Athletic Prevention Research Articles

Proprioception Testing in Junior Athletes Training using the “Gyko” Sensor

Proprioceptive training is crucial for enhancing coordination, balance, and injury prevention in athletes, especially in their developmental stages. This study investigates the application of the Gyko sensor for testing proprioceptive abilities in junior athletes. The Gyko sensor, a portable motion analysis device, provides real-time data on movement and postural control. The study assesses the effectiveness of proprioceptive training by analyzing parameters such as balance, stability, and joint positioning accuracy in young athletes. Results highlight the sensor's potential in monitoring improvements and tailoring individualized training programs to optimize athletic performance and reduce injury risk.

Towards Achilles Tendon Injury Prevention in Athletes with Structural MRI Biomarkers: A Machine Learning Approach.

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have proven their effectiveness in orthopaedic settings, especially in tasks like medical image analysis. This study compares human musculoskeletal radiologists to artificial intelligence in a novel, detailed, short, and cost-effective examination of Achilles tendon magnetic resonance images to uncover potential disparities in their reasoning approaches. Aiming to identify relationships between the structured assessment of the Achilles tendon and its function that could support injury prevention. We examined 72 athletes to investigate the link between Achilles tendon structure, as visualised in magnetic resonance images using a precise T2*-weighted gradient echo sequence with very short echo times, and its functional attributes. The acquired data were analysed using advanced artificial intelligence techniques and reviewed by radiologists. Additionally, we conducted statistical assessments to explore relationships with functional studies in four meaningful groups: dynamic strength, range of motion, muscle torque and stabilography. The results show notable linear or non-linear relationships between functional indicators and structural alterations (maximal obtained Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.3 to 0.36 for radiological assessment and from 0.33 to 0.49 for artificial intelligence assessment, while maximal normalised mutual information ranged from 0.52 to 0.57 for radiological assessment and from 0.42 to 0.6 for artificial intelligence assessment). Moreover, when artificial intelligence-based magnetic resonance assessment was utilised as an input, the associations consistently proved more robust, or the count of significant relationships surpassed that derived from radiological assessment. Ultimately, utilising only structural parameters as inputs enabled us to explain up to 59% of the variance within specific functional groups. This analysis revealed that structural parameters influence four key functional aspects related to the Achilles tendon. Furthermore, we found that relying solely on subjective radiologist opinions limited our ability to reason effectively, in contrast to the structured artificial intelligence assessment. Cross-sectional studies.

Thromboembolic prevention in athletes: management of anticoagulation in sports players affected by atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia that poses a significant risk of stroke and thromboembolic events. Anticoagulation therapy is essential for preventing stroke in patients with AF. An increasing number of people of all ages, including cardiac patients, approach physical activity as both a leisure-time exercise and a competitive sport. Therefore, patients at risk of AF are increasingly allowed to practice sports activities. Management of oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) in these patients is extremely challenging because of the need to balance the risks and benefits of medications, considering both hemorrhagic (in case of trauma) and ischemic complications when the drugs are avoided. Official recommendations are limited for these patients and forbid sports that increase the risk of trauma and consequent bleeding in most cases. These recommendations are strongly influenced by the "traditional" management of OAT, which mainly involves coumarin derivatives. Non-vitamin K antagonist direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), with their more favorable pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic profile than that of coumarin derivatives, may represent an opportunity to modify the approach to sports activity in patients with AF and indications for OAT. This study aimed to review the use of anticoagulants in athletes with AF, highlight their efficacy and safety, and provide practical considerations regarding their management.

Ensuring athlete physical fitness using Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in training environments.

Sports have been a fundamental component of any culture and legacy for centuries. Athletes are widely regarded as a source of national pride, and their physical well-being is deemed to be of paramount significance. The attainment of optimal performance and injury prevention in athletes is contingent upon physical fitness. Technology integration has implemented Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) to augment the athletic training milieu. The present study introduces an approach for assessing athlete physical fitness in training environments: the Internet of Things (IoT) and CPS-based Physical Fitness Evaluation Method (IoT-CPS-PFEM). The IoT-CPS-PFEM employs a range of IoT-connected sensors and devices to observe and assess the physical fitness of athletes. The proposed methodology gathers information on diverse fitness parameters, including heart rate, body temperature, and oxygen saturation. It employs machine learning algorithms to scrutinize and furnish feedback on the athlete's physical fitness status. The simulation findings illustrate the efficacy of the proposed IoT-CPS-PFEM in identifying the physical fitness levels of athletes, with an average precision of 93%. The method under consideration aims to tackle the existing obstacles of conventional physical fitness assessment techniques, including imprecisions, time lags, and manual data-gathering requirements. The approach of IoT-CPS-PFEM provides the benefits of real-time monitoring, precision, and automation, thereby enhancing an athlete's physical fitness and overall performance to a considerable extent. The research findings suggest that the implementation of IoT-CPS-PFEM can significantly impact the physical fitness of athletes and enhance the performance of the Indian sports industry in global competitions.

