Injury surveillance in English youth basketball: A 5-season cohort study to inform injury prevention strategies

Objectives: Describe the injury risk of English youth basketball, comparing game versus training injury incidence and burden. Design: 5 season (2013/14-2018/19) prospective cohort study. Setting: Basketball academy at an English sports college. Participants: Male basketball players (n = 110, mean age; 17.3 ± 0.9 years). Main outcomes measures: Descriptive data regarding game and training injury incidence (injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures (AE)) and burden (severity x incidence) are provided with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Rate ratios (RR; 95% CI) were used to compare outcome measures, with results statistically significant if the 95% CI did not pass 1.0. Results: Fifty-four injuries were sustained during 13,350-AE (1666 games, 9684 training). Game injury incidence (12.0/1000-AE, 95% CI 6.7–17.3) was significantly greater than training injury incidence (2.4/1000-AE, 95% CI 1.4–3.3; RR = 5.1, 95% CI 2.8–9.2). Games had a significantly greater injury burden (216 days absence/1000-AE, 95% CI 121-311) than training (62 days absence/1000-AE, 95% CI 37-88; RR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.9–6.3). The ankle was the most injured body location (37%), whilst over 50% of injuries occurring through contact mechanisms. Conclusion: This study is the most comprehensive description of injury epidemiology in English youth basketball to date. This information can inform evidence-based injury prevention strategies to mitigate risk in this population.