Injury prediction in Division I college football players using a modified lower extremity version of the FMS

Background: Lower extremity injuries are prevalent in collegiate football. According to Rechel et al [3], a study that tracked collegiate football injuries from 1988-2004, 55.7% of injuries suffered during spring practice were lower extremity. The same study also found that 17.6% of all injuries suffered during fall games were due to knee injuries, 15.6% were ankle, and 3.6% were upper leg muscle or tendon strain. It appears that in the sport of football, injuries to the lower extremity are the most prevalent in collegiate athlete. It is likely that risk identification and prevention could help to reduce these injury rates. Therefore, the development of clinical prediction tools incorporated in a pre-participation exam that could help in identifying athletes who are at risk for lower extremity injuries is vitally important. One of these examination tools is the FMS. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the FMS composite score can predict injury of the lower extremity in Division I collegiate football players. A secondary purpose was to determine a cut-off score on a modified/lower extremity only FMS that can predict injury. A tertiary purpose was to examine the ability of the FMS to predict contact vs. non-contact lower extremity injuries in collegiate football athletes. Methods: 70 Division I college football players were screened pre-season using the Functional Movement Screen. Total scores out of 21 were recorded. Injuries and exposures were tracked throughout the season by the certified athletic trainer assigned to the University of Toledo football team. Results: When comparing the FMS between injured and non-injured groups, there were no statistically significant differences on any of the FMS scores (p>.05). The full FMS had a cut-off score of 18.5; MFMS 4 stations showed a cut-off score at 11.5 and the MFMS 3 stations had a cut-off score of 8.5. The MFMS 4 had the highest diagnostic odds ratio of 3.57. Only the MFMS 4 had a sensitivity that exceeded 0.70. Discussion: The cut-off scores found in this study were seen to be much higher than previous FMS studies. The MFMS 4 within this relatively small sample size shows promise of injury prediction capabilities with its moderate sensitivity. Further research should be done to exam this possibility. Conclusion: Both the full and modified versions of the FMS could not statistically differentiate inured football players. However, there may be some diagnostic usefulness within the MFMS 4 and further research should exam this possibility.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Exercise Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Exercise Science

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Toledo

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Saul, William Robert

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gribble, Phillip

• Kinesiology

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1364489056

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:toledo1364489056