Risk Factors for Hamstring Muscle Strain Injury in Athletes

Abstract

Abstract   Background: Injury to the hamstring muscle is a common non-contact injury among athletes. Several modifiable and non-modifiable factors are responsible for hamstring strain injury. Objective: The objective was to determine the modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for hamstring strain injury in the athletes. Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted of 102 athletes using convenient sampling. Athletes age range between 18 to 25 years playing nationally at a provisional level among different universities of Lahore were included while those having pathological conditions like tendon rupture, chronic tendinopathy, fracture, tumor, and acute injury were excluded from this study. For qualitative data, bar charts and percentages were used. The quantitative data like age, dominant hand, gender and smoking were presented as mean and standard deviation. Results: Findings showed that almost 40.2% of athletes missed their training match out of which 73.5% experienced soreness or stiffness because 87% did not fully cool down after training or match. Almost 45.1% of athletes suffered from hamstring strain injuries and their symptoms aggravated during stretching while 28.4% during jogging, 21.6% during changing direction when running and 28.4% while accelerating. Modifiable risk factors were found as 33.3%, 31.4% and 51% due to reduced muscle strength, flexibility and lower back pain respectively. Conclusion: Inappropriate coaching, advancing age and history of the previous injury are identified as major risk factors causing hamstring strain injuries among athletes of universities. Lack of knowledge of fully warming up the hamstrings before training and cooling down after training may lead the athletes susceptible to strain injuries. Correspondence: Jawad Tahir, Central Park Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan; Email: dr.jd2917@gmail.com Citation: Tahir J. 2021. Risk factors for hamstring muscle strain injury in athletes. The Healer Journal of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, 1(1):15-20.