The Functional Movement Screen as a Predictor of In-season Injuries in National Adolescent Female Volleyball Players

Research Objectives: The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a commonly used tool to determine if an athlete possesses the necessary movement competencies to safely participate in sports. However, evidence of the ability of the FMS to predict adolescent female volleyball player injuries during a season is lacking. Further, changes in FMS scores over the course of a volleyball season have not been investigated in adolescent female athletes. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the FMS as a predictor of adolescent female volleyball player injuries over the course of a season. A secondary purpose was to evaluate changes in FMS scores, along with other physical performance measures, during the season.

Design: This investigation was a multi-site prospective observational study.

Setting: Data were collected at team practice sites.

Participants: Forty adolescent female volleyball players, ages 13-18 years old, were recruited from the National teams of a competitive club volleyball program.

Interventions: This investigation was a prospective observational study. A prospective, experimental intervention was not investigated. Study participants engaged in pre-planned activities such as volleyball practices, tournaments, and in-season conditioning over the course of a twenty-week volleyball season. Outcome measures data were collected pre-season, mid-season, and post-season.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants completed three performance measures: (1) the FMS, (2) T-test, and (3) Vertical Jump, which were administered pre-season, mid-season, and post-season. In-season incidences of injuries were recorded.

Results: Sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve were utilized to examine the strength of the FMS to predict injury. The ROC curve identified a FMS cut score of 15.5. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.480 (95% confidence interval = 0.282, 0.678; p = 0.84). Sensitivity and specificity were 0.462 and O.440, respectively. Repeated measures analysis of variance at an alpha level of 0.05 was used to evaluate within-group effects. When comparing pre-season versus post-season and mid-season versus post-season, significant improvements were found in FMS scores and vertical jump. For the T-test, significant improvements were observed when comparing pre-season versus post-season and pre-season versus mid-season.

Conclusions: The main findings of this study indicate that the FMS is not a predictor of in-season injuries in female adolescent volleyball players and that FMS scores can improve during the season, along with other physical performance measures. The FMS may be used to measure quality of movement over time, but not as a method to predict injury.

Author(s) Disclosures: Authors have no disclosures to declare.