The effect of sport and physical properties on musculoskeletal injury in adolescent athletes

Nowadays, the number of children and adolescents participating in sports has increased significantly, which has led to an increase in the rate of sports injury. Expectations from athletes in almost every branch of sport can be different and the athlete must meet the necessary anthropometric and motoric competencies in order to be successful in that branch. Athletes whose anthropometric and motoric performances are not sufficient have a very high risk of injury, and the important thing is to minimize these risks and direct the individual to sports suitable for body composition. Since today's children will be healthy adults of tomorrow, specific physical activity programs should be designed and popularized for them. The aim of this study is to take anthropometric and motoric measurements of adolescents who are interested in any sport branch between the ages of 7-14 and to determine the type and frequency of injuries experienced in the past, to determine whether there is a relationship between injuries and the type of sports they are doing now. The study was conducted with 480 students aged 7-14 living in the Başakşehir district of Istanbul. In the study, anthropometric data were evaluated using height and weight measurements, sitting height and handgrip. While evaluating the motor data, flexibility was evaluated with the sit and reach test, the balance flamingo test, the agility measurement with the zigzag test and the force standing long jump tests and the values were recorded. For the statistical analysis of the study data, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21.0 (SPSS inc., Chicago, IL, USA) statistical program was used. Values of p <0.05 were considered statistically significant in all analyzes. While evaluating the study data, whether the data were suitable for normal distribution was determined by using the "Shapiro Wilk Test". According to the analysis results of this test, parametric tests were used in the analysis of the data that fit the normal distribution. Participants with and without sports injuries were compared with the "Independent Sample T" test and the "Chi-square" test in terms of demographic characteristics, anthropometric characteristics and performance tests. Relationships between anthropometric properties and performance tests were determined using the "Pearson Correlation Test". As a result of the study, male athletes (65.8%) had more injuries than women (34.2%), the injury was related to the sports branch of interest and the rate of sports with the most injuries was football (33%), basketball (24%, 7) and swimming (15.6%). Overall, our study concluded that there is a high incidence of injury in football, basketball and swimming sports.