Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Sep;49(17):1132-7.
doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-094959. Epub 2015 Jul 20.

Injury risk is low among world-class volleyball players: 4-year data from the FIVB Injury Surveillance System

Tone Bere  1 , Jacek Kruczynski  2 , Nadège Veintimilla  3 , Yuichiro Hamu  3 , Roald Bahr  4
Affiliations

Injury risk is low among world-class volleyball players: 4-year data from the FIVB Injury Surveillance System

Tone Bere et al. Br J Sports Med. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the rate and pattern of injuries in international volleyball competition.

Objective: To describe the risk and pattern of injuries among world-class players based on data from the The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Injury Surveillance System (ISS) (junior and senior, male and female).

Methods: The FIVB ISS is based on prospective registration of injuries by team medical staff during all major FIVB tournaments (World Championships, World Cup, World Grand Prix, World League, Olympic Games). This paper is based on 4-year data (September 2010 to November 2014) obtained through the FIVB ISS during 32 major FIVB events (23 senior and 9 junior).

Results: The incidence of time-loss injuries during match play was 3.8/1000 player hours (95% CI 3.0 to 4.5); this was greater for senior players than for junior players (relative risk: 2.04, 1.29 to 3.21), while there was no difference between males and females (1.04, 0.70 to 1.55). Across all age and sex groups, the ankle was the most commonly injured body part (25.9%), followed by the knee (15.2%), fingers/thumb (10.7%) and lower back (8.9%). Injury incidence was greater for centre players and lower for liberos than for other player functions; injury patterns also differed between player functions.

Conclusions: Volleyball is a very safe sport, even at the highest levels of play. Preventive measures should focus on acute ankle and finger sprains, and overuse injuries in the knee, lower back and shoulder.

Keywords: Athlete; Elite performance; Injuries; Prevention; Volleyball.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total injury incidence and time-loss injury incidence (with 95% CI) during match play for the different player functions (n=97).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Body part injured versus player function for the five most common injury locations (n=426).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Overhand defensive techniques are frequently used in the back court, leading to a risk of finger injuries, particularly among libero players. Photo courtesy of The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Engebretsen L, Soligard T, Steffen K, et al. . Sports injuries and illnesses during the London Summer Olympic Games 2012 . Br J Sports Med 2013;47:407–14. 10.1136/bjsports-2013-092380 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Junge A, Engebretsen L, Mountjoy ML, et al. . Sports injuries during the Summer Olympic Games 2008. Am J Sports Med 2009;37:2165–72. 10.1177/0363546509339357 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Junge A, Langevoort G, Pipe A, et al. . Injuries in team sport tournaments during the 2004 Olympic Games. Am J Sports Med 2006;34:565–76. 10.1177/0363546505281807 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Verhagen EA, Van der Beek AJ, Bouter LM, et al. . A one-season prospective cohort study of volleyball injuries. Br J Sports Med 2004a;38:477–81. 10.1136/bjsm.2003.005785 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bahr B, Bahr IA. Incidence of acute volleyball injuries: a prospective cohort study of injury mechanisms and risk factors. Scand J Med Sci Sports 1997;7:166–71. 10.1111/j.1600-0838.1997.tb00134.x - DOI - PubMed

Publication types