Association Between Individual Functional Movement Screen™ Tasks and Sports Injury Occurrence in University...

The Functional Movement Screen™ (FMS™) is widely used to evaluate movement quality and attempt to identify athletes at risk of injury. However, the predictive value of the total score is inconsistent, and it remains unclear whether specific components are more strongly associated with injury. # Purpose To prospectively investigate the relationship between individual FMS™ task scores and sports injury incidence among university basketball players over the course of one year, to evaluate the applicability of the conventional total score threshold of ≤14, and to compare the screening utility of individual and total FMS™ tasks. # Study Design Prospective cohort study. # Methods Eighty-five collegiate basketball players (men and women) were assessed on all seven FMS™ tasks during pre-season. Sports injuries were tracked for 12 months and defined as musculoskeletal conditions restricting participation for more than seven days. Logistic regression models tested associations between injury risk and both total FMS™ score (cut-off ≤14) and scores on individual tasks. A weighted model combining all tasks was also examined. # Results The total FMS™ score (≤14) was not significantly associated with injury (AUC = 0.52). In contrast, low scores (≤2) on the Deep Squat (DS) were significantly associated with increased injury risk (OR = 3.47). Low scores on the Hurdle Step (HS) were also associated with elevated risk (OR = 2.26), although this did not reach statistical significance in the logistic regression model. A weighted model incorporating all items improved predictive discrimination (AUC = 0.75), although contributions varied across tasks. # Conclusion Individual task scores, particularly the DS and HS, were more predictive of injury than the total FMS™ score. Item-specific weighting may enhance the clinical utility of pre-season screening, but larger studies are needed for validation. # Level of Evidence 2b.