Sports Health

BACKGROUND: Despite growing applications of backward walking (BW) in assessing and rehabilitating neuromuscular conditions, its effects on gait in chronic ankle instability (CAI) remain unclear. Moreover, linking patient-reported and clinically generated measures is imperative for understanding CAI. HYPOTHESES: Patients with CAI will exhibit worse and compensatory spatio-temporal and kinetic gait parameters during BW, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) will be correlated significantly with gait parameters...

BACKGROUND: It is widely reported that the weight distribution in each foot is approximately 60% in the rearfoot and 40% in the forefoot. For balance training, it is recommended to transfer some weight to the forefoot. However, it is still unclear whether fore-rear foot weightbearing ratio affects balance and plantar pressure parameters. HYPOTHESIS: There is a relationship between the forefoot weightbearing ratio and balance and plantar pressure in female adolescent athletes...

CONTEXT: Tendinopathy is a disease state characterized by tendon disorder with pain or decreased function that can cause significant disability. Multiple treatment modalities exist; however, no single treatment is superior. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle tenotomy (PNT) and TENEX are emerging as promising treatment options for tendinopathy. OBJECTIVE: To review the current literature of reported outcomes for PNT, TENEX, and TENJET, for the treatment of tendinopathy, including pain relief, change in function, and patient-reported outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Rates of shoulder and elbow pathology are well documented among competitive baseball players in the United States; however, little is known about the prevalence of these pathologies in the Dominican Republic (DR). PURPOSE: To report the epidemiology of shoulder and elbow pathology among participants at a Major League Baseball scouting event in Santo Domingo, DR. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective descriptive study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to compare acceleration and deceleration demands of intercounty Camogie players, and differences across playing positions and halves of play. HYPOTHESIS: The middle 3 positions will have greatest accelerations and decelerations variables across match play and halves of play. STUDY DESIGN: Nonrandomized, repeated measures design. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4. METHODS: Global positioning systems (GPS) (10 Hz) collected data from 28 participants during 18 competitive matches across 2 seasons; 206 individual player datasets were analyzed...

BACKGROUND: Sport specialization is associated with increased risk of overuse injuries. However, the effects of sport specialization on the risk of overuse injury may differ by specific sport and sociocultural parameters. This study aimed to determine the associations of sport participation and training volume with previous overuse injuries in Japanese male youth soccer players. HYPOTHESIS: Being highly specialized before the age of 12 years and high training volume relative to participant age would be associated with a history of serious overuse injury...

BACKGROUND: Repetitive motion can alter joint angles and subsequently affect the control of the center of mass (CoM). While the CoM has been studied as a fatigue indicator in various sports, the control of the whole-body CoM during repetitive pitching in baseball pitchers has not been examined. This study aimed to investigate changes in lower-extremity joint angles and CoM control in collegiate baseball pitchers after repetitive pitching. HYPOTHESIS: Baseball pitchers would exhibit significant increase in lower-extremity flexion angles, CoM position, and CoM variability after repetitive pitching...

CONTEXT: Ketogenic diets and ketone supplements have gained popularity among endurance runners given their purported effects: potentially delaying the onset of fatigue by enabling the increased utilization of the body's fat reserve or external ketone bodies during prolonged running. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effects of ketogenic diets (>60% fat and <10% carbohydrates/<50 g carbohydrates per day) or ketone supplements (ketone esters or ketone salts, medium-chain triglycerides or 1,3-butadiol) on the aerobic performance of endurance runners...

CONTEXT: Fastpitch softball is one of the most popular sports in the United States among young female athletes. Softball players regularly subject their shoulders to extreme range of motion and high velocity movements. To date, no systematic review has reported on the epidemiology and incidence of shoulder injuries in softball players. OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and epidemiology of softball-related shoulder injuries in youth, high school, and collegiate female softball players...

CONTEXT: Equestrian sports continue to gain popularity in the United States and are associated with a high injury rate, especially involving the central nervous system and thorax. Due to this high rate of injury and the potential for long-term consequences associated with participation, an understanding of the unique risks of this sport is needed. OBJECTIVE: To describe severe injury in equestrian sports and review the role that protective gear plays in injury mitigation...

