Assessment of Pattern of Sport Injuries in Selected Ballgames during a Season of the Kenyan National Leagues

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern and specific anatomical location of injuries on male and female players in one season of the Kenyan national division one leagues of basketball, handball and volleyball. It was prospective cohort design with 768 participants (478 male and 290 females) who comprised of 138 male and 133 female, 191 male and 95 female and 149 male and 62 females in basketball, handball and volleyball, respectively. Data was collected during training and competitions and recorded on a sport injury observation schedule. An injury was recorded if it caused a player to stop playing in that or subsequent games during training or competition. Chi-square set at 0.05 level of significance was used to test hypotheses of the study. Findings showed that 2098 injuries occurred during the season with 1362(64.9%) and 736(39.1%) affecting male and females, respectively. Cumulatively, the number of injuries per player was slightly higher in proportion to males (2.8) than females (2.5). Significant differences were found between and within sport and gender on the pattern and also the site of injury. However, within gender, a significance difference in the pattern of injuries was only found in females of basketball, male players of handball and both genders of volleyball. On the specific location of the injury, results showed significant difference was found in all except females of handball. It was concluded that pattern and anatomical location of injuries is influenced by gender, nature and characteristics of a sport.