Situations and mechanisms of non-contact knee injury in adult netball: A systematic review

Objectives Noncontact knee injuries in netball are a concern due to a range of negative consequences. To reduce the number of injuries, identifying the situation and mechanism of injury is important. This systematic review examined the literature reporting the situation and mechanism of noncontact knee injury in netball. Design Systematic Review. Methods PRISMA guidelines were followed and specific key-term combinations used to search databases. Descriptive and analytic-observational studies reporting the situation or mechanism of noncontact knee injury in females playing netball were included (evaluated using frequency counts). Results Six articles were included (combined sample 11401). Players self-reported the situation of injury in five studies, only one study reported both the situation and mechanism of injury. Landing was the most reported situation of knee injury, representing 46.6% of all knee injuries whilst knee abduction (valgus) collapse was the most observed mechanism. Situation and mechanism of noncontact knee injury in netball were not adequately reported. Conclusions Despite the variations in reporting methods, landing is the most common situation of injury. As only one study reported mechanism of injury, it is difficult to draw conclusions but the mechanism of noncontact knee injury in netball appears similar to those identified in other female athletes.