Low Back Pain in Young Basketball and Floorball Players.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of low back pain (LBP) in young female and male basketball and floorball players. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Nine basketball teams and 9 floorball teams from Tampere city district, Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred one young female and male players (mean age: 15.8 ± 1.9 years). ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS: Age, gender, sport, and family history of musculoskeletal disorders were assessed as risk factors for LBP. Adjustment was made on team level to avoid random effects associated with a team. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Information of players' background factors and LBP episodes was collected by a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty-four percentage of the basketball players and 62% of floorball players had suffered from LBP during the previous 12 months. Prevalence of LBP during the previous year was significantly higher among floorball players (P = 0.001). In both sports, prevalence of pain symptoms was the highest during the competitive playing season. Family history of musculoskeletal disorders [OR (odds ratio), 2.02, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.22-3.34] and higher age (OR, 1.22, 95% CI, 1.05-1.41) were associated with LBP in players. CONCLUSIONS: The study attested that LBP is a relatively common complaint in young team sport players. Targeted measures to examine causes, risk factors, and prevention of LBP in youth sports are needed.

The standing knee lift test is not a useful screening tool for time loss from low back pain in youth basketball and floorball players.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between pelvic kinematics during the standing knee lift (SKL) test and low back pain (LBP) in youth floorball and basketball players. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. SETTING: Finnish elite youth floorball and basketball players. PARTICIPANTS: Finnish elite youth female and male floorball and basketball players (n = 258, mean age 15.7 ± 1.8). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LBP resulting in time loss from practice and games was recorded over a 12-month period and verified by a study physician. Associations between LBP and sagittal plane pelvic tilt and frontal plane pelvic obliquity during the SKL test as measured at baseline were investigated. Individual training and game hours were recorded, and Cox's proportional hazard models with mixed effects were used for the analysis. RESULTS: Cox analyses revealed that sagittal plane pelvic tilt and frontal plane pelvic obliquity were not associated with LBP in floorball and basketball players during the follow-up. The hazard ratios for pelvic tilt and pelvic obliquity ranged between 0.93 and 1.08 (95% CIs between 0.91 and 1.07 and 0.83 and 1.29), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pelvic movement during the SKL test is not associated with future LBP in youth floorball and basketball players.