The Most Common Handball Injuries: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Handball is a team sport involving a great physical demand from its practitioners in which a high number of injuries occur, affecting individual and collective performance. Knowledge of the injuries is of great importance for their prevention. The objective of the present study was to identify, locate and compare the most frequent injuries and injury mechanisms in handball practice. It was carried out following the Preferred Informed Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The source of data collection was direct consultation of the PubMed and Medline databases. Several keywords were used for the documentary retrieval, and the quality of the studies that were selected was evaluated. Of the 707 studies retrieved, only 27 were considered appropriate for the review, and quality scores were obtained that ranged from 10 to 26 points, out of a maximum of 28. The most frequent injuries in handball players are located in the lower limbs (thigh, knee and ankle), and in the shoulder in the upper limbs. Regarding the playing position, the players who play over the 6-m line are the most affected by injuries, while the women players have a higher probability of injury. Most injuries occur during competition.

Associations between upper quarter Y-balance test performance and sport-related injuries in adolescent handball players

“…The low incidence of 4.5 injuries per 1,000 match hours in our study may be related to the rather young age (15.7 ± 1.7 years) of this adolescent cohort. A lower injury incidence in this young age group is in line with different studies ( 3 , 4 ) and a review by Vila et al ( 9 ) that also reported fewer injuries in younger players. Importantly, no conclusions in terms of causation can be drawn from the present results.…”

“…This is especially true as the subjects have full control over their bodies with no perturbations during the YBT-UQ, while during training and games, balance is often challenged by body contact. It is well documented that body contact actions are an essential cause of injuries in handball ( 9 ) due to exposure to external forces ( 5 ). In addition, based on the notion that injuries are multicausal ( 40 ) and due to the possible interaction of many factors ( 38 ), weaknesses in one system (e.g., upper extremity mobility and stability as assessed by the YBT-UQ) may be compensated for by other systems.…”

“…To interrupt the flow of play, body actions against the opponent are highly important ( 6 , 7 ). Thus, it comes as no surprise that the International Olympic Committee ranks handball as one of the Olympic sports with the highest injury rates ( 8 , 9 ), with adolescent handball players ranging from 8.3 injuries/1,000 match hours in males to 14.5 injuries/1,000 match hours in female U17 players ( 3 ). Møller et al ( 4 ) reported an injury incidence of 11.5 in male and 10.8 in female U16 players, as well as 13.0 in female and 17.2 in male U18 players per 1,000 match hours.…”

“…Asai et al ( 10 ) even reported a higher number of match injuries in 13- to 14-year-old players, with 26.5 injuries/1,000 match hours, further differentiating between boys (32.7 injuries/1,000 match hours) and girls (20.1 injuries / 1,000 match hours). However, it must be kept in mind that different injury definitions exist ( 6 , 9 ), which makes comparisons between studies difficult.…”

Sports Injuries – A Survey Among Young Bulgarian Athletes

“…(Caine & Nassar, 2005;Ricard et al, 2007;Argibay-González et al, 2022), and the damages are mostly soft tissue (meniscal and ligamentous lesions). In combat sports, swimming, and volleyball, the shoulder joint suffers often (Wanivenhaus et al, 2012;Seminati & Minetti, 2013;Didace et al, 2017;Jeong et al, 2022), and in aesthetic sports, running, basketball, and handball -the ankle joint (McKay et al, 2001;Dagorov, 2002;Gamboa et al, 2008;Vila et al, 2022). D. Shoylev (1983) pays special attention to overuse injuries in various sports, e.g., ARS is mainly an overuse disease in soccer players, gymnasts, and wrestlers the shoulder joint is most affected; the knee joint -in weightlifters, volleyball players, and basketball players.…”