Prevalence of Training-related Knee Injuries among Jazan University Students with Determining Possible Related Risk Factors

Background: The articulating surface of the knee is the most commonly injured joint in athletes. However, there is a lack of proper prevalence and determinant estimations for knee injury among Jazan University students.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of knee injury among students at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia and to identify the associated risk factors. An online self-administered modified Arabic version of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score questionnaire was distributed to collect data from the students. 884 participants were included and met our inclusion criteria.

Results: The overall prevalence of knee injuries was 18% (n = 156). Ninety-two injuries were due to sports activity. Men were 2.7 more likely to have a knee injury than women. Performing 2–3 hours of training every week increased the likelihood of knee injury by 1.7 times more than being inactive or performing only 1 hour of activity per week. An increase in the body mass index was associated with knee injury.

Conclusion: Our study highlights the high prevalence of knee injury among male students with a high body mass index, especially those studying in medical colleges. Further large-scale research is needed to address the limitations of this study and generalize the results to a larger population.