Menon, Sanjit

Background: Knee injuries are among the most common injuries in female basketball players. Despite the growing popularity of professional women's basketball, particularly the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), there are limited recent data evaluating the incidence of and risk factors for knee injuries in WNBA athletes. Hypothesis: Older age, minutes played per game, number of games played, and player usage rate would be significantly associated with having a knee injury in WNBA players from the 2017 to 2022 seasons. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Publicly available data on the injury history and player records of active WNBA players between the 2017 and 2022 seasons were reviewed to identify players with a knee injury resulting in ≥1 games missed. The primary outcome was the incidence of knee injuries reported per 1000 minutes-exposures (MEs). Player demographics, statistics, and injury characteristics were recorded. Secondary analysis was conducted using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression to investigate risk factors associated with having a knee injury. Results: A total of 87 players (10.8% of all players) sustained a combined 104 knee injuries between the 2017 and 2022 seasons, indicating a rate of 6.03 knee injuries per 1000 MEs. Accounting for potential confounders, having a knee injury was significantly associated with older age (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.05-1.18; P = .0002) and higher usage rate (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11; P = .02). Conclusion: This study showed that knee injuries occurred in 10.8% of players, with an overall rate of 6.03 injuries per 1000 MEs. The most significant risk factors associated with having a knee injury in WNBA athletes were older age and higher player usage rate. Implementing targeted load management strategies for players with higher usage rates or advanced age may help reduce the incidence of knee injuries among female basketball athletes.

Purpose To determine the incidence rates and associated risk factors of season‐ending injuries (SEIs) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from the 2015‐20 seasons. Methods Publicly available records of active NBA players between the 2015‐16 and 2020‐21 seasons were reviewed to identify players with an SEI. In this study, SEI was classified as any injury that resulted in failure to return at least 5 games before the end of the team’s game schedule. Injury data from the 2019‐20 NBA season, shortened because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, were omitted. The primary outcome was the incidence of SEIs reported per 1,000 game exposures (GEs). Player demographics, basketball statistics, injury characteristics, and timing of injury were recorded. Secondary analysis, including bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression, was performed to investigate factors associated with having an SEI. Results In total, 196 players (15.6% of all players) sustained a combined 238 SEIs between the 2015‐16 and 2020‐21 seasons, indicating a rate of 1.74 SEIs per 1,000 GEs. When characterized by body part, knee injuries were found to be the most frequent SEI, at a rate of 0.47 injuries per 1,000 GEs. Accounting for potential confounders, having an SEI was significantly associated with more minutes per game played (odds ratio, 1.06, 95% confidence interval, 0.99‐1.01, P < .001). Conclusions SEIs occurred in 15.6% of players in this study, with an overall rate of 1.74 SEIs per 1,000 GEs. The most significant risk factor associated with injury was minutes per game. SEI was more likely to occur in the third and fourth quartiles of the NBA season than in the first or second quartile. Level of Evidence : Level III, retrospective comparative prognostic investigation.