Profile of police recruits’ knee injuries during academy training in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Knee injuries, occurring most often at a young age, are a significant cause of pain and disability in adulthood. Objectives: This study investigated the prevalence of knee pain, the association between knee pain and sociodemographic factors, and the physical activity level of newly recruited police cadets. Methodology: A knee pain-screening tool (KNEST) and international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) were administered to 125 volunteered cadets in Wudil police school in Kano, Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional research design, and a purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The data were obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency distribution and percentages and inferential statistics of Chi-square & Pearson's correlation. Results: The prevalence of knee pain was 55.2%, with 50.6% in males and 62.5% in females. Right knee pain in 42.1% was the most prevalent, and the pain lasted less than seven days in 33.3% of respondents. The physical activity levels of police cadets were found to be high at 82.5%. There was no significant association between knee pain and Age (r = 0.21, p = 0.273), as well as knee pain and gender (r = -0.116, p = 0.195). However, there was a significant association between knee pain and level of study and physical activities among cadets, (r = 0.005, p= 0.774), (r= -0.386, p=0.073) respectively. Conclusions: This study concluded that there was a high prevalence of knee pain among police cadets in Kano and was associated with their level of education, while their physical activity level was very adequate.