Incidence Of Musculoskeletal Injuries Among Indonesian Volleyball Athletes During A National Training And Championship

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to find out the incidence and characteristics of musculoskeletal injuries among Indonesian volleyball athletes during a national volleyball training and championship.METHODS: A prospective cohort study involving 34 Indonesian volleyball national team athletes (18 male and 16 female) during one volleyball national training and championship in July-September 2019 was conducted. All athletes were observed for 11 weeks and the incidence and the characteristics (duration, pain level, severity in loss time, nature, recurrence, anatomical location and types) of the injuries were documented. Sonic etiological factors of the injuries such as the court zone (back, front/net, and un-specified) time of injury (practice, competition or both), injury mechanism (ball contact, player contact, surface contact, non-contact or overuse), biomechanics (bending, compression, repetitive or traction) and movements (blocking, digging, passing, serving, spiking, or not specific) were also recorded. Incidence of injuries was presented in 1000 player hours.RESULTS: The incidence of injuries was 20.4/1000 player hours. Only one out of the 34 athletes did not have injury. Injuries occurred most frequently in the knee (36 degrees/o), followed by the ankle (18%) and waist (16%). The most common type of injuries was sprain (21%) and tendinitis (21%) followed by low back pain (13%). The overuse and recurrence type of injuries were much more dominant to the acute one.CONCLUSIONS: Musculoskeletal injuries were common among Indonesian volleyball athletes. This adds information to the limited available evidence concerning the incidence, prevalence and etiology of volleyball-specific injuries which were needed to prevent its occurrence.