Functional movement screen scores and injury prevalence among collegiate basketball players: a cross-sectional analysis
Yi Cai, Xinyi Yang · BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation · 2026
Abstract
Background: The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is widely used to evaluate movement quality and injury risk in athletes, yet evidence regarding its applicability in non-Western collegiate basketball contexts remains limited. This study examined the association between FMS scores and 12-month injury prevalence among Chinese collegiate basketball players and determined a population-specific optimal cutoff.
Methods: Fifty-nine varsity basketball players (38 males, 21 females; mean age 20.7 ± 1.4 years) from three Chinese universities completed the seven-test FMS battery and a standardized retrospective injury questionnaire. Group comparisons, ROC curve analysis, and binary logistic regression were performed.
Results: The 12-month injury prevalence was 45.8% (27/59). The injured group obtained significantly lower FMS composite scores than the non-injured group (14.07 ± 2.41 vs. 15.44 ± 2.04; p = .022, d = 0.62). Athletes scoring ≤ 14 demonstrated approximately three times greater odds of injury (OR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.08–9.71). ROC analysis yielded an AUC of 0.65, with the Youden Index identifying ≤ 15 as the optimal cutoff (sensitivity = 0.741, specificity = 0.531). The composite score remained independently associated with injury after adjustment for sex, BMI, and training years (OR = 0.76, p = .019), with deep squat and hurdle step emerging as the only individual items independently linked to injury.
Conclusions: The FMS composite score is significantly associated with injury prevalence in Chinese collegiate basketball players, with a population-specific cutoff of ≤ 15 offering improved sensitivity over the conventional ≤ 14 threshold. The FMS may serve as a useful screening component when combined with complementary assessment tools.