Sport injuries in rugby and functional indicators of the musculoskeletal system

Abstract

Introduction. Rugby is a full-contact team sport that has a high risk of injuries which requires a functional movement support apparatus(1). Functional motion requires kinetic chain integration between stability and mobility. This coordination is important because technical sports tasks require a dynamic and static balance (2). The percentage of rugby injuries remains 3 times higher between contact sports (3) and > 60% of injuries occurs in contact (4). Physiological and biomechanical factors contribute to a holistic view which determines sports performance. Research aim – to identify prevelence of the sport injuries in rugby and the functional indicators of the musculoskeletal system. Research methods and organization. The research was approved by Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Bioethics Centre No. BEC-SR (M)-162. The study involved high-skill rugby players (n = 50) from the Lithuanian national men's team (R-7, R-15). From 2017 to 2020 years 33 players were injured 17 players didn‘t suffer an injury in rugby. The mean age of participants was 30.4 (± 4.6) years, mean height was 1.84 (± 0.05) cm, mean body weight was 97.7 (± 11.4) kg, and the mean BMI was 28.7 ± 3.2 kg/m2. A one-time study was performed in the Lithuanian Rugby Federation during the Lithuanian men's rugby team preparation camp. Research methods: Australian Standardized Injury History Questionnaire; Functional movement screen (FMS); Static balance evaluation (Abili balance analysis); Dynamic balance evaluation (Y Balance Test); Vertical drop jump; Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 software. Mann-Whitney criteria U test was used to compare the two independent samples, and the Wilcoxon criteria was used to compare the dependent samples. Quantitative data are presented as median (xme), minimum (xmin), maximum (xmax) value and mean (x) – xme (xmin; xmax; x), and criterion value. Bivariate analysis w[...].