Bipedal and unipedal stance in Brazilian football 7-a-side athletes with cerebral palsy

Guilherme Lopes,Ana Cristina De David

doi:10.1590/1809-2950/17022025032018

Abstract

ABSTRACT To compare postural control between Football 7-a-side players with cerebral palsy (CP) and active non-athletes without neurologic impairments, 28 individuals (15 to 35 years old) were selected and divided into the Non-Athletes Group (NAG), consisting of 14 individuals without neurologic or musculoskeletal injury; and the CP Group (CPG), composed of 14 athletes from the regional football team. A force platform was used to measure anteroposterior displacement of center of pressure (COPap), velocity (COPvel), mediolateral displacement (COPml), and 95% confidence ellipse area (AREA95) on bipedal and unipedal stance. On bipedal stance, there was no difference between groups in anteroposterior displacement of center of pressure (COPap) and velocity (COPvel). On unipedal stance with the dominant leg, the NAG presented better postural control, statistically significant in mediolateral displacement (COPml), 95% confidence ellipse area (AREA95) and COPap (p = 0.003; p = 0.001; p = 0.018, respectively). Our results showed that both groups have similar postural control on bipedal stance, but NAG demonstrated better postural control with unipedal stance than Football 7-a-side players with CP.

Highlights

Football 7-a-side is one of the most widely played sports among participants with cerebral palsy (CP)
Regarding CP classification based on topography, the group consisted of monoplegia (n = 1), diplegia (n = 2) and hemiplegia (n = 11)
There was non-significant difference between the groups at bipedal position, regarding the variable COPvel {F (1, 26) = 0.042; p > 0.05}, and at the unipedal position Non-Athletes Group (NAG) had a tendency towards better performance, despite its non-significant difference (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Football 7-a-side is one of the most widely played sports among participants with cerebral palsy (CP). It has some rules that differ from soccer, such as the smaller amount of athletes on the playing field, reduced field size and the possibility of throw-ins being executed with only one hand These adjustments are necessary because of the neurological conditions and motor limitations of its participants[1,2]. CP refers to a posture and movement disorder, resulting from a non-progressive, permanent brain injury that occurs during the development of the immature brain[3,4,5]. Such changes cause individuals with CP to have impaired motor and postural control, which interferes with the ability to perform daily living activities, physical activities, and sports. Young people, and adults with CP have worse postural control than those without CP, and these differences can be related to structural and mechanical body alignment issues or neurologic deficits, such as muscle control deficit in the lower limbs, especially in the ankles and legs[6,7,8,9,10,11]

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