This scoping review aimed to map and summarize the existing literature on musculoskeletal screening tests used to assess sports injury risk in athletic populations.It was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines.Literature searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science without restrictions on publication year.Studies investigating musculoskeletal screening tests in relation to sports injury risk in athletes were included.Data on study characteristics, screening tools, injury outcomes, and key findings were extracted and summarized.A total of 86 studies met the inclusion criteria.The Functional Movement Screen was the most frequently investigated screening tool (77.9%), followed by dynamic balance assessments such as the Y-Balance Test and Star Excursion Balance Test (18.6%), and landing biomechanics assessments including the Landing Error Scoring System (9.3%).The included studies involved athletes from a wide range of sports and competition levels.Among the included studies, 31 (36.0%) reported significant associations between screening test outcomes and subsequent injury risk, 42 (48.8%)found no significant association, and 13 (15.1%)reported mixed findings.Variability in injury definitions, follow-up periods, screening protocols, and sample sizes was commonly observed across studies.Current evidence indicates that musculoskeletal screening tests have limited utility as standalone predictors of sports injuries.Instead, these tools may be more appropriately used to identify movement deficiencies, monitor athletes, and inform targeted injury prevention strategies.Future research should prioritize longitudinal study designs and multifactorial approaches to better understand and assess injury risk in athletic populations.
Choi et al. (2026) studied this question.