Rate and Risk of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Among Sportswomen in Slovenia

Abstract

Context: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-injury rate is greater among female athletes than among male athletes.Objective: To investigate the rate and risk of ACL injury among Slovenian sportswomen playing professional basketball, team handball, or volleyball.Design: Prospective cohort study. Main Outcome Measure(s): We asked sportswomen and coaches to document the occurrence of every significant traumatic knee injury requiring medical attention. Injury rate and injury risk were calculated for sportswomen in each sport group. To calculate injury rate, we estimated the average exposure of each sportswoman during the research period.Results: During the 2003-2004 season, 585 Slovenian sportswomen sustained 12 ACL injuries. The ACL-injury risk was different in athletes participating in the various sports, with basketball players having the greatest ACLinjury risk and volleyball players having the lowest ACLinjury risk (P 5 .04). The risk of ACL injury among Slovenian sportswomen was 2.1 per 100 athletes (95% confidence interval 5 0.9, 3.2), whereas the rate of ACL injury was 0.037 per 1000 exposure hours (95% confidence interval 5 0.016, 0.06).Conclusions: Overall differences in injury risk were found among sports, but no differences were noted among divisions within sports. No differences for injury rate were observed between or within sports. The rate and risk of ACL injury among Slovenian sportswomen are high, with basketball players having the greatest ACL-injury risk.Key Words: female athletes, cohort study, injury epidemiology, traumatic injuries Key Points N Differences in anterior cruciate ligament injury risk were seen among female Slovenian basketball, team handball, and volleyball players. Basketball players were at greatest risk and volleyball players at lowest risk.N No differences in injury rate were noted among athletes in the 3 sports or among athletes in different divisions of the same sport.

Incidence, aetiology and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries in volleyball: A systematic review of the literature

“…Unfortunately, most of the studies were scored moderate and thus a major part of the found studies are not represented in the results. It was hard to compare and represent the findings in one figure or as one result, since different studies reported the outcome in different descriptive injury rates, such as injuries per 1000 hours per player Bere et al, 2015;Verhagen et al, 2004Verhagen et al, , 2005, injuries per 1000 hours exposure Bahr et al, 2003;Vauhnik et al, 2011), injuries per 10,000 exposures and injuries per 1000 athlete exposures (Barber Foss et al, 2014). Ideally, all studies should use the same descriptive injury rates to enable studies and their results to be compared with each other.…”

“…Of the 28 included studies concerning the incidence and prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among volleyball players (data extraction in Table I), eight studies were scored with a low risk of bias Barber Foss et al, 2014;Bere et al, 2015;de Loes et al, 2000;Junge et al, 2006;Vauhnik et al, 2011;Verhagen et al, 2004) and 20 with a moderate risk of bias Beneka et al, 2009Beneka et al, , 2007Beynnon et al, 2014;Fernandez et al, 2007;Kujala et al, 1995;Lanese et al, 1990;Malliou et al, 2008;Rechel et al, 2011;Reeser et al, 2015;Robinson et al, 2014;Solgard et al, 1995;Swenson et al, , 2013Tsigganos et al, 2007;. The incidence and prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among volleyball players from the studies with a low risk of bias are presented in Figure 1.…”

Sport Injuries and Preventive Measures in Handball / Rankininkų patiriamos traumos ir naudojamos prevencinės priemonės

“…Vauhnikas su bendraautoriais, išnagrinėjęs įvairių sporto šakų sportininkų ypatumus, nurodė, kad aukštesni sportininkai dažniau patiria traumas nei žemesnio ūgio sportininkai (Vauhnik et al, 2011). Rankinio sporto šakoje traumos sietinos su netinkamu fiziniu pasirengimu (Luig, Henke, 2010).…”

A neuromuscular training program enhances dynamic neuromuscular control and physical performance in court‐sport athletes

“…This excessive force exerted on the ACL can cause ligament rupture, with females reported to be up to eight times more likely to suffer an ACL injury in comparison with males . Subsequently, ACL annual injury risk in female court athletes (up to 7.3% of surveyed population suffering a current ACL injury) is some of the highest reported when compared to variety of sporting populations . The speculated reasons why females are at an increased risk of injuring their ACL include hormonal and anatomical factors which affect the rigidity of the ACL …”