Abstract:
Volleyball has become a very popular sport globally over the last 30 years. The International Federation of Volleyball represents about 150 million players in approximately 170 countries. While a large body of research has been conducted regarding the nature and prevalence of volleyball injuries internationally, very little has been done locally or on the African continent to assess the status of injuries incurred at professional or amateur levels. The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence of volleyball related Musculoskeletal injuries among Yayo town volleyball team in Ilu Aba Bor Zone, Ethiopia. An exploratory, descriptive, non-experimental approach was used for this study on 50 volleyball players at the Yayo town volleyball team. The research was used a mixed research approach which made the use of both quantitative and qualitative approach. Primary and secondary sources of data were used for the study. In this attempt, data were collected through questionnaires, structured interviews and observations check list. After the data had been collected, it was analyzed using simple statistical techniques (tables, figures and percentages) and descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviations) of the Statistical Package for Social Science version 21.0 (SPSS). The result of the study indicates that most of the volleyball players sustained one or more injuries in the season, giving a prevalence rate of 86%. The incidence rate was 1.1 injuries per player. Injuries prevalence was higher among female players (40%) than male players (46%). Among the injured players, knee injury was occurred at the highest rate of 34%, followed by injuries in the ankle with 16%. Players in the left and right front row were more exposed to injury at the time of blocking and spiking, higher injury occurred without contact with other players. The study also found that physiotherapy intervention is required for players. Based on the findings of the study the researcher concludes that, higher injury prevalence and the risk among players, Ankle and knee injuries are the most common injuries and players in the left and right front row injured during spiking. Finally, the physiotherapy needed to treatment after injury and players participate in preventive programs
