Preseason Functional Performance Test Measures Are Associated With Injury in Female College Volleyball Players

Abstract

Context: Preseason functional performance test measures have been associated with noncontact time-loss injury in some athletic populations. However, findings have been equivocal with many studies consisting of heterogeneous populations. Objective: To determine if preseason standing long jump and/or single-leg hop test scores are associated with a noncontact time-loss injury to the lower quadrant (LQ = low back or lower-extremities) in female Division III college volleyball (VB) players. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III female VB teams. Patients: A total of 82 female college VB players (age = 18.9 [1.0] y). Main Outcome Measures: Standing long jump and single-leg hop test measures were collected at the start of the official preseason. Athletic trainers tracked all time-loss injuries and their mechanisms. Athletes were categorized as at risk if their preseason standing long jump <80% height, bilateral single-leg hop <70% height, and had a SLH side-to-side asymmetry >10%. Results: The noncontact time-loss overall injury rate for the LQ region in at-risk athletes was 13.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.3–31.5) per 1000 athletic exposures. At-risk athletes were significantly more likely to experience a noncontact time-loss injury than VB players in the referent group (rate ratio = 6.2; 95% CI, 1.9–17.2; P = .008). The relative risk of sustaining a noncontact time-loss injury to the LQ was 4 times greater in the at-risk group (relative risk = 4.6; 95% CI, 2.1–10.1; P = .01). At-risk athletes were 6 times more likely to experience a foot or ankle injury (relative risk = 6.3; 95% CI, 2.1–19.2; P = .008). Conclusion: Suboptimal performance on a battery of functional performance tests is associated with a significantly greater risk of noncontact time-loss injury to the LQ in female Division III college VB players.

Off-Season Training Habits and BMI, Not Preseason Jump Measures, Are Associated with Time-Loss Injury in Female Collegiate Soccer Players

“…The cutoff score for the limb asymmetry during the SLH was greater than 10% (at risk)/≤10% (reference). Risk profiles based on suboptimal performance on a battery of functional performance tests were also analyzed [9,10]. The first risk profile based on a battery of tests was dichotomized by the following: athletes who had an SLJ 79% of one's height or less and each SLH 69% of one's height or less [at risk]/all other athletes [10].…”

“…NCAA Division III female collegiate athletes (a heterogeneous sample including soccer players) were nine times more likely to experience a noncontact time-loss thigh or knee injury if one started the season with an SLJ <80% of one's height, bilateral SLH measures <65% of one's height, and a lower extremity functional test (an agility drill) of 118 seconds or more [9]. A homogeneous sample of female collegiate volleyball players who had lower SLJ (<80% height) and SLH (<70% height and a >10% side-to-side asymmetry) scores were four times more likely to experience a time-loss injury to the low back or lower extremity during the season [10]. Lower preseason SLJ and SLH scores have served as a marker for injury in heterogeneous populations and volleyball athletes; however, it is unknown if these tests can discriminate injury occurrence in a homogeneous population of female collegiate soccer athletes.…”

“…Additional advantages of FPTs are that they are inexpensive to administer and do not require special training for the tester [5]. Two functional performance tests, the standing long jump (SLJ) and the single-leg hop (SLH) for distance, have shown promise as tools to discriminate injury risk in female collegiate athletes [8][9][10]. A heterogeneous population (i.e., athletes representing eight sports including soccer) of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III female athletes who had a greater than 10% difference in SLH measures between limbs were four times more likely to experience a noncontact time-loss foot or ankle injury [8].…”

Y-Balance Test Performance Does Not Determine Non-Contact Lower Quadrant Injury in Collegiate American Football Players

“…Similarly, Lai et al [29] determined that cutoff scores of 2, 3, and 9 cm for asymmetry in anterior, posterolateral, and posteromedial reach, respectively, along with the 4 cm cutoff point used in most prior studies, had poor sensitivity and specificity in regards to earlier or increased rates of injury in a sample of 294 NCAA Division I athletes. Most recently, Brumitt et al [30,31] found no associations between preseason YBT-LQ test scores and non-contact LQ injury in male collegiate basketball players or female collegiate volleyball players. Based on our present study's findings and recent reports, we suggest that the YBT-LQ test ability as a sole indicator for injury is limited in collegiate American Football players, and that other screening tests should also be assessed.…”

“…Studies investigating YBT-LQ performance have typically included three trials in each direction on each leg [11,15,24,[28][29][30][31]. Some studies have used the maximal reach distance of the trials [11,24,28,29], while others used the mean reach distance of the trials [15,30,31]. We chose to use the maximum of the three reach distance tests for our calculations for comparative purposes to Butler et al [11].…”