High prevalence of ankle, knee and low back problems in highly trained adolescent basketball players at the beginning of their competitive season

Abstract

Background: Adolescent team sport athletes with high training volume and overscheduling have increased incidences of injuries (Osgood-Schlatter disease, low-back pain etc.) compared to their less active counterparts. These overuse injuries may begin to negatively affect young athletes’ attitudes towards physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of low back, knee and ankle problems in young male basketball players.

Methods: The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse Injury Questionnaire (OSTRC) was distributed weekly to 16 adolescent athletes who regularly participated in basketball training and who volunteered to participate in the study (age 15 ± 1.2 years; body weight 72.1 ± 11.8 kg; height 183.5 ± 8.2 cm; BMI 21.1 ± 2.5; training experience 7.4 ± 1.2 years; training hours per week 6.6 ± 3.8) for 12 weeks at the start of their season.

Results: The response rate to the weekly OSTRC questionnaire was 96.4%. A total of 94 overuse conditions were identified, affecting 15 athletes (94% of the cohort). 93.8% of the athletes in this group reported having had knee problems, while low back and ankle problems were reported by 43.8% and 31.3% respectively.

Conclusions: Knee and low back problems seem to be very common in adolescent basketball players and should be the focus of regular injury prevention programmes. Problems in these areas were more prevalent at the start of the study indicating the need for better pre-season physical preparation. Also, the weekly questionnaire helps to better regulate training loads and, therefore, is a good monitoring system for coaches and physiotherapists to prevent overuse problems.