Prevalence and Its Associated Factors of Musculoskeletal Injuries: In Case of South Gondar Zone Project and Club Volleyball Players, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

In recent years in Ethiopia, there is an increment of the number of participants in volleyball sport under clubs, projects, and recreational programs. However, athletes are highly vulnerable to injuries because of a lack of protective equipment, suitable playing areas, medical facilities, efficient injury surveillance systems, and skilled manpower. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and its associated factors of musculoskeletal injuries: in the case of South Gondar zone project and club volleyball players, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia, 2021/22. The injury prevalence rate, severity, diagnosis, and anatomical location of injuries that occurred during Match and training were recorded retrospectively. A total of 360 volleyball players (195 project players and 165 club players) from South Gondar clubs and projects participated in the study. In the current study, the overall mean age of the players was 18.54±3.27 years. in terms of team type, the age of project players was 15.42±1.92 years and for club players, it was 20.34±2.78 years. During the period of the study the total sample (n = 360) reported 62 injuries. In terms of the rate of injuries, 45.16 % (28/62) were projects and 54.84 % ( 34/62) were clubs.298 players (82.78) did not sustain any injuries. The Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of the club injuries comparison project was 1.548(95% Cl: 0.8931 to 2.6831) p = 0.1194, the rate of injuries on clubs seemed more, but there is no significant difference between the project and clubs. The overall risk of injuries was higher for match play than for training. The probability of injury during the match was 12.78% and training 4.44% with a relative risk of 2.875(95%Cl: 1.6591 to 4.9821) p=0.0002. A significant difference was seen, and the players during the match were 2.9 times more likely to be injured than in training. According to the physician's diagnosis, the most common injury parts were ankles and fingers 56.45% (35/62) and 22.58% (14/62), respectively, followed by injuries in the shoulder 8.06% (5/62), thumb 6.54% (4/62) and knee and Achilles tendon 3.23% (2/62) each. In conclusion, the frequency of injury was high during the study period.