Safety Of Athletes Research Articles

Fight Outcomes In Mixed Martial Arts (mma) From 1991-2021: An Analysis Of 107,227 Competitions

Although MMA rules and regulations are similar around the world, they can vary by state, country, and organization. State athletic commissions sanction US-based events, while a governing body of the host nation typically sanctions international events. Accordingly, MMA athletes may have a differential injury risk based on where they fight or the organization for whom they fight. PURPOSE: To determine the distribution of fight outcomes, if outcome distribution varies among US and international organizations, and if major rule changes in US-based organizations have changed the distribution of fight outcomes. METHODS: We extracted data from the ESPN MMA database for fights that occurred between September 1991 and October 2021, capturing 115,512 fights. Fights that did not have a time (7045), round number (147), had rounds greater than five min (1091), or had more than five rounds (2) were removed, leaving 107,227 fights for analysis. When comparing organizations, we used four US (UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, Invicta) and six international (ONE, Pride, Rizin, Pancrase, M-1 Global, Fight Night) organizations (30,510) and three US-based organizations when comparing pre- and post-adoption of the Unified Rules of MMA (UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce; 18,238). RESULTS: Fights were stopped due to submission (32.5%) or ended in decision (30.5%) most frequently, with knockout (6.3%), technical KO (19.0%), and KO/TKO (9.9%) comprising 35.2% of fight stoppages. When comparing US and international organizations, US fights were more likely to go to Decision (43.6% vs. 38.8%) or end in KO/TKO (23.8% vs. 17.6%), while international organizations had higher rates of Submission (24.6% vs. 21.9%), TKO (12% vs. 6.3%), and KO (3.2% vs. 2.0%). When comparing outcomes pre- and post-Unified Rules, we identified a 51.3% increase in the proportion of fights going to decision and a reduction in the proportion of fights ending in KO/TKO (33.3%) or Submission (28.4%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Despite varying rules and regulations across organizations and locations, historical MMA fight outcomes have been similar for US and international competition. Furthermore, implementation of the Unified Rules by US-based organizations is associated with a lower proportion of fights ending by KO/TKO, implying a positive impact on MMA athlete safety.

Hoof Impact and Foot-Off Accelerations in Galloping Thoroughbred Racehorses Trialling Eight Shoe-Surface Combinations.

Simple SummaryTo achieve optimal performance and low injury occurrence in horse racing, it is important to understand hoof–surface interactions. This study measured hoof accelerations in retired Thoroughbred racehorses as they galloped over turf and artificial surfaces in four shoeing conditions (aluminium, barefoot, steel and GluShu), using hoof-mounted accelerometers. During hoof landing, accelerations were increased for hindlimbs and leading limbs and on turf compared to the artificial surface. Barefoot hooves experienced the lowest impact accelerations and contrasted most with steel. During the propulsive stage of the stride, accelerations at “foot-off” were increased for low stride times, particularly in the hindlimbs, and on the artificial track. Increased impact accelerations on turf and in shod conditions could be detrimental to health and have implications for musculoskeletal injuries, whereas increased foot-off accelerations on the artificial surface may reflect this surface returning energy to the hoof and aiding propulsion, which could confer a performance benefit. Further work is needed to relate these findings to injury risk and racing outcomes specifically, particularly in racehorses galloping at top speeds.The athletic performance and safety of racehorses is influenced by hoof–surface interactions. This intervention study assessed the effect of eight horseshoe–surface combinations on hoof acceleration patterns at impact and foot-off in 13 galloping Thoroughbred racehorses retired from racing. Aluminium, barefoot, GluShu (aluminium–rubber composite) and steel shoeing conditions were trialled on turf and artificial (Martin Collins Activ-Track) surfaces. Shod conditions were applied across all four hooves. Tri-axial accelerometers (SlamStickX, range ±500 g, sampling rate 5000 Hz) were attached to the dorsal hoof wall (x: medio-lateral, medial = positive; y: along dorsal hoof wall, proximal = positive; and z: perpendicular to hoof wall, dorsal = positive). Linear mixed models assessed whether surface, shoeing condition or stride time influenced maximum (most positive) or minimum (most negative) accelerations in x, y and z directions, using ≥40,691 strides (significance at p < 0.05). Day and horse–rider pair were included as random factors, and stride time was included as a covariate. Collective mean accelerations across x, y and z axes were 22–98 g at impact and 17–89 g at foot-off. The mean stride time was 0.48 ± 0.07 s (mean ±2 SD). Impact accelerations were larger on turf in all directions for forelimbs and hindlimbs (p ≤ 0.015), with the exception of the forelimb z-minimum, and in absolute terms, maximum values were typically double the minimum values. The surface type affected all foot-off accelerations (p ≤ 0.022), with the exception of the hindlimb x-maximum; for example, there was an average increase of 17% in z-maximum across limbs on the artificial track. The shoeing condition influenced all impact and foot-off accelerations in the forelimb and hindlimb datasets (p ≤ 0.024), with the exception of the hindlimb impact y-maximum. Barefoot hooves generally experienced the lowest accelerations. The stride time affected all impact and foot-off accelerations (p < 0.001). Identifying factors influencing hoof vibrations upon landing and hoof motion during propulsion bears implication for injury risk and racing outcomes.

