The purpose of this study was to investigate if knee anterior laxity, measured with an arthrometer, is a risk factor for traumatic
knee injury in sportswomen. To allow a more complete analysis, other, easily measured variables such as anthropometry, lower
leg characteristics, sport exposure and menstrual cycle characteristics were also evaluated as possible risk factors. Subjects
were Slovenian sportswomen aged between 11 and 41 years participating in basketball, team handball and volleyball (
N = 540). Sportswomen were tested in the pre-season and followed for one season. The data collection included: written informed
consent, background questionnaire, anthropometric tests, leg dominance assessment, navicular drop test (measurement of foot
pronation), passive knee extension assessment and measurement of knee anterior laxity with a KT arthrometer. Several sets
of data analysis were performed including logistic regression analysis in order to build a model for predicting traumatic
knee injury among sportswomen. Height and average hours of training per week were found to differ significantly (
P < 0.05) between injured and uninjured sportswomen. More sportswomen injured their non-dominant leg. Traumatic knee injuries
among Slovenian sportswomen participating in basketball, team handball and volleyball are associated with higher amounts of
training, greater body height and greater knee anterior laxity. Only 1% of the variability in traumatic knee injuries among
sportswomen were explained with those variables suggesting that there are many other variables associated with traumatic knee
injuries among sportswomen than were tested in this study.
Keywords Arthrometer - Female athletes - Logistic regression - Prediction