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Jayalath J.S.S.1, Fonseka M.J.1, Karunaratne M.D.A.I.1, Silva S.N.2
1International Institute of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy, Welisara, Sri Lanka, 2International Institute of Health Sciences, Academic, Welisara, Sri Lanka
Background: Sports injuries are gradually increasing all over the world. School athletes are the potential group that will make up the senior professional athletes population of a country in the future. Therefore, injuries to these athletes would lead to long term national consequences. Prevention of injuries and proper first aid helps to minimize injuries and reduce further complications. Therefore evaluation of the existing knowledge and practices of school athletes regarding injuries and prevention of them, is an essential exercise. This study will help to determine the extent of their knowledge in prevention of injuries and basic first aid.
Purpose: To identify the knowledge of prevention and rehabilitation of sports injuries among senior school athletes in Sri Lanka.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study on senior school athletes in Colombo was done using a sample of 150 conveniently selected school level athletes, using a self-administered questionnaire and the data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee of the International Institute of Health Sciences Sri Lanka.
Results: Out of 150 participants, only 45 students had adequate knowledge of cryotherapy. 51 students had basic knowledge on relieving cramps. 69.3% continued stretching though they had pain. 67.3% were unaware of proper bandaging protocols. 39.3% understood splinting and its uses and 26.7% were well informed on the necessity of CPR. Whereas, out of the 150 students, 80 students were aware of emergency wound care, only 64% knew standard first aid for ankle sprains. 75.3% were aware of the purpose of vapo-coolant spray, and 99.3% performed warm up exercises. A majority of them; 96%, practiced cool down exercises.
Conclusion(s): Senior school athletes perform warm up and cool down exercises which is an integral part of injury prevention, but when considering basic first aid and post injury rehabilitation, there are many aspects in which majority of the athletes are lacking in knowledge and training.
Implications: Provision of knowledge on prevention of injuries and complications would help to upgrade their performance. It is vital to improve their knowledge in these areas to prevent further complications as well. Furthermore by considering all above factors it is necessary to establish a system to train and improve their knowledge serially. Additionally, policy changes may be needed to address this lack of knowledge in management of these injuries when they occur. Such preventive measures would reduce the cost of disease treatment and also minimize long term health risks.
Funding acknowledgements: Self funding research. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance from International Institute of Health Sciences, Sri Lanka
Topic: Sport & sports injuries
Ethics approval: Bioinquirer ethics review committee, Sri Lanka
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
