The Prevalence of Pain and Disability Among Young Elite Volleyball Players in Iran

Volleyball is considered a low–level injury due to the separation of the players of the two teams from each other; however, at competitive levels, serious injuries were recorded in this sport. There is a breakthrough in the development of pain and disability as the main results of sports injuries in elite volleyball players. Research is limited on the prevalence of sports injuries in volleyball players. Therefore, the present study examined the prevalence of pain and disability in young elite national volleyball players in Iran.

The statistical population of the present descriptive study included all young male volleyball players in the top national league. In total, 81 subjects were selected as the research sample. To collect information about pain and disability, the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) (Hedge, 1999) and a researcher–made demographic questionnaire were used. To analyze the obtained data, descriptive statistics (mean & standard deviation) were used in SPSS and Excel.

The collected data indicated that the mean±SD age of the study subjects was18.48±0.77 years, their weight equaled 73.85±9.55 kg, their height was measured as 185.51±9.10 cm, and they had playing experience of 6.55±2.17 years. Furthermore, 271 cases of pain and disability were registered in different organs, with the prevalence of pain and disability per capita be 3.39. The most frequent pain and disability concerned lower limbs (38.38%), upper limbs (35.42%), and trunk (18.08%), orderly. Additionally, according to the region on the limb, the most pain and disability were presented in shoulders (17.34%), knees (16.24%), and waist (11.81%), respectively. Based on the professional role of players, the Power receivers manifested the highest levels of pain and disability in various body organs. The most frequent pain and disability were reported based on specialist’ posts of Receiver attacker and Libero in the shoulders (respectively, with an average value of 136 & 78), and in the Opposite players, Middle blockers, and Setters in knees (respectively, with an average of 132, 122, & 115). Moreover, the Receiver attacker reported the highest (mean: 63.25) and Passer the lowest (mean: 31.75) pain and disability in various organs of the body.

Considering the high level of pain and disability in this age group, the main cause of future injury in volleyball players can be attributed to the high level of pain and disability during the competition practice. The presence of pain and disability can damage future adult players.