827 MEP026 – Injury surveillance of international basketball: a 5-season cohort study of the great Britain men’s basketball team

AbstractBackground Injury surveillance is essential for developing evidence-based prevention strategies. However, there is no evidence detailing the injury risk in international basketball despite there being 212 registered national basketball federations worldwide.Objective To investigate the injury risk of international men's basketball training and games.Design Prospective cohort study.Setting International competition windows over 5-seasons (2018–2023).Participants Great Britain Men's Basketball team players (n=34).Interventions Injuries (24-hour time-loss (TL) and medical attention (MA)), training and match exposure were recorded by team medical staff.Main Outcome Measures Descriptive statistics percentages, 95% confidence-intervals (95% CI) and injury incidence per 1000 player-match-hours (p/1000h) are reported.Results In total, 192 match (24 games) and 1296 training player-hours were recorded, with 74% of players reporting an injury. The TL injury rate for games (41.7/1000h; 95% CI 12.8–70.5) was notably higher than for training (5.4/1000h; 95% CI 1.4–9.4), whilst games had an overall injury (MA+TL) rate of 83.3/1000h (95% CI 42.5–124.2). Over half of all injuries were classified as overuse (52%, overall 21.5/1000h), but only 12.5% of these resulted in TL. The ankle and knee were the most commonly injured body locations (18% each, overall 5.4/1000h). Ankle injuries often resulted in TL (63%) whilst most knee injuries were MA injuries (78%). In games, 66% of all injuries occurred through contact.Conclusions This is the first known study to describe the injury risk in international basketball, now allowing for the development of preventative strategies for this population. TL ankle injuries may be one area to address, with promising research around the prevention of these injuries. The prevention of overuse injuries, predominately to the knee, should be a priority. Whilst may of these injuries did not result in TL, evidence suggests they may limit an athlete physical capability whilst also developing into a TL injury over time.