Session Information
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2019
Session Title: Annual Assembly Late Breaking Posters (Non Presentations)
Session Time: 11:15am-12:45pm
Location: Research Hub - Kiosk 8
Disclosures: Onyinyechi R. Chidomere: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: To determine prevalence and type of sports-related injuries and illnesses among intercollegiate wheelchair basketball athletes at the start of the current season and throughout the prior season.
Design: Cross-sectional, survey-based study.
Setting: Intercollegiate wheelchair basketball teams in Arlington, TX.
Participants: Twenty-eight adult athletes on an intercollegiate men’s (14) or women’s (14) wheelchair basketball team.
Interventions: Athletes reported sports-related injuries and illnesses using an online survey at the start of the 2018-2019 season.
Main Outcome Measures: Percentage of athletes reporting one or more incidences, number and characteristics of incidences reported during the prior season and at the start of a new season.
Results: In the prior season, 10 athletes (35.7%) reported injury and 2 (7.1%) reported illness caused or worsened by sport. A total of 21 injuries and 2 illnesses were reported. Eighteen injuries (85.7%) involved the upper extremity, 2 (9.5%) involved the head or trunk, and 1 (4.7%) involved the leg. Illnesses included neurologic dysfunction and hematologic/immunologic dysfunction. At the start of the current season, 13 athletes (46.4%) reported an active injury and 1 (3.5%) reported an illness caused or worsened by sport. A total of 20 injuries and 1 illness were reported. Thirteen injuries (65%) involved the upper extremity, 3 (15%) involved the head and trunk, and 4 (20%) involved the leg. One athlete reported a neurologic illness at the start of the season.
Conclusions: Our study shows similar retrospective injury prevalence and location as reported in other wheelchair-based sports. It is the first to report injury at the start of a competitive, sport-specific season– revealing high prevalence of injury at the onset of the season, particularly involving the upper extremity. This highlights the need for pre-participation screenings and targeted injury prevention programs in this population.
Level of Evidence: Level III
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Chidomere OR, Kasitinon D, Royston A, Ramey L, Garner LMMAG, Wernet L. Sports-related Injuries and Illnesses in Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/sports-related-injuries-and-illnesses-in-intercollegiate-wheelchair-basketball/. Accessed May 12, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/sports-related-injuries-and-illnesses-in-intercollegiate-wheelchair-basketball/