A Descriptive Epidemiological Study of Shoulder Injury in Top Level English Male Volleyball Players

The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence and incidence of shoulder sports injuries, to discover the main shoulder injury, and to survey outcome of treatment or injuries in top level male volleyball athletes. Furthermore, the actions which most commonly cause injuries and the differences of physical characteristics between injured and healthy players were also investigated. Fifty-nine English Volleyball Federation division one athletes were recruited in the 1997/98 and 1998/99 seasons. All subjects completed two different questionnaires; a First recruitment and monthly Follow-up questionnaire throughout the period in question. Twenty-seven of the fifty-nine athletes had a history of shoulder sports injury, with a total of 29 injuries reported. The results of the First recruitment showed that overuse type injuries (19/29) were the main shoulder injuries. Cuff muscle tendinitis was predominant in these injuries (14/29). Furthermore, spiking was the major action during which a shoulder injury (23/29) first occurred. In the follow-up phase the incidences of shoulder chronic injury (or pain), re-injury, and new injury in these twenty-seven players were 3.0, 9.3 and 1.0 injuries/1000 hours of exposure respectively. The mean duration of chronic injury or pain was 2.3 ± 1.3 (± SD) months. The distribution of history of regular training, between injured and healthy subject groups, was significantly different (p = 0.008). This study has identified rotator cuff muscle/tendon injuries or involved lesions as the main shoulder injuries in top level English male volleyball athletes. These injuries result in prolonged shoulder pain symptoms.

Key words:

Volleyball, shoulder injuries, overuse injury.

References

• 1 Aagaard H, Jorgensen U. Injuries in the elite volleyball.  Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1996;  6 228-232
• 2 Almekinders L C, Almekinders S V. Outcome in the treatment of chronic overuse sports injuries: a retrospective study.  J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 1994;  19 157-159
• 3 Caine D J, Caine C, Lindner K J. The epidemiologic approach to sports injuries. In: Caine DJ, Caine C, Linder KJ (eds) Epidemiology of sports injuries. Leeds; Human Kinetics 1996: 1-13
• 4 Hawkins R J, Mohtadi N. Rotator cuff problem in athletes. In: DeLee JC, Drez DJ (eds) Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. Philadelphia; W. B. Saunders 1994: 623-656
• 5 Henning E M, Rosenbaum D, Milani T L. Transfer of tennis racket vibrations onto the human forearm.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1992;  24 1134-1140
• 6 Kibler W B. The role of the scapula in athletic shoulder function.  Am J Sports Med. 1998;  26 325-337
• 7 Kugler V A, Krüger-Frank M, Reininger S, Trouillier HH, Rosemeyer B. Muscular inbalance and shoulder pain in volleyball attacker.  Br J Sports Med. 1996;  30 256-259
• 8 Lanzetta A. Shoulder pain and instability in volleyball.  J Sports Trauma Rel Res. 1990;  12 59-64
• 9 Lindner J L, Ferretti A. Volleyball. In: Caine DJ, Caine C, Lindner KJ (eds) Epidemiology of sports injury. Leeds; Human Kinetics 1996: 399-416
• 10 Reeves R K, Laskowski E R, Smith J. Weight training injuries: diagnosis and managing chronic conditions.  Phys Sportsmed. 1998;  26 54-63 73
• 11 Rokito A S, Jobe F W, Pink M M, Perry J, Brault J. Electromyographic analysis of shoulder function during the volleyball serve and spike.  J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 1998;  7 256-263
• 12 Thein L A, Greenfield B H. Impingement syndrome and impingement-related instability. In: Donatelli RA (ed) Physical therapy of the shoulder. New York; Churchill Livingstone 1997: 229-256
• 13 Wang HK, Macfarlane A, Cochrane T. Isokinetic performance and shoulder mobility in elite volleyball athletes from the United Kingdom.  Br J Sports Med. 2000;  34 39-43
• 14 Watkins J, Green B N. Volleyball injuries: a survey of injuries of Scottish national league male players.  Br J Sports Med. 1992;  26 135-137