Several studies have reported injuries to the head and face in Taekwondo tournaments. Over the past decade, there has been heightened interest in injury rates sustained by martial arts athletes and more specifically Taekwondo athletes. However, there is paucity of data on orofacial injury associated with Taekwondo in Nigeria.
OBJECTIVES:
To assess the prevalence of orofacial injuries and factors affecting these as well as the knowledge and use of mouthguards amongst Taekwondo athletes in Lagos, Nigeria.
METHODS:
It was a descriptive cross-sectional study comprising 82 Taekwondo athletes (68 males and 14 females), all of whom were residents and practitioners of the art in Lagos, Nigeria. Self-administered questionnaires as well as a brief extra-oral and intra-oral examination were used for data collection.
RESULTS:
Of the 82 athletes 57.3% had sustained orofacial injuries.
The results showed a greater prevalence of orofacial injuries during training (37.4%) compared to competition (14.9%) or both (27.7%). There was statistically significant relationship between gender and injury during training, competition and during both training and competition (P = 0.4032). The major mechanism of orofacial injury was found to be via kicks (77.3%). Majority of the athletes (71.6%) were aware of protective devices but only 67.24% used them. However, 82.7% would like more information about mouthguards.
CONCLUSION:
From the results, orofacial injuries were recognized as significant and thus compulsory use of protective devices and improvement of blocking and evading skills were recommended to reduce prevalence.