STUDY ON PREVALENCE, AWARENESS AND PRACTICES RELATED TO SPORTS INJURIES AMONG KARATE PLAYERS IN WESTERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA

H.K. Bandara¹, A. Wijerathne¹, B. Edward¹, A. Karunaratne¹

¹International Institute of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy, Welisara, Sri Lanka

Background: Karate is the most popular martial art in the world and it has one of the highest injury rates. Sports injuries have become a global burden since it is affecting the growth of the sport/ individual immensely. Therefore, there is a crucial need to minimize sports injuries which will in-turn maximize performance. Initially, prevalence of injuries is essential to identify the need for the development of effective injury prevention strategies. To develop/ implement such strategies, it is important to identify the current awareness and practices of these players in relation to sports injuries.

Purpose: To study the current prevalence, awareness and practices related to sports injuries among National level karate players in Sri Lanka.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 60 conveniently selected national-level karate players from Western Province, Sri Lanka. Sample size was calculated with a confidence level of 95%. A self-administered, close-ended questionnaire was used to gather data. Collected data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel.

Results: Majority of the participants were within the 20-25 age range, 53% were females and 88% have played Karate for more than 3 years. 90% of the participants have had a sports injury during their career. Out of this, 91% had more than 2 injuries and 33% had more than 5 injuries. Most common injury sites were elbow and knee regions. Of the people who were injured, only 59% had physiotherapy treatments. 85% claimed to be aware of a stretching protocol but only 26% practiced stretching “always”. Interestingly only 7% stated that they never did stretching pre/ post activity. 87% stated that they have not had any formal training sessions on injury prevention/ management. 62% of the participants stated that they always engage in warm-up and cool-down sessions. Only 25% of the participants have been involved in pre-habilitation sessions to avoid any injuries. However, there was no relationship with the incidence of injuries and pre-habilitation sessions. Only 40% claimed to “always” use protective equipment. 73% were aware that fatigue will contribute to injuries, a co-relation of this with practice could not be taken due to variations in training schedules. Majority had 3 days of rest, but had more than one session of training per day.

Conclusions: The prevalence of sports injuries were high among Karate players and majority players had recurrent injuries. Awareness on general aspects on sports injuries were high even though only a few had formal training. Current practices need to improve as some were noticed to be significant risk factors for sports injuries.

Implications: Clinical implications would be to implement appropriate rehabilitation programs to avoid injury recurrence. Awareness programs need to be conducted on appropriate guidelines and practices. Importance of following these guidelines also need to be emphasized to these players to reduce injuries.

Funding acknowledgements: Self Funded.

Keywords:
Sports Injury
Karate
Sri Lanka

Topics:
Sport & sports injuries
Musculoskeletal
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: International Institute Of Health Science

Committee: Biolnquirer Ethics Review Commiteee

Ethics number: 2022/ERC 120