Objectives. This study investigated the prevalence and nature of cricket-related musculoskeletal pain among male adolescent cricket players (n=234) residing in the Highway area of Durban over a 12-month period during all the seasons of the year. Methods. Data were collected from five secondary schools. Subjects' participation was dependent on voluntary and parental informed consent. Child assent forms were also provided for the schoolboy cricket players to complete. Participants were required to complete a self-reported questionnaire probing the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain within the last 12 months. The probability was set at p≤0.05. Results. A total of 188 subjects (80%) experienced cricket-related musculoskeletal pain (p<0.0001). The most common sites were the lower extremities (39%), followed by upper extremities (36%) and lower back (18%). The prevalence of cricket-related musculoskeletal pain specific to the various anatomical sites were mostly knee (30%) and lower back (29%), followed by shoulder (17%), ankle (13%) and thigh (11%). The predisposing mechanisms producing cricket-related musculoskeletal pain reported by the cricketers were direct physical trauma (83%) and over-use (17%) (p<0.0001). Conclusion. Male adolescent recreational cricket players reported a high prevalence of cricket-related musculoskeletal pain. The knee was the most common anatomical site. Parents, guardians and coaches should pay specific caution to preliminary and extrinsic factors causing musculoskeletal pain in adolescent cricketers. 4SAJSM vol 24 No. 1 2012 the unreliability of the findings due to physiological and hormonal differences. Data were collected through a self-reported musculoskeletal questionnaire (adapted from Ellapen et al. 13 ) to determine the prevalence of pain at various anatomical sites. The questionnaire (see appendix) and the relevant documentation were explained thoroughly to all subjects, to reduce recall bias. This study employed the following definition of musculoskeletal pain: ' A sensation of agony that inhibits the individual from participating in cricket or practice for a minimum of twentyfour hours' .14 Attempts to document the prevalence of musculoskeletal injury would be unreliable in the absence of medical certification. The researchers doubted that all the subjects would have kept medical records of their injuries within the previous 12 months and so, in the absence of medical records, identification of musculoskeletal pain via subject recall was deemed to be more reliable. Subjects' identification of musculoskeletal pain, types of pain, intensity of pain (according to the Borg CR10 scale) and anatomical location of pain were recorded to infer musculoskeletal injury. 15,16 Injury rates were calculated according to a numerator variable (number of injuries sustained) linked to a denominator variable (number of hours played over the last 12 months), giving the number of injuries sustained for every hour played over the last 12 months. Body mass and stature of all the subjects w...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the primary aetiological factors of mortality in many countries. People are no longer as physically active as they were a few decades ago, because of their sedentary lifestyles. This study was conducted to determine the coronary heart disease risk profile of students studying at the Westville campus of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN).Two hundred and twenty-three students who volunteered participated in the study. Participants underwent a health screening and risk stratification assessment which included an interview (to determine exercise history, and prevalence of hypokinetic diseases), kinanthropometric measures (body mass, stature and skinfold), resting 2 heart rate and blood pressure measures and a bicycle ergometer PWC test (indirectly estimate VO max). 170 Descriptive statistics which included mode, mean, frequency, percentages and inferential statistics comprising chi-square (p# 0.05) were employed in the statistical analysis. All participants reported no history of hypokinetic disease and perceived they were not at risk of CHD (p<0.001). The exercise history of males revealed that 86.66% participated in exercise, cricket, soccer, rugby and hockey, while 13.34% were sedentary (X p-value; 1.58E-17). Females (88.64%) were more physically active participating in netball, hockey, athletics 2 and exercise, whilst 11.36% were sedentary (X p-value; 4.2E-13). Active female participants exercised and 2 played sport for 2.38 sessions per week for an average duration of 34.28 minutes per session. The active male participants exercised and played sport for 0.65 sessions per week for an average of 30 minutes per session.Descriptive statistical analyses identified the female participants' mean BMI (24.34 kg/m²), percent body 2 fat (20.72%), resting heart rate (78.19 bpm), mean arterial pressure (87.85 mmHg) and V0 max (38.93 ml/kg/min) as being within their age and gender norms. Similarly male participants' mean BMI (23.05 kg/m²), 2 percent body fat (12.29%), resting heart rates (73.14 bpm), MAP (87.75 mmHg) and VO max (39.03 ml/kg/min) complied with their age and gender norms. The study concluded that the participants are not at risk of CHD.