Gender-related differences in lower limb alignment, range of joint motion, and the incidence of sports injuries in Japanese university athletes.
Yasuhiro Mitani
PMID 28210029WHAT IT FOUND
Female university athletes had more lower limb injury history (64.3% vs 46.1%) and foot/ankle injury (34.3% vs 20.8%), plus larger knee alignment angle, more hip internal rotation, and lower foot arch.
This does not prove cause.
Key findings
01Female athletes had a significantly higher Q-angle (15.0 ± 5.1 degrees vs 11.3 ± 4.8), higher hip internal rotation angle (40.3 ± 9.8 vs 27.1 ± 9.6), and lower arch height index (0.168 ± 0.025 vs 0.183 ± 0.030) than male athletes.
02History of lower limb sports injury was reported by 64.3% (n=45) of females and 46.1% (n=71) of males, and history of foot/ankle injury by 34.3% (n=24) of females and 20.8% (n=32) of males.
03There were no significant gender differences in history of lower leg, knee, or thigh injuries, and three males and five females reported a history of ACL injury.
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What it does not show
The study asked about past injury history by questionnaire, not new injuries during follow-up, so it cannot show injury risk over time. The sample included athletes from different sports, and the sport mix differed by gender; for example, all 35 rugby participants were male and the only naginata participant was female. Alignment and range of motion were measured in standing and prone positions, which may not reflect movement during sport. The ACL injury comparison included only three males and five females, so it is a small tendency, not a demonstrated difference. There were no significant gender differences in knee injury history, despite the higher Q-angle in females. The study did not establish cause and effect between alignment, joint motion, and injury.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these gender differences as proof that alignment or joint motion causes injury. The study measured standing alignment and past injury history in athletes who played different sports, and it did not follow injuries over time or test an intervention.