Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports

Osgood Schlatter's disease (OSD) is characterized by pain at the tibial tuberosity provoked during knee-loading activities, and is common in adolescent athletes. The aim of this study was to characterize clinical, pain and ultrasound imaging characteristics in participants with OSD compared to controls. This cross-sectional study included adolescents diagnosed with OSD and matched controls. Following baseline evaluation including ultrasound, participants completed the following aggravating activities in a randomized order: single-leg isometric knee hold, single-leg squat, single-leg vertical jump, hopping, running, cutting, lunges, and walking...

Patellar tendinopathy (PT) typically affects jumping-sport athletes with functional impairments frequently observed. Alterations to the functional organization of corticomotor neurons within the motor cortex that project to working muscles are evident in some musculoskeletal conditions and linked to functional impairments. We aimed to determine if functional organization of corticomotor neuron projections differs between athletes with PT and asymptomatic controls, and if organization is associated with neuromuscular control...

Step cadence-based and machine-learning (ML) methods have been used to classify physical activity (PA) intensity in health-related research. This study examined the association of intensity-specific PA duration with all-cause (ACM) and CVD mortality using the cadence-based and ML methods in 68 561 UK Biobank participants wearing wrist-worn accelerometers. The two-stage-ML method categorized activity type and then intensity. The one-level-cadence-method (1LC) derived intensity-specific duration using all detected steps (including standing utilitarian steps) and cadence thresholds of ≥100 steps/min (moderate intensity) and ≥130 steps/min (vigorous intensity)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The relationship between structural changes in the cerebral gray matter and diminished balance control performance in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI) has remained unclear. This paper aimed to assess the difference in gray matter volume (GMV) between participants with CAI and healthy controls (HC) and to characterize the role of GMV in the relationship between disease duration and balance performance in CAI. 42 participants with CAI and 33 HC completed the structural brain MRI scans, one-legged standing test, and Y-balance test...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Motor imagery (MI) is the mental representation of a movement without its execution. It activates internal representations of the movement without external stimulus through different memory-related processes. Although acute stress is frequent in the population and affects supraspinal structures essential for memory functionality, it is still unknown how that stress affects MI capacity and temporal congruence (TC) between execution and movement imagination. This study aimed to discover how acute stress may influence MI capacity and TC in the subscales of internal and external visual imagery and kinesthetic imagery...

Despite exercise-based injury prevention programs (EIPPs) being widely researched and used, several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have failed to show their protective effect on injury risk. This is potentially due to underappreciating the EIPP dose-response relationship, by not controlling the analysis for the injuries sustained during the early EIPP implementation period, before the EIPP becomes efficacious. To determine the dose-response relationship of EIPP by controlling for the effects of injuries sustained before it became efficacious...

To investigate: (1) the injury epidemiology in an Australian academy; (2) how athletes transition through the high-performance sport (HPS) pathway; and (3) why athletes leave this HPS program. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at an Australian HPS academy over a 4-year period. Medical attention injuries were prospectively recorded. Injury incidence rates (IIR) and burden were calculated per 365 athlete-days, according to sport, sex, and pathway level. Athlete pathway levels were mapped to the Foundations, Talent, Elite, and Mastery (FTEM) framework...

Low-load blood-flow-restriction resistance training (LL-BFR-RT) is gaining popularity, but its physiological effects remain unclear. This study aimed to compare LL-BFR-RT with low-load resistance exercise (LL-RT) and high-load resistance exercise (HL-RT) on metabolism, electrolytes, and ions in the lower extremities by invasive catheter measurements, which are crucial for risk assessment. Ten healthy men (27.6 ± 6.4 years) completed three trials of knee-extensor exercises with LL-RT (30% 1RM), LL-BFR-RT (30% 1RM, 50% limb occlusion pressure), and HL-RT (75% 1RM)...

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of attentional focus instructions on acute changes in the transverse relaxation time (T2) of the femorotibial cartilage and in cartilage volume during repeated drop-jump landings. Ten healthy females (Mage  = 20.4 ± 0.8 years) performed a drop landing task from a 50 cm high box over the course of 3 days (50 repetitions each day) across three attentional focus conditions: external focus (EF: focus on landing as soft as possible), internal focus (IF: focus on bending your knees when you land), and control (CON: no-focus instruction), which was counterbalanced across focus conditions...

This study aimed to analyze the chronic effect of high cognitive effort immediately before resistance exercise sessions on neuromuscular performance in untrained male adults. We used a mixed experimental design, with the group as between-participants factor and time as within-participants factor. Thirty-four participants were randomly assigned to two parallel groups: high cognitive effort (n = 17) and control (n = 17). Subjects in the control group were seated for 30 min before the resistance exercise sessions, while the high cognitive effort group completed incongruent trials of the Stroop task until subjective mental fatigue was present immediately before resistance exercise sessions...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: Flexibility is recognized as one of the components of physical fitness and commonly included as part of exercise prescriptions for all ages. However, limited data exist regarding the relationship between flexibility and survival. We evaluated the sex-specific nature and magnitude of the associations between body flexibility and natural and non-COVID-19 mortality in a middle-aged cohort of men and women. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Anthropometric, health and vital data from 3139 (66% men) individuals aged 46-65 years spanning from March 1994 to October 2022 were available...

Movement behaviors within the 24-h day, including physical activity (PA), sedentary time, and sleep, are associated with cardiometabolic health. We aimed to determine the association between 24-h movement composition and cardiometabolic health while accounting for sleep efficiency. Altogether, 1134 participants from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 study, free from prior cardiovascular disease, provided at least 4 days of 24-h activity and sleep efficiency measured with a wearable ring. Participants' body composition was assessed with bioimpedance, blood pressure, and waist circumference were measured, and lipids and glucose were analyzed from a fasting blood sample...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Evidence has demonstrated that athletes exhibit superior cognitive performance associated with executive control. In the oculomotor system, this function has been examined using the interleaved pro-saccade and anti-saccade task (IPAST), wherein participants, prior to target appearance, are instructed to either automatically look at the peripheral target (pro-saccade) or suppress the automatic response and voluntarily look in the opposite direction (anti-saccade). While the IPAST has provided much insight into sensorimotor and inhibitory processing, it has yet to be performed in athletes...

We explored the impact of running in the severe intensity domain on running mechanics and muscle oxygenation in competitive runners by investigating the relationship between mechanical deviations from typical stride characteristics and muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2 ) in the quadriceps muscle. Sixteen youth competitive runners performed an 8-min exhaustive running test on an outdoor track. Running mechanics were continuously monitored using inertial measurement units. Rectus femoris SmO2 and total hemoglobin (a measure of blood volume) were continuously monitored by near-infrared spectroscopy...

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with acetabular dysplasia often report hip joint instability, pain, and poor hip-related function. Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is a surgical procedure that aims to reposition the acetabulum to improve joint congruency and improve pain and function. We aimed to examine the influence of presurgery clinical measures on functional recovery following PAO and the associations among clinical outcomes after PAO. METHODS: We screened 49 potential participants, 28 were enrolled, and 23 completed both study visits (pre-PAO and 6 months post-PAO)...

Patellar tendinopathy is more prevalent in males versus female athletes and commonly presents in the medial region of the tendon. Separate measures of patellar tendon strain in the medial, central, and lateral regions of the tendon, however, have not been quantified. The purpose was to investigate the differences in tendon strain between the medial, lateral, and central regions of the patellar tendon in healthy men and women. Strain in the medial and lateral regions of the patellar tendon in healthy participants (10 males, 10 females) was evaluated using ultrasound during isometric quadriceps contractions at 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVIC) in 60° and 90° of knee flexion...