Use of Functional Movement Screening Tool to Determine Injury Risk in Female Acrobatic Sports

Given the acrobatic sport's widespread popularity, and high risk of poor biomechanics, this study aimed to determine if using a functional movement screening “FMS” tool can be used to predict musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries in female acrobatic athletes. The limited reliable tools in this sport population can help in predicting and understanding the injury mechanism and the most sensitive patterns

Sixty female aerialists with mean age (28.66 ± 6.47 years) participated in the study. We used functional movement screen (FMS) tool as an outcome measure to evaluate the participants’ basic movement patterns quality and identify deficits that might indicate the existence or risk of the MSK injuries. FMS comprised of seven movement patterns, each pattern score (0-3) with the maximum score of the seven patterns is 21 points. We conducted a descriptive analysis and Chi-square for correlation analysis

Sixteen participant (27%) reported a previous injury, and twelve participant (20%) reported current injuries. The most common injury sites in previous and current injuries were the wrist and knee. The top two scores recorded in FMS were 16 and 19 points. We found a correlation between FMS score and injury incidents (p= 0.048), the lower FMS scores correlated with higher injuries

The study found low MSK injury prevalence in acrobatic sports. FMS can serve as a tool to measure and indicate people at risk of developing injuries in female acrobatic sports. Conducting a prospective study on a larger sample will help to confirm the suggested correlation between FMS and injury

FMS could be used as a tool to assess the performance and potentially indicate athletes at risk for MSK injury in acrobatic sports