Session Information
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019
Session Title: Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine Research Report
Session Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm
Location: Research Hub - Kiosk 8
Disclosures: Donald Kasitinon, MD: Nothing to disclose
Objective: To determine the incidence of sports-related injuries and illnesses among a collegiate wheelchair basketball team throughout a season.
Design: Prospective surveillance study.
Setting: University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).
Participants: 28 members of the UTA men’s (14) and women’s (14) wheelchair basketball teams and their athletic trainer (ATC).
Interventions: Participants provided real-time reports of sports injuries and illnesses throughout the 2018-2019 season (10/1/2018-3/15/2019) using a novel web-app. Baseline demographics were collected pre-season, and retrospective injury reports will be collected post-season from athletes and the ATC for comparison.
Main Outcome Measures: 1. Incidence rates of injury throughout the season based on athlete-exposures during practice and competition and stratified by gender. 2. Overall illness rates by gender.
Results: As of 3/7/2019, 70 incidents have been reported (56 injuries and 14 illnesses). Injuries involved the upper extremity (58.9%), the head or trunk (35.7%), or the lower extremity (5.4%). Athletes rarely missed sport for injury (30.4%) but commonly missed sport for illness (61.5%). Athletes sought medical care for 64.2% of injuries and 53.8% of illnesses. Injuries were most commonly evaluated with the ATC (76.5%), while illnesses were most commonly evaluated at student health (71.4%). There were an estimated 17.9 and 13.9 injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures in practice and competition, respectively. Injury rates were lower among females (14.6 and 8.9 injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures in practice and competition, respectively) and higher among males (19.7 and 17.8 injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures in practice and competition, respectively). Illnesses were more common among females (71.4%).
Conclusions: The injury rates reported here exceed those previously reported by the NCAA among able-bodied collegiate basketball players. It is important to establish an accessible network of healthcare support for these athletes. Injury prevention methods, such a pre-season physical examinations and educational injury prevention sessions, should be considered.
Level of Evidence: Level II
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Kasitinon D, Royston A, Ramey L. Health-related Incidents Among Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball Athletes [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/health-related-incidents-among-collegiate-wheelchair-basketball-athletes/. Accessed May 22, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/health-related-incidents-among-collegiate-wheelchair-basketball-athletes/