Mapping the evidence of volleyball injuries in relation to the "Sequence of Prevention" model: a scoping review.

This scoping review aims to map the literature on volleyball injuries based on the Sequence of Prevention model (Step 1-4). Secondary objectives were to describe study characteristics, methodological approaches, and identify literature gaps. PubMed and Embase databases were searched and studies investigating injury epidemiology, risk factors, mechanisms, or prevention programmes in volleyball, recruited players of any age, sex, race, or performance level were included. Only original research articles published in English were included. Database searches yielded 2,675 unique records, with 131 studies included for data extraction. The included studies involved 24,586 players and 29,595 injuries, in total. Studies were mainly concentrated on Step 1 (44.3%) and Step 2 (78.6%) of the sequence of prevention model with risk factor research mainly focused on modifiable (52.6%) and intrinsic (47.3%) risk factors. In comparison, only 7.6% of the studies evaluated effectiveness of various injury prevention programmes (Step 4). About one-third of the studies (34.4%) did not provide a clear injury definition, and staff only registered injuries in 36.6% of the studies. Future research on volleyball injury prevention should focus on preventative measures (Steps 3 and 4) in the sequence of prevention model, using robust methodological approaches.