Epidemiology of knee injuries among adolescents A systematic review

Quinette Abegail Louw ^1*, Karen Anne Grimmer ² and Janine Manilall ¹

¹ Stellenbosch University, South Africa
² University of South Australia, Australia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: qalouw{at}sun.ac.za.

Accepted 29 May 2007

Abstract

Background: Youth sports injury is a public health concern, as it has detrimental effects on the health and well-being of young athletes. The knee joint is reported to be the most common joint injured by young sports participants. The potential loss of ability to participate in regular physical activity after injury is alarming, since physical inactivity is one of the major risk factors associated with systemic disease, disability and/or death worldwide.

Study design: This paper presents a systematic review of the epidemiological research reporting on the prevalence of knee injuries among active adolescents to ascertain the global scope of the problem.

Results: The 19 eligible studies for this review were mostly (90%) conducted in developed countries. Global adolescent knee injury prevalence ranges between 10% and 25%, with more recent studies reporting higher percentages. The average methodological appraisal score of the 19 studies was 56%.

Conclusions: The limitations of the papers reviewed must be taken into consideration in future injury surveillance research in order to appropriately inform effective knee injury preventative programs for youth.

Key Words: Adolescent, Epidemiology, Injury, Knee joint

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