Abstract
Nordic and alpine skiing-related visual tasks such as identifying hill contours, slope characteristics, and snow conditions increase demands on contrast processing and other visual functions. Prospective observational studies were conducted to assess the relationships between skiing performance and a broad range of visual functions in nordic and alpine skiers with vision impairments. The study hypothesized that contrast sensitivity (CS), visual acuity (VA), and visual field (VF) would be predictive of skiing performance. Binocular static VA, CS, light sensitivity, glare sensitivity, glare recovery, dynamic VA, translational and radial motion perception, and VF were assessed in elite Para nordic (n = 26) and Para alpine (n = 15) skiers. Skiing performance was assessed based on skiers’ raw race times. Performance on the visual function tests was compared with skiing performances using Kendall’s correlations (with and without Bonferroni–Holm corrections) and linear multivariable regressions (p < 0.05 considered significant). None of the vision variables were significantly correlated with performance in Para nordic or Para alpine skiing after Bonferroni–Holm corrections were applied. Before applying the corrections, VF extent (ρ = -0.37, p = 0.011), and static VA (ρ = 0.26, p = 0.066) demonstrated the strongest correlations with Para nordic skiing performance; in Para alpine skiing, static VA and CS demonstrated the strongest correlations with downhill (static VA: ρ = 0.54, p = 0.046, CS: ρ = -0.50, p = 0.06), super G (static VA: ρ = 0.50, p = 0.007, CS: ρ = -0.51, p = 0.017), and giant slalom (static VA: ρ = 0.57, p = 0.01, CS: ρ = -0.46, p = 0.017) performance. Dynamic VA and VF were significantly associated with downhill (ρ = 0.593, p = 0.04) and slalom (ρ = -0.49, p = 0.013) performances, respectively. Static VA was a significant predictor of giant slalom [(F(3,11) = 24.71, p < 0.001), and R of 0.87], super G [(F(3,9) = 17.34, p = 0.002), and R of 0.85], and slalom [(F(3,11) = 11.8, p = 0.002), and R of 0.80] performance, but CS and VF were not. Interestingly, static VA and CS were highly correlated in both Para nordic (ρ = -0.60, p < 0.001) and Para alpine (ρ = -0.80, p < 0.001) skiers. Of the vision variables, only static VA and VF were associated with skiing performance and should be included as the in Para nordic and Para alpine classifications. The strong correlations between static VA and CS in these skiers with vision impairment may have masked relationships between CS and skiing performance.
Highlights
Sports and exercise play significant roles in improving the physical and mental health of individuals with visual disabilities (Gleeson et al, 2014; Koolaee, 2017; Fontenot et al, 2018)
Post hoc power analysis (G∗power 3.1.9.7) indicated that the power to detect the obtained effects at the effect size of 0.15 and alpha error probability of 0.05 were 0.36 in the Para nordic, 0.20 in giant slalom (GS) and SL, and 0.28 in super G (SG) for the regression analyses in prediction of skiing performance (Faul et al, 2007). These analyses suggest that the Para nordic and Para alpine studies did not have sufficient power to support the analysis results but considering the uniqueness of study population and the fairly representative samples in the studies, the results are still meaningful
The arbitrarily assigned values for static visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS), and visual field (VF) were not included in the calculation of means and standard deviations presented in these summary tables because they were not actual measured values of the participants
Summary
Sports and exercise play significant roles in improving the physical and mental health of individuals with visual disabilities (Gleeson et al, 2014; Koolaee, 2017; Fontenot et al, 2018). Athletes with visual impairment (VI) have been participating in the Paralympics since 1976 (Tweedy et al, 2014), research exploring the impact of vision impairment on sport performance has been limited. Research has demonstrated that the major visual cues that elite, able-sighted alpine skiers rely on are the positions of gates on the course, their pole positions, and terrain cues such as the turn initiation and take-off points, the slope and curve of the hill, and distinctive holes and bumps and remarkable transitions on the course. A similar study has not been done in nordic skiing, it is possible that some of the visual cues nordic skiers use are similar due to similarities in the sport environments
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