Prevalence of Injuries in National Level Kabaddi Players in IndiaA Cross-sectional Survey

• Main Authors: Sajjan Pal, Saurabh Kumar, Ankush Sharma, Shalu Thariwal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited 2020-09-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
• Subjects: contact sport; epidemiology; incidence; national game; sports injury
• Online Access: https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/14000/44962_CE[Ra1]_F(RK)_PF1(F_KM)_PFA(KM)_PN(SL).pdf
• ISSN: 2249-782X; 0973-709X

Introduction: Kabaddi is a contact sport and national game of India and is widely played in all regions of India. In the recent past decade, it has been grown in popularity at the national level or the international level also. It is a highly strategic game that involves rapid forceful movements of the body, thus, injuries are inevitable in this field. Aim: To record the prevalence of injuries in the past and present, in terms of various body parts and to record awareness and access of physiotherapy in Indian Kabaddi players. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 80 professional national-level male Kabaddi players (mean age=21.65 years) presenting with various sports-related injuries were identified in the 1st All India Inter-University Kabaddi Tournament (2014-2015) held in Punjabi University, Patiala. Samples were selected by a convenient random sampling technique and scheduled questionnaire was the tool for data collection with three domains: demographic features, the present and past injuries, awareness and access of physiotherapy. Data was analysed using Microsoft excel and SPSS 20. Results: It was found that out of 80 players, the prevalence of present injury was 42.5% (n=34) and 62.5% (n=50) of injuries were recorded in the past two years. In the upper limb, the most common injured location was shoulder (21.25%) followed by the arm (5%). In the lower limb, knee (21.25%) was the most commonly injured site followed by the ankle (13.75%) while lower back (14.25%) constituted most of the injuries in the trunk. It was found that only 53.75% (n=41) players had awareness about physiotherapy and 23 (67.65%) players out of 34 players have chosen physiotherapy as treatment at the time of data collection. Conclusion: As kabaddi is a highly combative sport in nature, so athletes are more prone to get injured. More epidemiology studies are needed in Indian context to know the biomechanics of injuries.