Objective: To review 16 years of NCAA injury surveillance data for women's volleyball and to identify potential areas for injury prevention initiatives

Agel, Julie

Dick, Randall

Marshall, Stephen W

Palmieri-Smith, Riann M

Wojtys, Edward M

PubMed

Objective: To review 16 years of NCAA injury surveillance
data for women’s volleyball and to identify potential areas for
injury prevention initiatives.
Background: Participation in NCAA women’s volleyball has
increased greatly over the past 16 years. As with all sports,
women participating in volleyball assume an inherent risk of
injury each time they practice or participate in a game. In order
for clinicians to better understand the risks associated with volleyball,
it is critical to gather data that illustrates injury rates and
patterns among volleyball athletes. Furthermore, with knowledge
of injury mechanisms and risk factors comes the ability to
initiate prevention strategies to minimize future injury.
Main Results: Over the past 16 years, the rate of injury in a
game situation was slightly higher than in practice (4.58 versus
4.10 game injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures, rate ratio = 1.1,
95% confidence interval = -1.0, 1.2, P < .01). A total of 2216
injuries from more than 50 000 games and 4725 injuries from
more than 90 000 practices were reported. The lower extremity
accounted for more than 55% of all game and practice injuries,
with ankle ligament sprains representing 44.1% of game injuries
and 29.4% of practice injuries. Approximately 20% of all game
injuries involved the upper extremity. The majority of injuries
during a game situation occurred while athletes were in one of
the front 3 positions. A player landing on another player and
contact with the floor each accounted for 21% of game injuries.
Recommendations: Ankle injuries appear to be the most
common injuries in women’s volleyball. Future preventive efforts
should focus on preventing first-time ankle sprains and
acute traumatic knee injuries, as well as reducing the risk of
ankle sprain recurrence

Palmieri-Smith, Riann M.

Wojtys, Edward M.

Marshall, Stephen W.

Carolina Digital Repository

Descriptive Epidemiology of Collegiate Women's Volleyball Injuries: National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System, 1988–1989 Through 2003–2004

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1941295

Descriptive Epidemiology of Collegiate Women's Volleyball Injuries: National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System, 1988–1989 Through 2003–2004

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Carolina Digital Repository