Lack of utilizing evidence based training protocols for fitness training and injury prevention in athletes: The need to promote sports physical therapy in Pakistan

Lack of utilizing evidence based training protocols for fitness training and injury prevention in athletes: The need to promote sports physical therapy in Pakistan

The Influence of Menstrual Cycle Phases on Maximal Strength Performance in Healthy Female Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.

Maximal strength is a significant factor in achieving peak performance and injury prevention in athletes. In individualization strategies for the efficient development of athletes, it is necessary to consider the respective components separately. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the effects of the different cycle phases on isometric, isokinetic, and dynamic maximum strength. A systematic literature review was conducted; databases were searched from January 1960 to September 2023. The included studies focused on the expression of maximal strength in the earlier follicular phase as well as at least one comparative phase. Of the initial 707 articles identified, 22 met the selection criteria and were included. The studies considered a total of 433 subjects. Our results revealed medium effects (weighted mean standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.60; seven studies) for isometric maximal strength in favor of the late follicular phase, small effects (weighted mean SMD = 0.39; five studies) for isokinetic maximal strength in favor of the ovulation phase, and small effects (weighted mean SMD = 0.14; three studies) for dynamic maximal strength in favor of the late follicular phase. The results indicate that the early follicular phase is unfavorable for all strength classes. Peak performance in isometric strength is seen in the late follicular phase, whereas isokinetic strength peaks during ovulation. Dynamic strength is optimal in the late follicular phase.

Novel Study for the Early Identification of Injury Risks in Athletes Using Machine Learning Techniques

This innovative study addresses the prevalent issue of sports injuries, particularly focusing on ankle injuries, utilizing advanced analytical tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Employing a logistic regression model, the research achieves a remarkable accuracy of 90.0%, providing a robust predictive tool for identifying and classifying athletes with injuries. The comprehensive evaluation of performance metrics, including recall, precision, and F1-Score, emphasizes the model’s reliability. Key determinants like practicing sports with injury risk and kinesiophobia reveal significant associations, offering vital insights for early risk detection and personalized preventive strategies. The study’s contribution extends beyond predictive modeling, incorporating a predictive factors analysis that sheds light on the nuanced relationships between various predictors and the occurrence of injuries. In essence, this research not only advances our understanding of sports injuries but also presents a potent tool with practical implications for injury prevention in athletes, bridging the gap between data-driven insights and actionable strategies.

Predictive modeling for injury prevention in athletes using artificial intelligence

Predictive modeling for injury prevention in athletes using artificial intelligence

Bird's-eye view of prevalence, mechanism of injury, and prevention of sports-related orofacial injuries in basketball game

Sports-associated orofacial trauma causes negative sequelae in an athlete. To prevent this, we must closely assess the mechanism as well as the available literature regarding the prevalence. It is easier to apply knowledge of sports dentistry if the injury mechanism, types of injury, and management are known. Every single game is accompanied by its own set of injuries. Basketball is a dynamic game. Athletes involved in this game are at high risk of orofacial injuries. The preventive aspect is often a blind spot, especially in Indian Sports. This review gives a bird's-eye view of the type of orofacial trauma and prevention in athletes playing basketball game.

