Sports-Related Injuries in Arab Countries: A Review of Literature

A wide variety of sports are gaining a rapid popularity in the Arab world. Such activities may increase athletes risk in acquiring sport-related injuries. These conditions are well described in literatures, however, little is known about the epidemiological descriptions of such events in the Arab world. The purpose of this review was to describe the epidemiology of sports-related injuries in Arab countries with emphasis on the demographic profiles of athletes, type of sport, type of injury, its etiology, incidence and prevalence. A computer-based electronic search PubMed database was carried out to identify articles published in English between 1985 and 2015. Search terms specific to sport, sports, sports-related, sports injuries, epidemiology, prevalence, incidence, risk, impact, burden, prognosis, and Arab countries were used. Alternative search was performed manually by reviewing reference list of the retrieved articles. The searched yielded 315 articles. Of these, only 10 described sport-related injuries in the Arab world. These articles include 3 prospective cohort studies, 5 prospective follow-up studies, and 2 cross-sectional studies. The incidence and prevalence of sports-related injuries vary among athletes. Muscle strains in lower back, hip, groins, and lower limb including thighs or hamstrings were the most common types of sport-related injuries. Common causes include team ranking position and number of games or field exposures. There is a need for more knowledge about the epidemiology of sports-related injuries in Arab countries so that preventive measures and appropriate solutions can be defined.