The multiple factors that contribute to noncontact lower extremity sports injuries

Acute lower extremity (LE) injuries constitute a significant problem for team sports, with major long-and short-term consequences for athletes and their teams. For this reason, a wide range of research has been focused on strategies of prediction and prevention for LE injury. Knowledge of the key risk factors and their interrelationships in the system of injury etiology is the first and essential step towards formulating appropriate prevention procedures. This paper presents recent evidence regarding the factors related to the risk of acute noncontact LE injuries. The literature review identifies many intrinsic and extrinsic factors implicated in the etiology of LE injury, of which previous injury, gender and workload appear to have a stronger association with the occurrence of injuries. The evidence for a group of well-researched modifiable factors, such as strength variables, balance, fatigue and flexibility, is conflict-ing. Despite the evidence for each factor independently, the etiology of LE injury appears to be complex and dynamic, and research in sports injuries should, therefore, incorporate new methodologies capable of capturing this dynamic complexity in order to better understand and prevent sports injuries.