The Psychological Impact of Sports Injuries among Ghanaian University Athletes

Background: Sports injuries have been reported to affect athletes psychologically. Sports injury and the psychological health of athlete are parallel in nature thus affects the rehabilitation phase of an injury.

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the psychological impact of sports injuries among Ghanaian University Athletes.

Methodology: A convenient sampling method was used. The Bi-Polar Profile mood of states questionnaire used to quantify the mood states of injured athletes and the numerical rating scale was used to determine severity of the injuries. Inferential statistics of independent student t test, ANOVA and Spearman’s correlation were implored in the data analysis.

Results: There was a statistical significance difference in the mood of injured athletes (p<0.05). The mean of non- injured athletes (25.67±5.66) was significantly higher than the injured athletes (22.20±6.73) on the anxiety-composed scale. There was no statistically significant difference between mood and injured male and females (p< 0.05).

Conclusion: The mood of injured athletes were more negatively affected than non-injured athletes. However, the sex and the types of sports engaged in by the athletes had no significant influence on their mood presentation. Rehabilitation professionals including physiotherapists should consider highly the mood of athletes in their management goals irrespective of the sex and sports participation years with a view to make appropriate medical referral.