Despite the benefits of participation in sports, it also entails a risk situation for the occurrence of injuries at any level of performance. These injuries can affect both physical and psychological aspects, and consequently, generate a significant decline in performance and/or lack of participation, which may affect their quality of life. The present study aims to systematically review information regarding the association of injury with domains of quality of life (QoL) in adult athletes and to identify the most commonly used instruments for the measurement of injury and QoL in adult athletes published between 1980 and 2013. Searches were performed using five databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO and LILACS) and the references cited in retrieved articles. From the search, only 12 articles met the inclusion criteria and were retrieved and examined. Different questionnaires without standardization are used to assess the injury of athletes. For the assessment of QoL, most studies used the SF-36. The evaluation of the direction of the association between injury and domains of QoL demonstrated that most studies included in this review showed high percentages of negative association in the life satisfaction domain (100%), followed by bodily pain (71.4%), physical component score (75%), physical functioning, physical, vitality, social functioning (66.7% each), mental health (62.5%), and general health domains (57.1%). In conclusion, in adult athletes, most studies demonstrated a negative association between injury and QoL domains, especially in the physical and social aspects. However, the association between injury and QoL domains needs further investigation
