The prevention of injuries among youth basketballers according to the “Sequence of Prevention’’: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Basketball is played by the youth worldwide, and various injuries occur in youth basketball. There is currently no overview of the incidence, the risk factors and preventive measures of musculoskeletal injuries among youth basketball players.

Objective: This systematic review describes the most common injuries among youth basketball players. The most common risk factors and various preventive measures and interventions have also been reported and discussed.

Methods: Search strategies were built based on groups of keywords, namely ‘injury’, ‘youth basketball’, and ‘cohort’. Search strategies were entered into Medline and SPORTDiscus. Titles, abstracts and full text articles were screened by two researchers. Data from the included articles were extracted by one researcher and checked by another researcher.

Results: Twenty-seven studies showed that the overall injury rate ranged from 2.64 to 3.83 per 1 000 hours of exposure. Ankle- (22%-37%) and knee injuries (5%-41%) were the most common injuries. Risk factors for knee injuries included ankle dorsiflexion with a range less than 36.5 degrees and female athletes with greater hip abduction strength. High variations of postural sway corresponded to occurrences of ankle injuries (p=0.01, OR =1.22; p<0.001, OR =1.22). A core intervention (rate = 4.99/1 000 athlete exposure (AEs)) focused on the trunk and lower extremity led to a reduction in injuries compared to a sham intervention (rate =7.72/1 000 AEs) (p=0.02). Wearing a McDavid Ultralight 195 brace reduced ankle injuries compared to the controls (HR 0.30; 95 % CI 0.17 0.90; p=0.03).

Conclusion: Ankle and knee injuries are the most common injuries among youth basketball players. Poor postural control, reduced ankle dorsiflexion and high hip abduction strength are the main risk factors. A neuromuscular warm-up, in combination with strength and stability exercises, seems to be the best training method to prevent injuries. Ankle injuries can be reduced by wearing a lace-up ankle brace.