Adolescent tennis players' injury profile and awareness level of sports injury

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between injury risk profile and injury awareness, as well as the level of injury knowledge and the incidence of injuries among adolescent tennis players. Material and Methods: One hundred seventy-nine adolescent tennis players (n: 98 females and 81 males, age: 13.9±1.6 years), who had a history of at least one sports injury were included in the study. A questionnaire was designed by sport experts that questioned about the tennis injuries and awareness of tennis injuries. Results: The most injured area was the shoulder (22%). It was followed by elbow (19%), ankle (17%), wrist (16%), and the knee (12%). Experiencing more sport injuries (more than twice) increased 5.7 times (p<0.01) if they had medium knowledge level, and increased 22.4 times if they had low knowledge level (p<0.001). Conclusion: Upper extremity injuries are more common in adolescent tennis players comparing with lower extremity injuries. In addition, the number of previous tennis injuries was related to training load and the athletes' awareness of tennis injuries. Therefore, optimizing tennis training load and increasing the level of injury awareness in adolescent tennis players may be important in preventing future sports injuries.