Sport Sciences and Health Research
Year:2011 | Volume:- | Issue:6|Papers Count:8

The aim of this study was to compare the dynamic balance in men with different foot types. A sample of 90 male students from University of Tehran including 30 subjects with normal foot type (mean height: 176.6±6.2 cm, mean weight: 72.8±10.2 kh, mean age 25.3±1.4 yr), 30 subjects with flat foot (mean height: 177.2±7 cm, mean weight: 73.5±11.1 kg, mean age: 25.1±1.4 yr), and 30 subjects with pes cavus (mean height: 174.5±6.3 cm, mean weight: 69.3±11.3 kg, mean age: 25.6±1.7 yr) participated in this study. To determine the foot anatomic type, navicular drop test was used. To assess subjects’ balance, SEBT was used. To analyze the research data, MANOVA test was applied. The results showed a significance difference in SEBT performance among groups. Linear coefficients showed that medial and posterolateral reaches played a greater role in differentiating the groups. Specifically, medial reach significantly played a role in differentiating flat foot group and posterolateral reach in differentiating pes cavus group from other groups. As those with pes cavus apply more pressure on lateral margin of their foot, it seems that the stability domain is larger in lateral margin while the reverse is true about those with flat foot. As a whole, it can be concluded that foot anatomical characteristics influence dynamic balance.

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, type and mechanism of injuries in Iranian professional male and female karate players. 140 karate players including 101 men (Mean+SD, age: 217+3.2 years, height: 176.9±6.4 cm, weight: 69.4±8.9 kg) and 39 women (Mean+SD, age 21.7±3.2 years, height: 164.4±6.8cm, weight: 55.6±6.2 kg) who participated in karate premier league competitions participated in this study. An injury form was used to collect data. Variables such as incidence, area, causes and mechanisms of injuries were considered and recorded after competitions. Chi square and descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. The results of this study showed that in 170 team competitions (1436 individual competitions), 326 injuries occurred (men 244 and women 82 injuries). The incidence of injury in men was 8.2 injuries/100 minutes of competition while it was 13.4 injuries/100 minutes of competition. Men had more injuries at their upper extremities than lower extremities (158 vs. 86), (l2=21.24, P<0.05) and this difference was statistically significant. Women had more injuries at their lower extremities (43 vs. 39), (l2=1.9, P>0.05). Ankle was the most common injured area for men (86 cases) (l2=26, P<0.05) and women (43 cases) (l2=2.1, P>0.05). Contusion was the most common injury for both sexes (39 and 14 injuries respectively). Opponents’ mistake was the main cause of injuries for both men and women (l2=15, p<0.05, l2=2.2, p>0.05). In can be concluded that if coaches pay more attention to technique instructions, team physicians and physiotherapists perfectly rehabilitate injured players and referees punish those players who use wrong techniques, injuries drastically will decrease in all players.

In this study, two groups of athletes with chronic low back pain (n=15, mean age 24.06 yr) and healthy athletes (n=15, mean age 24.06 yr) of wrestling and soccer participated in this study. The endurance duration was shorter (P<0.05) and MF slope was higher in CLBP athletes which showed more fatigue compared to the healthy subjects. Correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between BMI and endurance duration in CLBP athletes (r=0.61). Body mass and BMI correlated positively with MF slope of erector spinae muscles (r=0.62-0.76) in both groups. It is suggested that athletes pay more attention to improving the endurance of back and hip extensor muscles and lose weight as a useful strategy to prevent chronic low back pain.

