Using The Functional Movement Screen™ To Predict In-Season Injuries Of Division III Collegiate Volleyball Players

Abstract

Volleyball (VB) participation has increased over the years, and thus, injury rates have also increased (Agel et al., 2007). The Functional Movement Screen™ (FMS) has been used to identify functional movement limitations and imbalances that might predispose an athlete to injury (Bonazza et al., 2016; Cook, 2010; Lehr et al., 2013) however, few studies have included VB players. PURPOSE: To assess the functional movements and balance of collegiate VB players and to determine if the occurrence of injury during a season could have been predicted from a player’s FMS score. METHODS: Division III collegiate female VB players (N = 22; M ± SD, Age: 19.5 ± 0.9 yrs) completed the FMS and Y Balance Test (YBT; Plisky et al., 2009) prior to the competitive season. During the season injuries that resulted in missed practice/competition were recorded by the athletic trainer at the time of the injury. To compare the injured (n = 10) and non-injured (n = 12) athletes one-way ANOVAs were calculated for FMS and YBT scores. To determine a FMS threshold score for injury occurrence, 2 × 2 contingency tables were constructed for FMS scores 13 to 18. From table data injury prediction statistics were calculated: 1) sensitivity (true +/+ test); 2) specificity (true - / - test); 3) odds ratios (strength of the association between FMS cut-off score and injury risk); 4) predictive values (% of + or - tests that correctly identify a player with or without an injury). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the preseason FMS composite scores of injured VB players vs. non-injured players (M ± SD: 15.5 ± 1.4 and 15.7 ± 2.5). A score of 15 maximized both sensitivity (0.40) and 1-specificity (0.17) with predictive values of 67% and 63% for positive and negative tests, respectively. Odds ratio indicated that athletes who had a FMS composite score of ≤15 had 3.3 greater odds of becoming injured. There were no significant differences between the injured and the non-injured groups when comparing dominant and non-dominant leg YBT composite scores (p = .34, p = .33) or reach differences in the anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions (p = .38, p = .33, p = .46), respectively. CONCLUSION: Athletes with an FMS composite score of ≤15 in this small sample of Division III collegiate female VB players had a higher risk of becoming injured than those with scores >15.