The Construction of Adaptive Learning for Sports Based on Aerobics Trajectory Recognition Model

Perceiving the movement track of aerobics is a key element of learning aerobics, but the current aerobics movement is not very professional, the ability to identify the movement track is weak, and improper movement in the movement process is easy to cause physical injury. In order to improve the safety of athletes in bodybuilding training, this paper uses Kinect to hold the coach’s body contour, determine the standard level of coaches’ sports, and combine the characteristics for aerobics training, so as to improve the sports level of coaches, through data acquisition, data processing, and feature extraction to assist sports learning, as well as human posture recognition. The calculation and recognition of human skeleton joints are completed by two algorithms, which improve the human motion recognition algorithm. The aerobics data collected by Kinect device is specified and digitized, which enhances the robustness of the system and improves the performance of the algorithm and the accuracy of the motion data.

A Descriptive Video Analysis of Helmet Impact Cases in North American Youth Football Players

Background: Detailed characterization of on-field helmet impacts in football through video analysis has mostly been limited to professional games due to the availability of high quality, multi-view video (e.g., broadcast footage). Few studies have assessed youth football helmet impacts using video-based methods, often with only a single-camera view. Objective: A multi-camera approach was used in this observation-based study to describe the mechanisms and situational factors of in-game helmet impacts experienced by youth football players. Methods: A descriptive video analysis was performed in which video of three games from two old divisions (game A: 9–12 years; games B and C: 13–14 years) was reviewed and parameters related to all cases of observed helmet impact were documented. Results: Overall, 95 helmet impact cases were identified (single helmet contact: 81.1%; multiple helmet contacts: 18.9%), with 115 helmet contacts. Helmet-to-ground contacts were most common (59.1%), followed by helmet-to-helmet (24.3%) and helmet-to-body (16.5%). Helmet impact cases generally occurred during a rush play (67.4%) and were concentrated in the mid-field (81%). Helmet contact locations were predominantly distributed between the rear (upper) (28.7%) and side (upper) (27.8%) helmet regions. Tackling was the most frequent activity leading to helmet impact (41.1%). Conclusion: These findings offer detailed on-field helmet impact characteristics at the youth level that can help inform athlete safety improvement efforts.

Design of remote injury diagnosis system for Wushu competition based on wireless sensor network

INTRODUCTION: In this paper, a remote injury diagnosis system for Wushu competition based on wireless sensor network is designed to improve the safety of athletes in the process of Wushu competition. OBJECTIVES: Improve the safety of athletes during martial arts competitions. METHODS: The pulse sensor, temperature sensor and ECG sensor are set as the terminal nodes of the remote injury diagnosis system for Wushu competition. The physiological parameters of athletes in Wushu competition are collected by the sensor, and the collected parameters are transmitted to the wireless RF module. The wireless RF module uses the wireless sensor network to realize the wireless communication of various parameter data through the routing node and terminal node, and transmits the data to the remote diagnosis module. The remote diagnosis module uses the collected physiological parameters of athletes to realize the remote diagnosis of injury in Wushu competition through particle swarm optimization-support vector machine diagnosis model. RESULTS: The experimental results show that the designed system can remotely collect the physiological parameters of athletes in Wushu competition, and remotely diagnose the injury of Wushu competition according to the collected data, and the diagnosis accuracy is as high as 99%. CONCLUSION: It has good safety performance and is of practical significance.

