who are D/HoH.

A demographic study of acute injuries in basketball players

Studies that analyse the epidemiology of acute injuries in basketball players in European countries are limited. The purpose is to present an overview of the incidence of injuries and injury patterns in Flanders and to correlate them to possible intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors. All acute injuries that occurred in Flanders during 2009-2013, collected by the insurance, were analysed. The incidence and parameters such as date of birth, date of occurrence of the injury, gender and diagnosis were evaluated. Injury incidence varied from 7.40% up to 8.45%. Females and players at age 16-17, 14-15 and older than 30 are at higher risk. The ankle/foot region is most frequently injured. There is a higher risk of injury after season-and Christmas break. Age, gender and chronometry are risk factors to get injured. Sprains are the most frequent, while the nkle/foot region is the most susceptible to injury. Studies that analyse the epidemiology of acute injuries in basketball players in European countries are limited. Female players and players at age 16-17, 14-15 and older than 30 are at higher risk to basketball injuries. The ankle/foot region is most frequently injured followed by lower arm and hand. There is a higher risk of injury after season-and Christmas break.

One Session of Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy-Induced Modulation on Tendon Shear Modulus is Associated with Reduction in Pain

The aim of the study was to examine the immediate effect of 1 session of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) on patellar tendon stiffness and to explore the relationship between the change in tendon stiffness and the pain intensity. Thirty-four male athletes aged 22.2 ± 3.8 with patellar tendinopathy were recruited. The participants were randomized into ESWT and sham groups. The ESWT group received 1500 impulses of ESWT at 4 Hz with maximal tolerable pain intensity and the sham group received intensities below 0.08 mJ/mm². Supersonic Shearwave Imaging (SSI) was used to measure tendon shear modulus (an index of tissue stiffness), and a visual analogue scale was used to quantify the pain intensity during compression with 10 lb (4.535 kg) pressure directed on the most tender part and then during a single-leg declined-squat test. A significant reduction in tendon shear modulus (from 57.4 ± 25.5 kPa to 40.6 ± 17.6kPa, p = 0.001) was detected in the ESWT receiving ESWT with an intensity from 0.13-0.33 mJ/mm² but not the sham group (from 47.7 ± 17.1 kPa to 41.0 ± 12.7 kPa; p = 0.06). In the ESWT group, the change in tendon shear modulus was associated with the change in the intensity of pain during single-legged declined-squat test (ρ = 0.55; p = 0.023) but not pressure pain (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that one session of ESWT induces reduction of tendon stiffness in volleyball and basketball players with patellar tendinopathy. The reduction in tendon stiffness is associated with reduction in pain during single-legged declined-squat test.

Injury surveillance of an Australian community netball club

OBJECTIVES

To describe injuries associated with netball and risk factors for lower limb injuries.

DESIGN

Prospective study. In the preseason, risk factors were investigated using self-report questionnaires and physical measurements. During the season, injuries were reported using a standardised report, verified by follow-up phone calls. Player training and game hours were recorded.

SETTING

Australian community netball club.

PARTICIPANTS

269 players from 9 divisions, aged 7-42 years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Injury incidence rates per 1000 exposure hours were calculated. The most common mechanism, nature and consequence of injury were determined from frequencies. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of lower limb injury and determine adjusted odds ratios for each risk factor.

RESULTS

169 injuries occurred with a rate of 13.8/1000 exposure hours (95% CI 11.8-16.0), majority (60%) to the lower limb. The most frequent injury mechanisms were collisions (28%) and awkward landings (27%), nature was 'Inflammation/swelling' (32%) and consequence was 'unable to continue playing/training' (50%). Previous history of injury (OR 6.9, 95% CI 3.7-13.0) and age greater than 13.5 years (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.6-5.9) were significant risk factors for a season lower limb injury.

CONCLUSION

Injury rates in this community netball club were high. Results suggest that further research regarding the implementation and effectiveness of injury prevention programs for community netballers is required.

Performance and Return to Sport After Hip Arthroscopy in the National Basketball Association

PURPOSE

To determine: (1) return to sport (RTS) rate in National Basketball Association (NBA) players following hip arthroscopy, (2) postoperative career length and games per season, (3) pre- and postoperative performance, and (4) postoperative performance compared with control players.

METHODS

NBA athletes who underwent hip arthroscopy and matched controls were identified. RTS was defined as playing in at least 1 game after surgery. Player efficiency ratings were used for performance evaluation. Continuous variables of each group were compared using a 2-tailed paired samples Student t test for normally distributed data. χ² was used to analyze categorical data. RTS was used as the primary outcome with statistical significance defined by a P value < .05. A Bonferroni correction was used to control for the remaining multiple comparisons with statistical significance defined by a P value ≤.008.

RESULTS

Twenty-three players (24 hips) were analyzed (mean age 27.5 ± 3.1 years; mean experience in the NBA 5.8 ± 2.8 years at time of surgery). Small forwards (n = 8, 33.3%) represented the largest proportion of players that underwent hip arthroscopy. Twenty players (21 surgeries, 87.5%) were able to RTS in NBA at an average of 5.7 ± 2.6 months. The overall 1-year NBA career survival rate of players undergoing hip arthroscopy was 79.2%. Players in the control group (5.2 ± 3.5 years) had a similar career length as (P = .068) players who underwent surgery (4.4 ± 3.0 years). There was no significant (P = .045) decrease in games per season following surgery. There was no significant difference in performance postoperatively compared with preoperatively (P = .017) and compared with matched controls following surgery (P = .570).

CONCLUSIONS

The RTS rate for NBA athletes after hip arthroscopy is high. There was no decrease in games played, career lengths, or performance following hip arthroscopy in NBA players versus preoperatively and matched controls.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III case-control study.