Research on the protection of athletes from injury by flexible conjugated materials in sports events

Sports are essential to everyone’s health because they assist athletes to establish physical and mental balance by strengthening muscles and ligaments. High-intensity training and low-quality equipment for sports tend to cause a wide range of injuries to the athlete. Higher education graduates’ regular education and lives are disrupted, either directly or indirectly, by sports injuries. Therefore, understanding the prevalence and root causes of college athletes’ injuries is crucial for enhancing student athletes’ performance and fostering healthy development. The ever-changing nature of injuries associated with sports and the patchy availability of rehabilitation facilities across India cause alarm. Inaccurately identifying players’ physical indications, uncomfortable clothing, and dissatisfaction with sports equipment are among the issues that can arise. The study investigates the potential of nanoparticles combined with sports flexible conjugate materials for injury prevention in athletes. The article proposed nanotechnology combined with flexible conjugated materials in sports events (Nano-FCM-SE) in sports training, explores the possibility of conjugated materials in enhancing the training effects of athletes, monitoring the status of sports, and bettering equipment. Sports equipment can help keep athletes safe by incorporating nanotechnology and flexible conjugated materials with superior optical, electrical, and other capabilities. Convenience, waterproof materials, flexibility, lightweight, aesthetics, breathability, and durability are evaluated for use in Nano-conjugated sports equipment materials. Evidence suggests that using flexible conjugated materials in athletic training can improve athlete performance and help the overall development of sports. The proposed method yields less negative results than MSI-TENG, TCM-MS, and RANSAC. The proposed damage severity model performs poorly relative to competitors (0.2). Compared to conventional models, the given models are effective on equipment. The sports injury protection system reported in this research has 5.17 percentage points greater detection efficiency than the current state of the art. Hierarchical strategies have the best RMSE for athlete safety. The findings of such methodologies in athlete safety on Nano conjugate materials and sports biology on sporting events and equipment underline the importance of precise data for athlete safety and performance.

Addressing the unresolved challenge of quantifying skiing exposure-A proof of concept using smartphone sensors.

In epidemiological studies related to winter sports, especially alpine skiing, an unresolved methodological challenge is the quantification of actual on-snow activity exposure. Such information would be relevant for reporting meaningful measures of injury incidence, which refers to the number of new injuries that occur in a given population and time period. Accordingly, accurate determination of the denominator, i.e., actual "activity exposure time", is critical for injury surveillance and reporting. In this perspective article, we explore the question of whether wearable sensors in combination with mHealth applications are suitable tools to accurately quantify the periods in a ski day when the skier is physically skiing and not resting or using a mechanical means of transport. As a first proof of concept, we present exemplary data from a youth competitive alpine skier who wore his smartphone with embedded sensors on his body on several ski days during one winter season. We compared these data to self-reported estimates of ski exposure, as used in athletes' training diaries. In summary, quantifying on-snow activity exposure in alpine skiing using sensor data from smartphones is technically feasible. For example, the sensors could be used to track ski training sessions, estimate the actual time spent skiing, and even quantify the number of runs and turns made as long as the smartphone is worn. Such data could be very useful in determining actual exposure time in the context of injury surveillance and could prove valuable for effective stress management and injury prevention in athletes.

EFEITO DO TREINAMENTO DE FORÇA SOBRE A PREVENÇÃO DE LESÕES NO PESCOÇO EM ATLETAS DE ARTES MARCIAIS

ABSTRACT Introduction: As competitive martial arts develop rapidly, technical difficulty and training intensity continues increasing, neck injuries in athletes have also increased proportionally, attracting the attention of researchers. Localized strength training is used for rehabilitation, but there is no research related to prevention in athletes. Objective: Explore the neck strength training effect on neck injury prevention in martial arts athletes. Methods: 68 (34 male) volunteers attended the experiment randomly divided into control and experimental groups. Traditional training activities were practiced in the control group, while a strength training protocol was added in the experimental group. Indices of change in pain, motor quality, and neck disability index were compared. Results: After the test, the number of neck injuries in the control group was 23, compared to five in the experimental group; there is a significant difference. There was a significant reduction of injuries in the experimental group (P=0.05); one year later, the VAS score of the experimental group remained significantly lower than the same pre-experiment or control group. The neck dysfunction score of the experimental group was still significantly lower than the pre-experimental and control group; there was no statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group before the experiment. Conclusion: The adequate periodic neck strength training formulation has a significant preventive effect on neck injuries in martial arts athletes. Evidence Level II; Therapeutic Studies - Investigating the result.

Longitudinal Associations Between Athletes' Psychological Needs and Burnout Across a Competitive Season: A Latent Difference Score Analysis.