Effects of Body Posture and Different Exercise Intensity on Athletes' Limb Injury.

The purpose of this study was to solve the problem of the influence of body posture and different exercise intensity on athletes' limb injuries, to meet the needs of understanding athletes' injuries, and to make up for the lack of investigations on athletes' limb injuries; this also increases the chances of an athlete avoiding injury. Severe acute sports injuries of high-level gymnasts endanger the personal safety of athletes. Many movements in gymnastics are done in the air much higher than the ground, and there is no fulcrum when the athlete does the movements; this just can only maintain balance and change your body posture through your own feelings, a slight error can easily cause your head or upper body to fall down, and the fragile spine cannot withstand the strong impact of the ground, resulting in high vertebral fractures, high paraplegia, and even death. Therefore, through a survey of 126 rhythmic gymnasts who participated in the 2011 “China Art Sports Cup” China Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, a total of 172 injuries were found in 136 gymnasts, and the injury risk analysis was carried out from the main characteristics of the injuries.

Similar Concussion Rates in Spring Football and Preseason: Findings From the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education Consortium.

Increasing attention has been directed toward identifying aspects of football participation for targeted policy change that reduces the concussion risk. Prior researchers evaluated concussion risks during the preseason and regular seasons, leaving the spring season largely unexplored. In this nationally representative observational investigation of 19 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I collegiate football programs, we assessed concussion rates and head impact exposures during the preseason, regular season, and spring practices from 2014 to 2019. All participating programs recorded the incidence of concussions, and a subset (n = 6) also measured head impact exposures. Analyses by time of year and session type indicated that concussion rates and head impact exposures during all practice sessions and contact practices were higher in the spring and preseason than those in the regular season (P < .05). Concussion rates during the spring season and preseason were statistically similar. We identified comparable concussion risks in the spring season and preseason, highlighting the need for targeted policy interventions to protect athlete health and safety.

Automated Urinal-Based Specific Gravity Measurement Device for Real-Time Hydration Monitoring in Male Athletes.

Acute and chronic hydration status is important for athlete safety and performance and is frequently measured by sports scientists and performance staff in team environments via urinalysis. However, the time required for urine collection, staff testing, and reporting often delays immediate reporting and personalized nutrition insight in situations of acute hydration management before training or competition. Furthermore, the burdensome urine collection and testing process often renders chronic hydration monitoring sporadic or non-existent in real-world settings. An automated urinalysis device (InFlow) was developed to measure specific gravity, an index of hydration status, in real-time during urination. The device was strongly correlated to optical refractometry with a mean absolute error of 0.0029 (±0.0021). Our results show this device provides a novel and useful approach for real-time hydration status via urinalysis for male athletes in team environments with high testing frequency demands.

The Role of Theory in the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Sport.

Sexual violence (SV) remains at epidemic proportions in the U.S. and growing evidence demonstrates that youth and adults engaged in sport are at increased risk of victimization and perpetration of SV. Unfortunately, sport SV prevention strategies are rarely built on theory or theoretically grounded evidence, despite demonstrated effectiveness of such approaches. This study aimed to answer to questions: 1) Which theories are relevant to the development of effective SV prevention strategies in sport?; and 2) How has theory been incorporated into existing SV prevention literature on sport safety? A scoping review of the literature plus expert input identified 29 theories pertinent to SV prevention in sport. A systemized review of the literature regarding SV prevention in sport resulted in the identification and characterization of 41 published articles. Authors then examined theory's role in prevention literature. This study identified 29 theories pertinent to SV prevention in sports and applicable across the behavioral spectrum. Most theories were rooted in the Behavioral (41%), Situational (24%) or Social/Attitudinal (21%) areas. Less common were theories grounded in Feminist (14%) domains. Theories were predominantly focused at the individual (42%), organizational (29%), and interpersonal (18%) ecological levels. Of the 41 sport prevention articles, 33 (83%) referred to a theory either explicitly or implicitly. Though most theories have been incorporated into prevention efforts, closer examination indicates that the majority were descriptive, unlikely to use a sophisticated methodology (10%; e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental), and rarely intended to assess a specific prevention program/strategy or policy (21%). Strong theoretical foundations are available for SV prevention research focused on sports, and their application appears to show value across the developmental spectrum of athletes. There remains a need for greater focus on theory-driven research intended to develop prevention strategies and policies designed to enhance athlete safety.

