Pattern of Injuries Related to Badminton among Elite Junior Badminton Players in Kandy District - Sri Lanka

Badminton is one of the most popular sports worldwide. The high physical demands for badminton suggest that badminton players may have frequent occurrences of badminton related injuries. The present study aimed to investigate the pattern of badminton related injuries among elite junior badminton players of Kandy district, Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted using an assessment form which consisted of two parts. Sixty two badminton players were included in the study. Among them, 34 players were males and 28 players were females. Age of the players was distributed from 8 years to 17 years. An overall injury prevalence of 33.87% was recorded. Injury prevalence among males was 44.12% and injury prevalence among females was 39.29%. When considering the injury pattern according to location of injuries, lower limb was reported as the most susceptible part for injuries (62.5%). Most of the injuries among males were ankle injuries (40%) and most of the injuries among females were back injuries (28%). Among the injuries 83.33% were acute injuries while 16.67% were chronic injuries. When considering the time of injury onset, 66.67% of injuries were recorded as practice injuries while 33.33% were recorded as competition injuries. Of all the recorded injuries, 79.17% of injuries were slight injuries while 12.5% were minimal and 8.33% were mild injuries. The junior elite badminton players of Kandy district Sri Lanka are at a risk of developing acute injuries during practice sessions. Therefore, injury prevention strategies during practice sessions should be implemented and continued to be monitored.