Effect Of Implementation Of An Injury Prevention Program In An NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Team

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an injury prevention program over the course of 10 seasons by comparing injury rates 5 years prior and 5 years after the injury prevention program (IPP) initiation. METHODS: Injuries and games missed due to injury were recorded for the 5 years after implementation of the IPP. For the 5 years prior to the IPP, injuries and games missed due to injury were identified and counted. Seasons and roster sizes were normalized by calculating player availability percentages based on total games played each season multiplied by the number of players on the roster to give the total possible number of possible games. Player availability percentages for each season were divided into pre and post IPP groups and run through a t-test comparison. The number of injuries that caused missed games were calculated for pre and post IPP groups and run through a t-test comparison. RESULTS: Over a five-year span prior to IPP implementation, the mean games missed due to orthopedic injury was 60 per season, with a mean number of injuries causing missed games per season of 3.8 orthopedic injuries. The five post IPP seasons had a mean number of games missed due to orthopedic injury of 5 with a mean injury rate causing missed games per season of 1 injury. Player availability over the course of each season for pre and post IPP seasons was 88.7% and 99% respectively. Comparison of the 5 pre and 5 post IPP seasons through a t-test comparison showed that the injury prevention program had a statistically significant (p less than 0.05) effect on games missed due to injury (p 0.01), the number of injuries that caused missed games (p 0.013), and the percentage of player availability across each season (p 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:An injury prevention program based in fundamentals of balance, stability, and mobility integrated completely through an entire basketball pre, post, and off-season and executed in coordination with a strength and conditioning program can reduce games missed due to injury and increase availability of players available for competition the course of a season.