BACKGROUND: Although the lower extremities are essential for movement function and human gait, no normalized isometric maximum strength values, which include the factors gender, age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI), have been defined to date for orthopaedic patients. OBJECTIVE: To systematically analyze the isometric maximal muscle strength of a cohort in an orthopaedic outpatient clinic and to evaluate its relation to gender, age, weight, height, BMI, and the differences between diseases...

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal injuries are prevalent in the NBA and are associated with a significant number of games missed. There is a lack of reference data for clinical measures in NBA players, making it difficult for sports medicine professionals to set goals and develop programs. HYPOTHESIS: Values for clinical measures in NBA players will differ from those of the general population but will not differ between dominant (D) and nondominant (ND) limbs. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study...

BACKGROUND: Traumatic shoulder instability is a common injury in the general population and the military. Surgical stabilization surgery reduces recurrence rates compared with nonsurgical management. Time since surgery is generally the primary measure of return to sport. There is a gap in knowledge on psychological variables and time since surgery and their relationship to rotator cuff strength and functional performance. HYPOTHESIS: It was hypothesized that, after shoulder stabilization surgery, psychological factors and time since surgery will be associated positively with objective physical performance tests, that physical performance will differ significantly between postsurgery cadets and healthy controls, and that surgical stabilization of the nondominant arm will demonstrate greater range of motion deficits than surgical intervention on the dominant arm...

BACKGROUND: Monitoring training load and competition load is crucial for evaluating and improving athlete performance. This study proposes an applied approach to characterize and classify the training task specificity in relation to competition in a top-level rink hockey team, considering external and internal load from training tasks and competition. HYPOTHESIS: Training tasks and game demands have significant dose-response differences, and exercises can be classified successfully based on their physiological and biomechanical demands...

BACKGROUND: This study explores the association between vitamin D deficiency and distal biceps tendon injuries, illustrating that, although vitamin D deficiency is associated with prolonged hospital stays and various musculoskeletal problems, its connection to distal biceps tendon injuries is unknown. HYPOTHESIS: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an elevated risk of distal biceps injury but not with increased rates of subsequent surgery or revision surgery...

BACKGROUND: Load management is a sports science concept describing the execution of well-established training principles to measure athletic workloads and enhance performance. The term 'load management' has become common in sports media to refer to a much wider range of scenarios, including the idea that by limiting regular season workload for athletes, their health and playoff performance will improve. Varying links between load and performance have been demonstrated in baseball and soccer...

BACKGROUND: Australian Rules Football athletes complete long preseasons, yet injuries occur frequently at early stages of the competitive season. Little is known about the high-speed running (HSR) prescription during a preseason or whether players are adequately prepared for competition. This study described absolute and relative preseason and in-season HSR demands of 2 professional Australian football teams. HYPOTHESIS: HSR and sprinting volumes are significantly lower in elite Australian Rules football athletes during in-season compared with preseason...

BACKGROUND: Pitchers frequently experience anterior shoulder pain, possibly associated with coracohumeral impingement; however, whether the coracohumeral distance (CHD) and/or subscapularis tendon adapt chronically (bilateral difference) due to pitching, and whether clinical measures are associated with CHD and subscapularis tendon organization have not been evaluated in professional pitchers. HYPOTHESIS: The authors hypothesized that dominant arm CHD would be smaller than the nondominant arm, dominant subscapularis tendon would have increased spatial frequency (ie, be more disorganized), and humeral retroversion (HR) would predict CHD and subscapularis tendon organization...

CONTEXT: Pain and symptoms of patellofemoral pain (PFP) are often exacerbated during daily activities, which may result in reduced overall physical activity levels. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the evidence for physical activity levels among persons with PFP compared with pain-free controls. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, Cochrane Library, and SPORTDiscus were searched from January 1, 2000 to February 22, 2024. STUDY SELECTION: Peer-reviewed studies published in English that measured physical activity subjectively or objectively in persons with PFP and pain-free controls...

CONTEXT: Mental health is a growing area of concern for elite athletes. OBJECTIVE: To determine the sex differences in mental health symptoms in elite athletes. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were used. STUDY SELECTION: Included studies included comparisons of mental health symptoms of athletes by sex. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted following the PRISMA guidelines...