Longitudinal study on locations of injury among junior high school, high school, and university badminton athletes at Japanese national-level competitions.

[Purpose] The aim of study was to examine incidence of injury according to location of injury to develop an injury prevention program for elite badminton players of junior high school, high school, and university. [Participants and Methods] We conducted a prospective longitudinal study, between April 2012 and March 2013, on 133 national-level badminton players attending junior high school, high school, and university. Injury rates in athletes per 1,000 exposures were calculated based on gender and school age for the five most common injury locations, in addition, severity, type and circumstance were investigated. [Results] Injury rates in athletes per 1,000 exposures were the highest in the racket-side (RS) shoulder/clavicle among the female university students (4.35), RS thigh of high school females (2.21), and lumbar spine/lower back of males of all school ages and junior high school females (1.83-1.25). Significantly higher injury rates were noted for the overuse of the lumbar spine/lower back and RS shoulder/clavicle, trauma of the RS thigh and ankle, and injury, when compared with slight injury of the RS ankle. [Conclusion] Injury prevention programs should be developed for RS shoulder/clavicle overuse in university females, RS thigh trauma in high school females, and lumbar spine/lower back in males of all school ages and junior high school females.