Injury prevalence of netball players in South Africa: the need for injury prevention

Abstract

This study aimed to establish baseline data for injury prevalence, mechanism of injury, injury severity and management of injuries in netball players in South Africa. A cross sectional descriptive design was employed to collect data by means of a questionnaire in 2010. Participants consisted of 254 netball players who participated in a netball tournament. Permission was obtained from all the relevant organizations and informed consent obtained from the participants. The general injury rate was 61.8% with an injury rate of 1.9 injuries per player for the past season. The most commonly injured structures were the ankle 37.5 % and the knee 28.6% with the most common mechanism of injury being landing, 19% and 29% respectively. Of those who sustained injuries, 86 (44%) of the injured athletes’ sustained severe injuries, 31(16%) sustained moderate injuries and 78 (40%) sustained mild injuries. 67% of players reported they were able to continue with the game and 33% received medical assistance losing game and training time. The most common form of management accessed was physiotherapy, which accounted for 31%. It is evident that the ankle and knee injury rates amongst South African netball players are high in comparison to other netball playing nations. Injury surveillance is an integral part of developing preventative measures. The article lays a platform for developing these strategies against the backdrop of its findings and comparison with other authors.