STUDYING THE PREVALENCE, TYPES AND CAUSES OF INJURIES IN ELITE COLLEGIATE WRESTLERS

The current study aims to investigate the prevalence, types and causes of injuries in elite collegiate wrestlers. The sample consists of
all wrestlers participated in national students olampiyad held in Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman during summer, 2006. The
sample consists of freestyle wrestlers. The tools used in this study have been: 1 – A questionnaire to collect data about injuries, 2 – A
questionnaire on causes and consequences of injuries, 3 – A questionnaire on athletes personal information, 4 – Data collected by
physiotherapists and 5 – Data collected by medical staff. Testing the research hypotheses on ( 0 ? P 0.05) level showed the highest
percentage of injuries goes to the head and face with a 35.74 % with the lowest percentage of zero injuries to internal limbs. Statistical
analysis shows no significant difference on injuries occurred to various limbs of the body. According to the calculations on (P ? . 05)
level, some of the research findings include: there is no significant difference among freestyle wrestlers regarding the percentage of
prevalence of injury in various limbs of the body. Moreover, there is no significant difference among freestyle wrestlers regarding the
percentage of prevalence of injury and the type of injury. Furthermore, there is a significant difference between injuries occurred to
the upper limbs and the lower ones between defender wrestlers and attacker ones, and there is no significant difference between the
incidences of injuries in different stages.
Overall, the data in this study show that wrestling is a contact sport with the high risk of injury in comparison to other sports. Physical
Fitness plays a decisive role in reducing the extent of injury. Weight loss plays a decisive role in increasing the rate of injuries.