Injuries in Japanese high school basketball players during games and practices

Abstract

Problem Statement: Although the second largest population of high school athletes in Japan play basketball, prospective studies of injuries in high school basketball are limited. In junior sports, the same sports are played year-round in Japan. Therefore, it is critical to clarify the actual status of injuries in Japanese high school basketball players, who play the same sports throughout the year, to consider measures to prevent injuries of junior athletes. Purpose: This study aimed to prospectively examine the incidence, sites, types, and situations of injuries in Japanese high school basketball players during games and practices during the 2016–17 season. Approach: A total of 137 players (boys: 78, girls: 59) belonging to the Hyogo Prefectural High School Basketball Federation participated in this study. Data on all game and practice injuries for the one season were collected using an injury report sheet. Injury rates (IRs) were calculated by sex, injury site, injury type, and injury situations. Results: The overall IRs for boys and girls were 4.90/1000 athlete-hours and 2.12/1000 athletehours, respectively. The game IRs for boys and girls were 13.73/1000 athlete-hours and 5.94/1000 athlete-hours, respectively. The practice IRs for boys and girls were 3.81/1000 athlete-hours and 1.70/1000 athlete-hours, respectively. The game IRs were significantly higher than the practice IRs for both boys and girls (p <0.05). The game and practice IRs for boys were 2.31 times and 2.24 times higher than those of girls, respectively (p <0.05). Of the injuries, the incidence of lower limb injuries was the highest for both boys (58.3%) and girls (86.7%), with sprains being the most common for both boys (37.6%) and girls (53.7%). Furthermore, heat illness was common in both boys (12.9%) and girls (9.3%). Regarding the situation of injury, injuries caused by body contact were the highest during games for both boys (72.2%) and girls (53.3%), with injuries caused by noncontact being the highest for girls. Conclusions: The overall game IR was higher than the overall practice IR. The game IRs were higher than the practice IRs for both boys and girls. A future task is to reduce the game injury rates for boys and girls in high school basketball during the season.