Sports Injuries and their Association with Entry Level Body Mass Index in Young Athletes:   a Case Control Study

Objective: To find the association between sports injuries and entry level body mass index in young athletes. Study Design: Case Control Study. Place and Duration of Study: Different Sports Academies of Abbottabad, Pakistan from Sep 2021 to Aug 2022. Methodology: Newly inducted young athletes, aged between 19 – 23 years, were included in the study. Record of the athletes was explored to note their entry level BMI, along with the personal and medical history. Those who got sports injuries during first three months of training were labeled as cases. Those athletes who remained injury free but otherwise were similar to cases in all aspects were labeled as controls. Controls were selected at Case: Control ratio of 1:2. BMI was divided into five categories. Results: A total of 1302 male participants were included in this study. Out of these, 434 participants (0.33%) had received sports injuries (cases), whereas the remaining 868 participants (0.66%) were injury free (controls). A strong association of sports injuries was observed with lower entry level BMI, in the cases (p-value=0.02). Furthermore, 40(87%) of the cases belonged to Category 1 (BMI <18 Kg/m2) while 164 (80.4%) were within Category 2(BMI =18.1-18.4 Kg/m2). The lowest percentage of sports injuries i.e. 8.3% (22 participants) was observed in Cat 4 (BMI = 23.1-24.9 Kg/m2). Conclusion: The study provides scientific evidence of association of sports injuries with lower entry level BMI. It implies that sports injuries can be prevented by revising selection standards of .....