One of the most well established risk factors for future injury in athletes is having sustained a previous injury. Currently there is a lack of research regarding baseline performance of athletes on the common return to sport tests. Research evaluating baseline performance can expose the need of implementing an anticipatory rehabilitation program to avoid the risk of future injury.
PURPOSE: To investigate the differences in performance on a battery of tests amongst incoming collegiate athletes who have sustained a lower extremity injury in the past 6 months and those who have not.
METHODS: 40 (Males: 19 Females: 21) incoming collegiate athletes from an NCAA Division I University completed a battery of baseline tests that assessed their strength, flexibility, dynamic balance, power and speed. Individuals were categorized as injured and uninjured, with injury defined as having a lower extremity injury in the past 6 months (Injured: 16 Uninjured: 24).
RESULTS: The left knee flexion strength for injured (.32∓.12/BW) was significantly greater than that of uninjured (.25∓.1/BW; p=.041). The right hip internal rotation strength for injured (.20∓.07/BW) was significantly greater than that of uninjured (.15∓.06/BW; p=.014). The left hip strength was also significantly greater in injured (.20∓.05/BW) compared to uninjured (.15∓.06/BW; p= .004). For balance, the posterolateral reach from the Y-Balance test indicated a significant difference with uninjured (7.58∓6.38 cm) having a greater limb asymmetry compared to injured (3.49 ∓ 3.26 cm; p = .03). The flexibility, power and speed tests did not identify any differences.
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that athletes who were injured performed better on isometric strength tests and Y- Balance than those with no recent injuries. One potential hypothesis to account for these differences is that the injured athletes could have participated in an individualized rehabilitation program after injury to address their functional deficits, which improved performance. Therefore, this study shows that it could be critical to screen all athletes, whether injured or uninjured, prior to participation in the athletic season.