Abstract:
Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries can be identified as a significant problem
among young female athletes, and they are at a higher risk of sustaining injuries
than male athletes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the awareness of anterior
cruciate ligament preventive training programs among female collegiate athletes
in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was
conducted by selecting a sample of 120 female collegiate athletes in the Western
Province of Sri Lanka. The snowball sampling technique was used to distribute a
self-administered, open-ended questionnaire. The collected data were
descriptively analyzed using statistical software, SPSS (Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences), version 27. The questionnaire was circulated among female
collegiate athletes, of whom the majority were under the age of 23 (18.3%, n = 22).
The majority of the participants were not aware of what an anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL) injury is (77.5%, n = 93). Most of the participants expressed that
they were not educated on ACL injuries (85.8%, n = 102). The majority of the
participants agreed that they were not familiar with the concept of ACL preventive
training programs (81.7%, n = 98). The percentage of athletes who currently
perform ACL preventive training programs was significantly low (8.3%, n = 10).
Most of the participants agreed that they would follow a daily exercise program if
they knew it would prevent ACL injuries (76.7%, n = 92). The majority of the
participants were not aware of the concept of ACL preventive training programs.
Therefore, awareness programs and exercise routines to prevent ACL injuries
should be implemented.
