Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Injuries in Male Adult Basketball Athletes in Brazil: A One-season Descriptive Study.

Abstract

Introduction: Basketball has one of the highest injury rates among team sports, however, published data investigating basketball-related musculoskeletal injuries (BRMIs) in professional players in Brazil are limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical incidence, rate, location, type(s), severity, and nature of BRMIs in Brazilian professional basketball players, and to quantify their impact on sports performance.

Study design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Athletes over 18 years old who were registered and active in the professional category of each participating team that signed the Consent Form were included in this study. Over the course of 22 weeks the Team's Physical Therapist collected data weekly through an online questionnaire. The Orchard Sports Injury Classification System (OSICS) was used to provide anatomical and diagnostic classification of BRMIs and the injury severity was evaluated using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center questionnaire (OSTRC) score. Qualitative variables were represented by frequency and proportions, and quantitative variables by mean and standard deviation.

Results: A total of 103 athletes with a mean age of 28.8 years +/- 5.4 years reported 164 BRMI's with a clinical injury incidence of 1.6 over the 22-week study. Of these, 122 (74.4%) occurred in the lower limbs and 22 (13.4%) in the upper limbs. The BRMI rate was 5.1 injuries per 1,000 hours/practice and 79.6 injuries per 1,000 hours/game. The knee was the most affected area (19.5%), followed by hip/groin (15.2%). Muscle injuries were the most frequent (33.5%) and the most severe (4070 points OSTRC).

Conclusion: These findings show the importance of implementing injury monitoring measures in basketball using a standardized, low-cost and easy-to-use questionnaire to monitor the impact of BRMIs on practice and game performance.

Level of evidence: 3b (Epidemiology).