Incidence and risk factors for injury in non-elite netball

Abstract

This paper identifies the risk and protective factors for injury in non-elite netball. Three-hundred and sixty-eight non-elite netballers completed a baseline questionnaire at the commencement of the 1997 preseason. Participants were telephoned each month during the 1997 and 1998 playing seasons to provide details of their exposure at training and games and any injury experiences in the previous 4 weeks. The incidence of injury in this study was 14 injuries per 1000 player hours. The risk factors for injury were identified as: not warming up before a game (IRR 1.11, 95% CI 1.00-1.23) and not being open to new ideas (IRR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.07). Training for 4 or more hours per week (IRR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45-0.98) and not sustaining an injury in the previous 12 months (IRR 0.58, 95% CI 0.43-0.79) were found to be protective against injury. The risk and protective factors for injury identified in this study can be used as the basis for the development of evidence-based injury prevention strategies that seek to reduce the risk of injury in sport. Injury prevention strategies should focus on the development of effective training programs that include netball-specific skills, activities and movements. Further investigation into the mechanisms associated with the risk and protective factors identified would provide further understanding of why these factors increase or decrease the risk of injury.

Injury prevalence of netball players in South Africa: The need for in jury prevention

“…This study high lighted an injury prevalence ranging from 55% at club level to 84% amongst national players with an injury rate of 1.9 injuries per player over one netball season. This injury rate is higher (1.1) than that compared to the study by Hume and Steele (2000) but lower (2.6) than the study by McManus, Stevenson and Finch (2006).…”

Effects of prophylactic knee bracing on knee joint kinetics and kinematics during netball specific movements

“…During tournament games 238 injuries were observed per 1000 playing hours (Hume & Steele, 2000), Saunders and Otago (2009) further documented from three seasons of competition that injury rates range from 66.7 to 71.4 per 1000 participants. These analyses have shown that the majority of injuries are chronic in nature and occur predominantly in the lower extremities (McManus, Stevenson, & Finch, 2006). The knee has been shown to be the most commonly injured musculoskeletal structure in netball players, accounting for 24% of total injuries (Hopper, 1997;Hume & Steele, 2000).…”

A snapshot of chronic ankle instability in a cohort of netball players

“…6 Similarly, within a cohort of community netball players, 32% of total body injuries involved the ankle. 7 A single history of ankle sprain predisposes the same ankle to recurrent damage, 8 especially in the case of improper rehabilitation and premature return to play. Mechanical changes to the ankle joint complex often become evident following an acute ankle sprain, as do perceived limitations such as feelings of instability and sensations of 'giving way'.…”