Association of pre-season musculoskeletal screening and functional testing with sports injuries in elite female basketball players

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in Lithuania, and participation in women’s basketball is on the rise. Pre-participation examinations, including musculoskeletal screening and functional performance testing, is an essential part of a multidisciplinary approach to prevent future injuries. Because the lower extremities are the most commonly-injured body area in basketball players. Assessing fundamental movement qualities is of utmost importance. The aim of our study was to determine if functional tests can predict sports injuries in elite female basketball players. A total of 351 records for professional female basketball players were screened during 2013–2016 season. We analysed functional characteristics before the season and used functional performance tests for injury risk assessment: the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), the lower quarter Y Balance test (YBT-LQ) and the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS). Data from 169 players’ records were analysed: 77 of them made it to the end of season without injury, making up the non-injured group, while 92 of them suffered lower limb sport injuries during the sport season (injury group). Student’s t-test and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used to determine differences between groups. The most commonly encountered sports injuries in our population were those of knee 40.2% and ankle 38%. The injury group had a lower total FMS score (p = 0.0001) and higher total LESS score (p = 0.028) than non-injury group. The dynamic balance of lower limbs was similar in both groups. Imperfect functional movement patterns and poor jump-landing biomechanics during pre-season screening were associated with lower extremity injuries in elite female basketball players. Impairments of dynamic stability in the lower extremities were not associated with injury rates in our population. A combination of functional tests can be used for injury risk evaluation in female basketball players.