Assessing side-to-side injury risk and reliability of the modified landing error scoring system (LESS-M) in youth basketball athletes.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the risk of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in basketball players, with a specific focus on comparing dominant (DL) and non-dominant limbs (NDL) assessed with the LESS-M and tested the LESS-M reliability.

DESIGN

Observational study.

SETTING

Field-based testing.

PARTICIPANTS

Thirty-six youth basketball players (31 males, 5 females; average BMI 21.35 ± 1.98 kg/m2).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LESS-M total scores of DL and NDL, and intraclass correlation coefficient ICC(2,1) and ICC(2,k) reliability.

RESULTS

The LESS-M total scores were no statistically significant side-to-side difference (p = 0.327) between DL (4.11 ± 1.16) and NDL (4.28 ± 1.36). The LESS-M demonstrated good intra- and inter-rater reliability, with ICC(2,1) = 0.789 and ICC(2,k) = 0.803, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The risk of non-contact ACL injury assessed using the LESS-M was similar between the DL and NDL in basketball players. The LESS-M demonstrated good reliability and may be a practical screening tool for movement assessment in basketball athletes. Future prospective studies are needed to establish cut-off values and explore its application in injured populations.