Seven Points for Athletes to Consider Before Using a Dietary Supplement.

Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have been used by athletes for as long as sporting competitions have existed. To protect the health and safety of athletes and promote fair play, banned substance lists were developed that include several classes of PEDs. Evidence shows that a majority of athletes use dietary supplement products to aid their training and support their health. Evidence also indicates that use of some dietary supplements carries a risk because the products may contain banned PEDs. Consumers and athletes should weigh a number of considerations before purchasing and consuming dietary supplements to protect their health, reputation, and the spirit of fair competition.

Introduction - The Prevention of Sexual Violence in Sport: A Real Game Changer.

This Special Issue focuses on the prevention of sexual violence in sport. It begins with an examination of the role of theory in the prevention of sport related sexual violence, identifies critical gaps in the literature, features a number of cutting-edge sexual violence prevention studies, and provides a practically oriented investigation that demonstrates the importance of incorporating a socioecological framework and policy structures in the prevention of sexual violence in sport. This Special Issue was designed to encourage greater development and study of empirically based approaches to prevent sexual violence in sport in response to the paucity of available strategies to enhance athlete safety and well-being.

Safeguarding Athletes Against Head Injuries Through Advances in Technology: A Scoping Review of the Uses of Machine Learning in the Management of Sports-Related Concussion.

Sports injury prevention is an important part of the athlete welfare and safeguarding research field. In sports injury prevention, sport-related concussion (SRC) has proved to be one of the most difficult and complex injuries to manage in terms of prevention, diagnosis, classification, treatment and rehabilitation. SRC can cause long-term health issues and is a commonly reported injury in both adult and youth athletes around the world. Despite increased knowledge of the prevalence of SRC, very few tools are available for diagnosing SRC in athletic settings. Recent technological innovations have resulted in different machine learning and deep learning methodologies being tested to improve the management of this complex sports injury. The purpose of this article is to summarize and map the existing research literature on the use of machine learning in the management of SRC, ascertain where there are gaps in the existing research and identify recommendations for future research. This is explored through a scoping review. A systematic search in the three electronic databases SPORTDiscus, PubMed and Scopus identified an initial 522 studies, of which 24 were included in the final review, the majority of which focused on machine learning for the prediction and prevention of SRC (N = 10), or machine learning for the diagnosis and classification of SRC (N = 11). Only 3 studies explored machine learning approaches for the treatment and rehabilitation of SRC. A main finding is that current research highlights promising practical uses (e.g., more accurate and rapid injury assessment or return-to-sport participation criteria) of machine learning in the management of SRC. The review also revealed a narrow research focus in the existing literature. As current research is primarily conducted on male adolescents or adults from team sports in North America there is an urgent need to include wider demographics in more diverse samples and sports contexts in the machine learning algorithms. If research datasets continue to be based on narrow samples of athletes, the development of any new diagnostic and predictive tools for SRC emerging from this research will be at risk. Today, these risks appear to mainly affect the health and safety of female athletes.

