Systematic evaluation of literature on musculoskeletal injuries in boxers

INTRODUCTION: Boxing, as a publicly popular sport, can come with a great risk of injury. This review aimed to present a comprehensive overview of boxing-related musculoskeletal injuries in amateur or professional boxers through the application of a systematic review methodology.EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: An extensive search was carried out in the five valid databases applying two groups of keywords up to June 2024 according to the PRISMA guidance. Two reviewers individually carried out the steps of the review, comprising selection of study, data extraction, and quality assessment. The agreement between the researchers was determined using coefficient of Cohen’s kappa. The quality assessment of the studies in this review was carried out applying the critical appraisal tools of Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The prevalence range of musculoskeletal injuries in these subjects was between 0.7 and 89.9% in different parts of body. Hand injuries in 11 out of 24 studies (45.84%), shoulder injuries in nine out of 24 studies (37.5%), wrist injuries in seven out of 24 studies (29.17%), head, nose and facial injuries in six out of 24 studies (25.0%), and spine and back injuries in four out of 24 studies (16.67%) were the highest prevalence among varied injuries. Sprains, strains, and contusions in varied body parts were also reported. Two out of two studies (100.00%) revealed a higher percentage of the injuries among males. No study compared the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries between subjects with different age groups.CONCLUSIONS: These outcomes accentuate the requirement for injury prevention and management plans, especially targeting vulnerable areas such as the hand and shoulder.