Context of injury prevention strategies in Swiss basketball: survey of athletes, medical staff and coaches

OBJECTIVES: This project aims to assess opinions, attitudes, knowledge, beliefs, practices and perceived barriers and facilitators of injury prevention (IP) strategies in Swiss basketball teams. METHODS: An online survey was sent to athletes, coaches and medical staff of the three best basketball leagues in Switzerland. The survey was subdivided in four sections: (1) characteristic of participants, (2) knowledge, opinions, attitudes and beliefs, (3) practices and (4) barriers and facilitators. RESULTS: Among 105 persons (n=45 female, n=60 male) who answered the survey, more than 60% (n=68) considered the risk of injury for basketball athletes as being high to very high. The ankle, knee and the hand were considered as being the most at risk. More than 80% of participants considered that recovery, training load and the warm-up quality were very important factors for IP. More than 90% of participants considered IP as either important or very important with 53 (50.5%) of the participants indicating using exercise-based IP in their clubs. Athletes and coaches’ motivation and compliance were judged as either important or very important for successful IP implementation by more than 80% of participants, with the coach being reported as the most influential person. Environmental barriers towards human or infrastructural resources were also reported as factors influencing IP strategies, namely by female participants. CONCLUSION: Good knowledge and positive attitude towards IP were reported by participants, but exercise-based IP strategies lack implementation. The coach was considered as the most influential person and was reported with the athletes as playing an important role towards successful implementation.