Participation in sport can paradoxically be a source of psychological needs satisfaction and psychological needs frustration. Self-determination theory was applied to explain temporal relationships of athletes' psychological needs satisfactions and psychological needs frustrationswith burnout through a two-wave longitudinal study. Participants included 184 athletes (Mage = 24.04 years, SD = 5.56, 67.9% male) representing a range of competitive levels. A latent difference score model specifying longitudinal relationships between burnout and needs satisfactions and needs frustrations was tested. Significant within-variable changes were observed for all needs-satisfaction and needs-frustration variables. Longitudinal associations were found in Models 3 (autonomy frustration) and 6 (relatedness satisfaction). Higher burnout at baseline predicted an increase in autonomy frustration (β = 0.13, p < .05), whereas higher relatedness satisfaction at baseline reduced burnout levels later in the season (β = -0.22, p < .001). To conclude, continuous tracking of athlete burnout levels and fostering of needs-supportive climates that minimize autonomy-controlling behaviors are recommended for the burnout prevention in athletes.

Lower limb risk prevention in athletes: evaluation and strategies

Risk prevention of sports-related lower limb musculoskeletal injuries in adult and youth athletes is an important topic encompassing health and economic factors. For example, muscle injuries in professional football players could expose these athletes to recurrence, creating a significant economic problem for the football club. Such observations have led to the development of prevention programs, predominantly exercise-based injury prevention strategies, which may be multi-component or single-component. These programs focus on intrinsic risk factors, such as strength deficits, lack of flexibility, poor balance, coordination, endurance, previous injury, body size, anatomical alignment issues, foot shape, age, and sex. The FIFA 11+ program is an important example of an exercise-based program. It was developed under the leadership of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association with the aim of evaluating and, where necessary, implementing preventive training routines for soccer players. Despite the program being designed for soccer players, it has shown efficacy in other sports too. Many studies also emphasize the importance of identifying and avoiding extrinsic risk factors related to type and level of activity, shoe type, bracing equipment, etc. Understanding of the incidence, the severity, and the etiology of a specific injury is required in order to provide adequate prevention measures and to reduce the need for surgery. The present study focuses explicitly on identifying and evaluating possible interventions for lower limb injuries.

Variations in cricket players' upper body dynamic balance across different levels of competition.

Balance ability has been associated with performance and injury prevention in athletes. Previous studies have investigated the differences in lower body dynamic balance abilities among male high school, collegiate and professional soccer players. To investigate the differences on the Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test (UQYBT) in school, collegiate and employed cricket players. Dynamic balance data were collected for school (SCH; n = 22), collegiate (COL; n = 19) and employed (EMP; n = 15) cricket players of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India using the UQYBT standardized protocol. For the UQYBT, the participant reached with one hand in the medial, superolateral and inferolateral directions while maintaining three points of contact (other hand and both feet). The test was performed for both non-dominant and dominant hands. The SCH group had the least medial reach distance than the other two groups (p = 0.010). Also, SCH players tended to exhibit a lower composite reach score than the other groups, but this difference was not significant (p > 0.05). No bilateral differences were observed among the three groups in any of the reach directions. Upper body dynamic balance performance varied with the competition level. This may indicate that athletes' movement strategies may be different depending on the competition level and that normative values may need to be established for each competition level.

A neural network method to predict task- and step-specific ground reaction force magnitudes from trunk accelerations during running activities

Prediction of ground reaction force (GRF) magnitudes during running-based sports has several important applications, including optimal load prescription and injury prevention in athletes. Existing methods typically require information from multiple body-worn sensors, limiting their ecological validity, or aim to estimate discrete force parameters, limiting their ability to assess overall biomechanical load. This paper presents a neural network method to predict GRF time series from a single, commonly used, trunk-mounted accelerometer. The presented method uses a principal component analysis and multilayer perceptron (MLP) to obtain predictions. Time-series r2 coefficients with test data averaged around 0.9 for each impact, comparing favourably with alternative approaches which require additional sensors. For the impact peak, r2 was 0.74 across activities, comparing favourably with correlation analysis approaches. Several modifications, such as subject-specific training of the MLP, may help to improve results further, but the presented method can accurately predict GRF from trunk accelerometry data without requiring additional information. Results demonstrate the scope of machine learning to exploit common wearable technologies to estimate GRF in sport-specific environments.

