Author(s): SHIOTA, Y., TOGASHI, I., AOYAGI, M., UCHINO, S., SUGIBAYASHI, T., YAMAZAKI, K., TAKAZAWA, Y., Institution: JUNTENDO UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1803

INTRODUCTION:
Muscle strain is a traumatic injury in which muscle fibres are damaged owing to eccentric contraction. Hamstring strain injury (HSI) occurs at a high rate in track and field athletes and in football, in which athletes repeatedly run, turn, and jump at full speed. Such injuries have attracted the attention of many researchers and clinicians. HSI has a high recurrence rate, with a reported 30.6% chance of re-injury within one year of initial injury. While mild-to-moderate HSIs require a minimum of 4 weeks of tissue recovery before a return to competition, actual returns within 11–25 days have been reported. During recovery from athletic diseases with joint instability, such as post-anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, psychological readiness is considered important in the course and treatment of the disease. In HSI, early return to competition without psychological readiness may be a factor in the risk of re-injury. However, there have been no studies on muscle–tendon trauma such as HSI and psychological preparedness, and whether patients with previous HSI experience associated psychological anxiety is unclear. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychological factors among patients with previous HSI.
METHODS:
The HSI history and Japanese version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-J) scores were obtained from 62 university student athletes in a track and field club. Athletes with at least one previous HSI were classified into the group with injury history, and athletes with no previous HSI were classified into the group without injury. An independent t-test was conducted with significance set at less than 5%.
RESULTS:
The TSK-J score of the group with injury history (N=31) was 37.8±7.14, and that of the group without (N=31) was 34.0±6.13. The TSK-J score was significantly higher in the group with injury history (p=0.028).
CONCLUSION:
In this study, athletes with at least one previous HSI had higher TSK-J values than those without, even though they were able to return to competition. These results suggest that HSI causes fear of exercise and psychological anxiety. Furthermore, this fear may have an impact on competitiveness and recurrence of injury.