Injuries in Youth Volleyball Players at a National Championship: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Mechanisms of Injury

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate injury incidence rates, types, mechanisms, and potential risk factors in youth volleyball. Design: Prospective cohort. Setting: 2018 Canadian Youth National Volleyball Tournament. Participants: Thousand eight hundred seventy-six players [466 males, 1391 females, mean age 16.2 years (±1.26)] consented to participate (19.5%). Assessment of Risk Factors: Sex (male/female), age group, position, and underage players. Main Outcome Measures: Players completed a questionnaire (demographic information, injury, and concussion history). Medical attention injuries were recorded by tournament medical personnel through an injury report form (eg, mechanism and type). Injury was defined as any physical complaint seeking onsite medical attention. Concussion was defined using the fifth International Consensus. Injury rates adjusted for cluster by team were calculated by sex. Exploratory multivariable Poisson regression was used to analyze potential risk factors (eg, sex, age group, position, and underage players) for injury, adjusted for cluster by team and offset by athlete exposures (AEs). Results: There were 101 injuries in the 7-day tournament {IRFemale = 6.78 injuries/1000 AEs [95% confidence interval (CI), 5.27-8.72]; IRMale = 4.30 injuries/1000 AEs (95% CI, 2.55-7.24)}. Joint sprain (n = 29, 28.71%) and concussion (n = 26, 25.74%) were the most common. Most concussions were associated with ball-to-head contact (61.5%). There was no statistically significant difference in injury rate by sex (IRRF/M: 1.47; 95% CI, 0.80-2.69). The rates of injury in U14 were higher than U18 (IRRU14: 2.57; 95% CI, 1.11-5.98). Conclusions: Injury rates are high in youth volleyball tournament play, with the highest rates in U14. More research is needed to inform the development of volleyball-specific injury prevention strategies.