Ankle sprain risk factors: A 5-month follow-up study in volley and basketball athletes

Abstract

Introduction: Ankle sprain is a frequent sports injury among volley and basketball players, and identifying risk factors is necessary to prevent injuries and prolong their careers. Objective: To identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors in basketball and volleyball players related to the risk of ankle sprain injury over a five-month follow-up period. Methods: Ninety-four Brazilian young competitive athletes (15.8±1.7 years, 47 basketball and 47 volleyball players) participated in this study. They were evaluated for intrinsic risk factors (previous history of ankle sprain, dominant lower limb, ankle ligament laxity, range of motion of the ankle-foot complex, electromyographic response time of ankle evertors, postural control and muscular torque of ankle invertors and evertors) and extrinsic risk factors (type of shoes worn, use of orthosis, previous injuries while training or competing, and the players’ position). Results: During the study period, 18 (19%) athletes suffered unilateral sprains. Multivariate logistic regression analysis gave a final regression with four factors: dominant leg (p=0.161), type of shoes worn (p=0.049), player’s position (p=0.153), and peroneus brevis muscle reaction time (p=0.045). There was an 86.1% probability of an ankle sprain if the athlete had a left dominant leg, wore shoes without vibration dampeners, or played in the small forward, wing/hitter spiker, middle blocker, or opposite spiker positions, and had a peroneus muscle reaction time longer than 80ms. However, only the player’s position was significantly (p=0.046) associated with lesion occurrence. Conclusion: The player’s position appeared to be a risk factor in both sports, and this result may help professionals to prevent ankle sprains. Level of Evidence I; High quality randomized clinical trial with or without statistically significant difference but with narrow confidence intervals.