The Functional Movement Screen and injury prevalence in collegiate athletes

Introduction. The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is an evaluation tool that was created to help health care professionals assess an individual's functional movement patterns. Research has demonstrated a cutoff FMS score associated with increased risk of injury and this finding has led to interest in utilizing the FMS for guiding preventative measures for athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine if FMS scores could predict injury occurrence in Division I collegiate female swimmers, divers, and cheerleaders during one competitive athletic season. A total of forty-eight (n=48) NCAA Division I female athletes were included in this study.;Methods. Athletes were screened at the beginning of their respective athletic seasons utilizing the standardized FMS kit, verbal instructions, and grading criteria. Injuries were recorded by the team athletic trainers over fifteen weeks. Injury data was analyzed and correlated with composite FMS scores.;Results. FMS scoring ranges from 0--21 with 21 indicating all movements were performed appropriately, without pain and no asymmetries observed. Participants in this study scored composite FMS scores ranging from 8 to 18 with a mean FMS score of 13.9 +/- 2.26 for all (n=48) participants. Specifically, cheerleaders mean score was 14.4 +/- 1.70 and swimmers and divers mean score was 13.6 +/- 2.41 respectively. Sixteen total injuries occurred during the 15 week study. Logistic regression analysis concluded that FMS scores were not a significant predictor (p=0.927) of injury and no cutoff score signified an increased risk for injury. With a FMS score of 14, logit(p) =.335 (for sustaining an injury) which indicated that this FMS score would inaccurately predict an injury. The calculated odds ratio (B=1.013) indicated that the odds of sustaining an injury or not sustaining an injury were equally likely.;Conclusion. Based on the results of this study, composite FMS scores should not be utilized to predict risk of injury in female division I collegiate swimmers, divers, and cheerleaders. However, data analysis revealed unique patterns amongst individual component scores of the FMS. Further research is needed to determine if the individualized results from component scores can be correlated with risk of injury or utilized as a framework for developing customized therapy or training.