Author(s): KIMOTSUKI, Y., OGASAWARA, I., IWASAKI, S., NAGAI, K., NISHIDA, K., KANZAKI, N., MATSUSHITA, T., HOSHINO, Y., KURODA, R., UCHIDA, R., TAKE, Y., NAKATA, K., Institution: OSAKA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE , Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 960

INTRODUCTION:
To prevent sports injuries, it is necessary to understand the context behind those occurrences.[1] We believe that an effective prevention strategy can be achieved by clarifying how the physical, psychological, social, and situational factors affect injury development. The purpose of this study was to examine the physical, psychological, social, and situational factors that may contribute to sports injuries through athlete interviews.
METHODS:
This research was a qualitative study design. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 athletes. Ten consenting participants (3 males and 7 females) aged 16 to 23 years with a history of acute sports injury were interviewed. Athletes were asked about the physical condition, psychological, cognitive, social condition, and competition situation when the injury occurred. We employed the Steps for Coding and Theorization (SCAT) to extract meaningful themes from the interview data of injured athletes. [2]
RESULTS:
The types of injuries were anterior cruciate ligament injury, meniscus injury, and shoulder dislocation. SCAT revealed that 14 themes emerged: 1. “The possible discrepancy between perceived physical condition and actual condition”, 2. “Ignoring the signs of injury”, 3. “Lack of knowledge of injuries”, 4. “Narrowing attention”, 5. “High-stress conditions”, 6. “Highly motivated”, 7. “Strong Confidence”, 8. “Low skill”, 9. “Movement at the time of injury is neither good nor bad or good movement”, 10. “Ego involving the environment”, 11. “Team excitement before the game”, 12. “Important role in the team”, 13. “Unfamiliar position”, 14. “Absence of instructor or lack of guidance”.
CONCLUSION:
The findings suggest that sports injuries result from highly motivated athletes who lack knowledge about playing sports safely, have poor athletic skills, and do not have a good team environment. The reasons for the low overall knowledge of sports science among athletes is considered due to the lack of coaching staff and educational opportunities.
To improve athletic performance and prevent injuries, acquiring and integrating knowledge of sports science in their practice are essential for all athletes and coaches, regardless of their level of competition. Fostering athletes’ self-assessment ability may be required to help athletes and coaches understand their effort requirements and reduce the risk of injury.
References:
[1] Bolling C, Mechelen W van, Pasman HR, Verhagen E. Context Matters: Revisiting the First Step of the ‘Sequence of Prevention’ of Sports Injuries. Sports Med. 2018;48(10):2227-2234. doi:10.1007/s40279-018-0953-x
[2] Otani T. “SCAT” A Qualitative Data Analysis Method by Four-Step Coding : Easy Startable and Small Scale Data-Applicable Process of Theorization. the Graduate School of Education, Nagoya University (Educational Sciences). 2008;54(2):27-44. doi:10.18999/nueduca.54.2.27