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Injury Risk in Professional Basketball Players

A Comparison of Women’s National Basketball Association and National Basketball Association Athletes

John R. Deitch, MD^*, Chad Starkey, PhD, ATC, Sheri L. Walters, MS, ATC and J. Bruce Moseley, MD^,||

From ^* Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, and the ^|| Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas

Address correspondence to J. Bruce Moseley, MD, 6560 Fannin, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77030 (e-mail: jbm{at}houston.rr.com).

Background: Gender-based differences in injury rates have been reported in scholastic and collegiate basketball. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare injury rates in women’s and men’s professional basketball.

Hypothesis: Female professional basketball players are injured at a higher rate than are men.

Study Design: Cohort study (prevalence); Level of evidence, 2.

Methods: Women’s National Basketball Association and National Basketball Association injury data were retrospectively reviewed for 6 full seasons. The frequency of all injuries and the rate of game-related injuries were calculated.

Results: Complete player profiles were obtained on 702 National Basketball Association athletes and 443 Women’s National Basketball Association athletes who competed in their respective leagues during the data collection period. Total game exposures totaled 70 420 (National Basketball Association) and 22 980 (Women’s National Basketball Association). Women’s National Basketball Association athletes had a higher overall game-related injury rate (24.9 per 1000 athlete exposures; 95% confidence interval, 22.9–26.9; P < .05) when compared with National Basketball Association athletes (19.3 per 1000 athlete exposures; 95% confidence interval, 18.3–20.4) and sustained a higher rate of lower extremity injuries (14.6 per 1000 athlete exposures; 95% confidence interval, 13.1–16.2; P < .05) than seen in the National Basketball Association (11.6 per 1000 athlete exposures; 95% confidence interval, 10.8–12.4). The lower extremity was the most commonly injured body area (65%), and lateral ankle sprain (13.7%) was the most common diagnosis in both leagues. The incidence of game-related knee injury was higher in Women’s National Basketball Association players. The incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injury in the National Basketball Association (n = 22, 0.8%) and Women’s National Basketball Association (n = 14, 0.9%) accounted for 0.8% of the 4446 injuries reported.

Conclusion: The lower extremity is the most frequently injured body area in both leagues, and Women’s National Basketball Association athletes are more susceptible than are National Basketball Association athletes. There were, however, few statistical differences in the actual injuries occurring between the 2 leagues.

Key Words: Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) • National Basketball Association (NBA) • gender • epidemiology • basketball

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