MUSCULOSKELETAL DYSFUNCTION AMONGST CRICKET UMPIRES: A PREVALENCE STUDY

Background: “Cricket”- one of the most popular bat and ball game. The game of cricket is monitored by Field Umpires. An Umpire is the unbiased person who has the authority to make decisions about events in the cricket field. This study is aimed at identifying the musculoskeletal dysfunction amongst Umpires to facilitate prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of sports-related injuries. Methods: A total of 120 Cricket Umpires participated from various Cricket Academies across Mumbai. Each of the participating Umpires were required to fill a semi-structured self made Questionnaire which recorded the socio-demographic data, umpiring qualifications, experiences, pain profile and musculoskeletal dysfunctions Results: Among the umpires participating, mean age was 41.85 + 10.54 and males were 91%. 47.5% of them were umpiring for up to 6 to 10 years with 31.66% officiating Zonal matches. The region of Low back was troublesome for 32.5% Umpires, followed by Ankle 28.33% and Knee 13.33%.