Pre-participation evaluation of musculoskeletal injuries in athletes: a review of the literature

Abstract

Musculoskeletal injuries are disorders that greatly impact on the athlete's performance. The objective of this study was to make a brief description of the studies that sought to investigate the pre-participation musculoskeletal examination (PPME) of athletes, a less frequent theme in the literature. A literature review was conducted in Pubmed, LILACS and Cochrane. The inclusion criteria were: studies written in English or Portuguese, which describe PPME method with the athletes being the main target and whether or not psychometric properties were measured. Three hundred and twenty eight (328) articles were found, but 62 studies were pre-selected by just reading through the titles. Using the eligibility criteria, only 16 full articles were included for the revision. In this narrative review, the selected studies presented assessment methods aimed at certain target groups and specific sports. There are evidences of the presence or absence of validation of the tools used, important tests in the categories in question, information that contribute to the construction of standards for sports musculoskeletal assessment. Regarding the ability to generate valid, consistent and reproducible ratings, only 5 of the 16 studies evaluated the psychometric properties of the tools used. Thus, it is appropriate to say that the APP demonstrates basic requirements of a medical evaluation as to its accuracy (earlier detection of the goal), effectiveness (reduction of morbidity and mortality of its target audience) and the components of this assessment possess appropriate sensitivity, specificity and predictive values.