Judgment of Athlete Action Safety in Sports Competition Based on LSTM Recurrent Neural Network Algorithm

Athlete injury has always been an important factor that plagues sports. In order to reduce the probability of athletes’ sports injury and improve the judgment of athletes’ action safety, the inherent laws of sports actions are fully excavated, the development of action safety is promoted, and learners and instructors are caused to fully understand the safety of actions. This study uses the LSTM (long short-term memory) cyclic neural network algorithm to judge the safety of athletes in sports competitions. The experiment verifies the effectiveness of the LSTM cyclic neural network algorithm in basketball segmentation and recognition. Sports injury is one of the important factors affecting the performance of all sports, and the problem of athletes’ injury is worrying, so it is very necessary to effectively prevent potential sports injuries. Through the investigation of different professional athletes, the LSTM cyclic neural network algorithm is used for the whole process of extracting an independent motion action including continuous actions. It is used to distinguish key postures and nonkey postures in an action, and to judge the correctness of the action. Basketball skills here are mainly the movements of basic skills such as moving, passing the ball, dribbling, shooting, breaking with the ball, personal defense, grabbing the ball, stealing the ball, and grabbing the ball. The research results prove that the LSTM recurrent neural network algorithm has a good effect on the safety of athletes. For athletes, 41.9% of people can improve the safety of their movements by strengthening strength training.

"A Narrative Review On Athletic Performance And Safety Of Creatine Supplementation For Adolescents"

"A Narrative Review On Athletic Performance And Safety Of Creatine Supplementation For Adolescents"

Pushing for change: a qualitative study of the experiences of elite athletes during pregnancy

ObjectivesAthletes train and compete at the elite level during their reproductive years, yet sport policies that support pregnant athletes are lacking. The experiences of elite athletes during pregnancy are vastly...

En-Garde! A Review of Fencing Blade Material Development

Using two fencing swords manufactured in Europe and China, we investigated the typical materials used for fencing blades and compared the experimental results with the nominal compositions of a variety of steels. We found that spring steels and maraging steels were the primary metals used in fencing blades. The review then provides an overview of the chemical compositions, heat treatment processes, microstructures and associated mechanical properties of these materials. By combining the requirements for the safety of athletes, mechanical behaviors of different steels, and production costs for industry, we introduced possible directions for the heat treatments and processing methods that have the potential to enhance performance and overcome the limitations of previous materials. In addition, an ultra-strong steel, Fe-9.95Mn-0.44C-1.87Al-0.67V which could be a promising new candidate in this area, was recommended. Finally, we suggested that successful cooperation between manufacturers and researchers is necessary to reach the various requirements of fencing blades to meet the growing popularity of fencing in China.

Conflict between Weightlifting and Health? The Importance of Injury Prevention and Technology Assistance

As the level of weightlifting competition continues to improve, athletes need to continuously improve their athletic performance to achieve better results. However, we often see in training that some excellent weightlifters are often interrupted due to sports injuries, and their special ability and competitive level cannot be improved. How to effectively prevent sports injuries and reduce the incidence of sports injuries is a topic that needs to be grasped in the current sports team training process. The national weightlifting team attaches great importance to the role of technology in training and competitions. During the Tokyo Olympic preparation period, the concept of technology to help the Olympics has been fully implemented in the national weightlifting team. New training equipment, new monitoring methods, and new recovery methods have added more guarantees to the preparation of the national weightlifting team, improving athletes' competitive performance, reducing the risk of sports injuries, and ensuring the safety and health of athletes.

Medical resources deployed for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar

Background: International sporting events such as the World Athletics (WA) competition require proper medical coverage to ensure the wellbeing of athletes, support teams, and spectators1. Several factors may have an impact on people&apos;s requirements for medical attention such as the climate, altitude, and intensity of the sporting competition on the athletes2,3. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) held its 2019 competition in Doha, Qatar, and this study reports on the medical resources deployed to cover the event based on risk assessment. Case presentation: Although the competition was held for 10 days across two venues. The medical cover started 3 days earlier and also encompassed warm-up/training venues and official hotels (Table 1). It involved multiple healthcare organizations providing equipment, manpower, medical tents/clinics, and vehicles in case of transportation to the hospital was required. Results: Resources were allocated to various locations based on the risk assessment (Table 1) and depending on the number of people competing, training, or attending, and the size of the venue. Environmental factors were accounted for with the provision of cold-water immersion recovery baths at multiple locations and ample manpower with rostering of clinical staff from various relevant healthcare professions (Table 2). All resources were deployed on a rotational shift basis in the official locations well ahead of the start of each event until an hour or two after the completion of the event. Conclusion: Proper planning, communication, and collaboration among organizers, hosts, medical services providers, and other authorities play a vital role in the safety of athletes, support team members, and spectators. Such large events impose huge strain on the resources which can impact aspects of daily healthcare delivery to the rest of the community and hence need to be carefully considered. It is worth noting that the medical coverage provided was not overwhelmed by patient demand, hence; the medical coverage was appropriate.

