Prevention of Lower Extremity Injuries in Basketball: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
BACKGROUND
Lower extremity injuries are common in basketball, yet it is unclear how prophylactic interventions affect lower extremity injury incidence rates.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the effectiveness of current lower extremity injury prevention programs in basketball athletes, focusing on injury rates of (1) general lower extremity injuries, (2) ankle sprains, and (3) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.


METHODS
PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials were searched in January 2015.


METHODS
Studies were included if they were randomized controlled or prospective cohort trials, contained a population of competitive basketball athletes, and reported lower extremity injury incidence rates specific to basketball players. In total, 426 individual studies were identified. Of these, 9 met the inclusion criteria. One other study was found during a hand search of the literature, resulting in 10 total studies included in this meta-analysis.


METHODS
Systematic review and meta-analysis.


METHODS
Level 2.


METHODS
Details of the intervention (eg, neuromuscular vs external support), size of control and intervention groups, and number of injuries in each group were extracted from each study. Injury data were classified into 3 groups based on the anatomic diagnosis reported (general lower extremity injury, ankle sprain, ACL rupture).


RESULTS
Meta-analyses were performed independently for each injury classification. Results indicate that prophylactic programs significantly reduced the incidence of general lower extremity injuries (odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.57-0.85; P < 0.001) and ankle sprains (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.29-0.69; P < 0.001), yet not ACL ruptures (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.36-3.29; P = 0.87) in basketball athletes.


CONCLUSIONS
In basketball players, prophylactic programs may be effective in reducing the risk of general lower extremity injuries and ankle sprains, yet not ACL injuries.
Department of Physical Therapy, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina jtaylor@highpoint.edu.
Jeffrey B
JB
Taylor
Department of Physical Therapy, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina.
Kevin R
KR
Ford
Department of Athletic Training, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina.
Anh-Dung
AD
Nguyen
Department of Exercise Science, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina.
Lauren N
LN
Terry
Department of Physical Therapy, High Point University, High Point, North Carolina.
Eric J
EJ
Hegedus
D016512:Ankle Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001490:Basketball / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000293:injuries*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013180:Sprains and Strains / Q000517:prevention & control
ankle sprain; anterior cruciate ligament; basketball; injury prevention; lower extremity