Epidemiology and management of basketball related injuries in Rwanda

Abstract

Basketball continues to increase in popularity worldwide as a participation sport at all levels of play, from recreational to professional. Each year, more than 1.6 million basketball-related injuries are treated in hospitals, Doctor's offices and emergency rooms in North America. In Rwanda, basketball and volleyball are the second popular sports, following football. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence, mechanisms, nature and management of basketball related-injuries in Rwanda. The study design was retrospective survey over period of nine months. The study included all players of 12 teams. A structured self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used to gather information from basketball players. The questionnaire was adapted from the validated questionnaire used in a study on knee injury patterns among young basketball players in Cape Town. A response of 86.7% was obtained. The collected data were captured and analyzed by means of the Microsoft Excel package and SPSS. The associations between variables were evaluated by means of the chi-square test and 5% level of significance was used. The results were displayed using tables, bar chart, pie chart and graphs. All basketball players rep01ted to sustain one or more injuries. The injury rate was 3.6 injuries per player per season. The injmy prevalence was high during training (77%) compared to competition (23%). Ankle followed by fingers and knee were the most body parts involved. The most common mechanism of injury was landing badly. Self-treatment was a type of treatment mostly used by basketball players. The prevalence of basketball injury is high in Rwanda. The implementation of preventive strategies is of a paramount. A strong promotional campaign of physiotherapy services is needed, for adequate treatment and good rehabilitation of basketball players after injury.