Comparison of lower limb stiffness between male and female dancers and athletes during drop jump landings.

Repetition of jumps in dance and sport training poses a potential injury risk; however, non-contact landing injuries are more common in athletes than dancers. This study aimed to compare the lower limb stiffness characteristics of dancers and athletes during drop landings to investigate possible mechanisms of impact-related injuries. Kinematics and kinetics were recorded as 39 elite modern and ballet dancers (19 men and 20 women) and 40 college-level team sport athletes (20 men and 20 women) performed single-legged drop landings from a 30-cm platform. Vertical leg stiffness and joint stiffness of the hip, knee, and ankle were calculated using a spring-mass model. Stiffness data, joint kinematics, and moments were compared with a group-by-sex 2-way analysis of variance. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relative contribution of hip and knee and ankle joint stiffness to variance in overall vertical leg stiffness for dancers and athletes. Dancers had lower leg (P<0.001), knee joint (P=0.034), and ankle joint stiffness (P=0.043) than athletes. This was facilitated by lower knee joint moments (P=0.012) and greater knee (P=0.029) and ankle joint (P=0.048) range of motion in dancers. Males had higher leg (P<0.001) and ankle joint stiffness (P<0.001) than females. This occurred through lower ankle range of motion (P<0.001) and greater ankle moment (P=0.022) compared to females. Male and female dancers demonstrated reduced lower limb stiffness compared to athletes, indicating a more pliable landing technique. Dance training techniques could potentially inform approaches to injury prevention in athletes.

Low back pain status of female university students in relation to different sport activities.

To investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and its absence rate among female university student athletes in different types of sports. A cross-sectional study based on a standard self-reporting questionnaire was performed among 1335 athletes. Participants were female athletes who attended the National Sports Olympiad of Female University Students in basketball, volleyball, futsal, tennis, badminton, swimming, track and field, shooting, and karate. One thousand and fifty-nine athletes with the mean (SD) age of 23.1 (3.8) years responded to the questionnaire (response rate 79%). The 12-month prevalence of LBP was 39.0%; in addition, lifetime and point prevalence of LBP were 59.7 and 17.8%, respectively. Basketball (47.9 %) and karate (44.0 %) players had reported the highest 12-month prevalence of LBP. Also, LBP prevalences in shooting (29.7 %) and badminton (42.4 %) players were not negligible. Results show that, LBP led to relatively high absence rate from training sessions (27.9%) and matches (13.0%). While most of the existing literatures regarding female athletes' LBP have focused on particular sports with specific low back demands (such as skiing and rowing), many other sports have not been studied very well in this regard. Investigating LBP prevalence and related factors in other types of sports, such as combat sports, badminton and shooting, can help us better understand the prevalence of low back pain and provide us with necessary insight to take effective steps towards its prevention in athletes.

Acute Effects of Static Stretching, Active Warm Up, or Passive Warm Up on Flexibility of the Plantar Flexor Muscles of Iranian Professional Female Taekwondo Athletes

AbstractObjectives: Muscle flexibility is an important component of injury prevention in athletes. Active warm-up, passive warm-up and static stretching are different methods for increasing flexibility. Little clinical evidence is available regarding which of these methods has a greater role in increasing flexibility. This study was performed to compare acute effects of the above methods on the flexibility of the plantar flexor muscles of professional female taekwondo athletes.Methods: Female professional taekwondo athletes were randomly classified into three intervention protocol groups [active warm-up, passive warm-up, or static stretching, respectively]. Passive and active range of motion [ROM] was measured using a universal goniometer before and immediately after performing each of the designated flexibility protocols.Results: Thirty female athletes participated, providing 10 subjects for each group. There were no differences in age or body mass index between groups. The static-stretching protocol sig...

English

Hamstring strains are the most prevalent non-contact injury associated with participation in sports. In addition to the anatomical and functional characteristics of the hamstrings, such as the biarticular organisation or the dual innervations of biceps femoris, a number of alterable and non-alterable factors have been associated with the risk of hamstring injuries in athletes. Each of these variables would impact upon hamstring injury risk within an integrated approach, by which the possibility of sustaining an injury can vary depending on the particular circumstances of each athlete. The aim of this critical review is to examine the effects of current preventative exercise protocols and to provide basic guidelines for hamstring injury prevention in athletes.