Assessment of brain injury biomechanics in soccer heading using finite element analysis

This study presents an in silico finite element (FE) model-based biomechanical analysis of brain injury metrics and associated risks of a soccer ball impact to the head for aware and unaware athletes, considering ball impact velocity and direction. The analysis presented herein implements a validated soccer ball and 50th percentile human head computational FE model for quantifying traumatic brain injury (TBI) metrics. The brain's mechanical properties are designated using a viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive material model for the white and gray matter within the human head FE model. FE results show a dynamic human head-soccer ball peak contact area of approximately seven times greater than those documented for helmet-to-helmet hits in American Football. Due to the deformable nature of the soccer ball, the impact dynamics are unique depending on the location and velocity of impact. TBI injury risks also depend on the location of impact and the impact velocity. Impacts to the rear (BrIC:0.48, HIC15:180.7), side (BrIC:0.52, HIC15:176.5), and front (BrIC:0.37, HIC15:129.0) are associated with the highest injury risks. Furthermore, the FE results indicate when an athlete is aware of an incoming ball, HIC15-based Abbreviated Injury Scale 1 (AIS 1) injury risks for the front, side, and rear impacts decrease from 10.5%, 18.5%, and 19.3%, respectively, to approximately 1% in front and side impacts and under 6% in a rear impact. Lastly, the unique contact area between the head and soccer ball produces pressure gradients in the ball that translate into distinguishable stress waves in the skull and the cerebral cortex. Statement of significanceMild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) are a worrisome aspect of participation in most sports due to difficulties in their diagnosis in competitions and the potential of long-term neurological defects. These types of injuries are not well understood for athletes playing soccer, specifically pertaining to the risks of heading a soccer ball. Studies are warranted which investigate impacts in this game to improve current knowledge. Our computational study uses finite element modeling to investigate contact between a player's head and the soccer ball. The results of this study present potential injury mechanisms and risks caused by this contact interaction to contribute to the current understanding of brain injuries in soccer and the promotion of athlete safety.

The Effect of Test Setting Upon Test-Retest Reliability of ImPACT Baseline Tests in High School Athletes

To determine the test-retest reliability of ImPACT baseline tests across different schools within the same larger concussion management program. ImPACT is the most widely used concussion management cognitive testing tool. Baseline testing is often required for high school sports participation. Typically, testing occurs every 2 years based on test-retest reliability statistics in previous studies. Demographic and environmental factors, such as age, sex, number of participants, and supervision, all impact baseline performance. Studies to date have not examined test-retest differences across testing sites, such as between school differences. Cross-sectional retrospective design. Valid baseline tests from high school athletes over a 2-year interval were included. Participants who experienced concussions prior to or between tests were excluded. A total of 979 student athletes from 5 schools were included. The Intra-class correlations were determined over a 2-year period for each ImPACT composite score and school. ICC estimates averaged between schools reflected good reliability for visual-motor speed (0.833), visual memory (0.673) and reaction time (0.615) over the two-year period. Verbal memory (0.586) and impulse control (0.556) were less reliable. Between schools a greater range of composite reliability was observed for reaction time (0.484-0.730) and impulse control (0.461-0.655) compared to verbal memory (0.534-0.637), visual memory (0.61-0.719), and visual-motor speed (0.769-914). As previously established, reliability of ImPACT baselines vary by composite. This study revealed that reliability also varies by setting, as different schools yielded different ICCs. Consistent with the literature, the most reliable measure was visual-motor speed. The greatest difference in reliability between schools was for reaction time. These results suggest that test setting and environment affect reliability of ImPACT baseline scores, with varying effects per composite. Attention must be paid to environmental setting to improve reliability of baseline cognitive test performance to maximize athlete safety.