Injury epidemiology and surveillance in basketball: a systematic review of reporting methods and meta-analysis of injury rates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64255/zs9twt35Keywords:
basketball, injury, methodology, epidemiology, surveillance, sportAbstract
INTRODUCTION
Basketball is one of the most widely played sports worldwide, with injuries ranging from contact-related concussions to overuse tendinopathies. However, considerable methodological variation exists across injury surveillance studies, limiting the ability to directly compare findings between studies. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to (1) describe the reporting methods used in basketball injury surveillance research and (2) examine injury incidence rates (IIR) across different playing levels, age groups, and sexes using a range of injury definitions and exposure denominators.
METHODS
Five electronic databases were searched for studies reporting basketball injury rates (PROSPERO registration: CRD42023487335). Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed articles, written in English, describing injury rates in 5v5 training/games. Data pertaining to study demographics, reporting methods, risk of bias (modified Downs and Black checklist) and injury data were extracted. Reporting methods data was assessed descriptively. A meta-analysis was performed on pooled IIR of training and games using medical-attention (MA) and time-loss (TL) injury definitions, combined with exposure per 1000 player-hours (/1000h) or 1000 athlete-exposure (/1000AE).
RESULTS
A total of 3,177 studies were identified, with 119 unique articles included in the review. Ten distinct injury definitions were found, with TL (55%) and MA (19%) the most common. Nine different exposure denominators were found, the most common being athlete-exposure (70%). From the meta-analysis, match IIR exceeded training incidence for all injury definitions and exposure types. A pooled TL match IIR of 6.8/1000AE (95% CI 5.0-9.5) and 24.3/1000h (95% CI 16.8-35.2) were reported, notably greater than training IIR (1.9/1000AE, 95% CI 1.4-2.4 and 2.3/1000h, 95% CI 1.4-3.9, respectively).
CONCLUSION
This is the first review to describe the wide range of surveillance methods adopted in basketball surveillance studies. This meta-analysis provides the most comprehensive synthesis of basketball literature, reporting pooled IIR across various contexts and settings using various exposure types and injury definitions.
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