Triathlon is a popular sport that combines swimming, cycling and running into a single event and during these competitions there are many risk factors that can cause injury in athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of injuries in triathlon athletes. Data about injuries (over a span of one year) in 60 professional triathlon athletes was collected using injuries report form. Chi-Square was used to analyze the data. Totally, 123 injuries (2 injuries per triathlon athlete per year) were reported. Most of the injuries were located in the lower extremities (78%) compared to upper extremities (22%) (P<0.05). Shin (28%), shoulder (22%), knee (21%) and ankle (11%) were the most common areas of injury (P<0.05, X2=42.67). The most common injuries were shin splints (26%) followed by shoulder pain (22%), knee pain (15%) and abrasions and contusions (14%) (P<0.05, X2=13.43). Overuse (30%) was the most important reason for injuries (P<0.05, X2=35.95) followed by the change of running place (19%), unsuitable shoes (15%), and inadequate warm-up (13%). Non-collision injuries (83%) were significantly higher than collision injuries (17%) (P<0.05, X2=53.34). Injury during practice (76%) happened more than during competition (24%) (P<0.05, X2=32.26). Injuries that occurred in running (51%) were more than those in cycling (27%) and swimming (22%) (P<0.05, X2=18.14). Minor injuries (85%) were significantly higher than severe injuries (15%) (P<0.05, X2=61.53). Most injures occurred on the right side of the body (64%) (P<0.05, X2=9.95). It can be concluded that most injuries occurred in lower extremities, especially during running; shin and shoulder were more prone to injury in triathlon athletes and overuse was main reason for injuries. It is suggested that team physicians, bodybuilders, athletes and coaches pay attention to the above facts in preventive programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate anatomical alignment of spine in relation to anthropometric parameters in athletes. 20 healthy athletes (mean age 22.25±1.88 yr, height 182.78±5.49 cm, weight 75.35±3.19 kg and athletic experience 9.38±3.77 yr) and 20 healthy non-athletes (mean age 22.80±2.01 yr, height 179.35±6.25 cm, weight 71.10±2.30 kg) randomly participated in this study voluntarily. Variables including sitting height, spinal length, arm span, biacromial breadth, biiliac breadth, chest width and depth, acromial distance were measured by anthropometric instruments and kyphosis and lordosis were measured by spinal mouse. The results showed a significant difference in kyphosis and lordosis between athletes and non-athletes (p≤0.05). There was also a significant relationship between sitting length, spinal length, arm span, acromial distance with Kyphosis and between sitting length and spinal length with lordosis (p≤0.05). The results of regression test showed that arm span and spinal length were the best predictors of kyphosis and lordosis respectively. It was concluded that those athletes who due to some anthropometric indices are more susceptible to some postural abnormalities, especially kyphosis and lordosis, should be recognized and treated.

This research aimed to compare thoracic kyphosis, scapula position and the strength of retractor and protractor muscles in two groups of national Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers and a group of non-athletes. For this purpose, 63 individuals (21 freestyle, 21 Greco-Roman style, 21 non-athletes, mean age 24±1.8 yr, height 173±7.74 cm and weight 77±19.63 kg) participated in this study. A flexible ruler was used to measure thoracic kyphosis (validity 0.91 in comparison with X-ray) and a measuring tape was used to measure the distance between inferior angles of scapulas (Kibler's method in standing position) and to measure the strength of the muscles, technogym devices were applied (by 1RM measurement in sitting position). To compare the thoracic kyphosis and the scapula position among three groups, one-way ANOVA was applied. To compare the strength of the retractor and protractor muscles between freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers, independent t test was used. The results indicated that thoracic kyphosis (43.53 degrees) and the distance of scapulas (21.98 cm) were significantly higher in freestyle wrestlers in comparison with the Greco-Roman wrestlers (kyphosis 36.38 degrees, distance of scapulas 18.21 cm) and non-athletes (kyphosis 37.44 degrees, distance of scapulas 18.90 cm) (P<0.05). Also, the retractor muscles were significantly stronger in the Greco-Roman wrestlers (111.21 kg) in comparison with the freestyle wrestlers (92.64 kg) (P<0.05). The results indicated that specific exercises performed in freestyle wrestling can affect the posture of athletes and increase their thoracic kyphosis and distance of scapulas and decrease strength of retractors. Therefore, coaches and team physicians are highly recommended to consider any abnormal increase in thoracic kyphosis in freestyle wrestlers and perform the necessary correction or preventive actions if this deformity is observed.

Falling is common in pregnant women. Ability of accurate postural control and orientation is important to prevent falling. The aim of this study was to assess and postural control and orientation during different stages of pregnancy and after delivery. Three groups (13 subjects in each group, age range 20-28 years) including non – pregnant women (I), pregnant women in their first three months of pregnancy (II) and those in their last month of pregnancy (III) were studied. Postural control and orientation were assessed using BIODEX stability platform. In group (III), all measurements were repeated after the delivery. MANOVA and ANOVA with repeated measures were used to analyze the data (a=0.05). Results showed that group (I) with 53.07+8.17 score obtained the highest postural control and group (III) with 31.8+14.7 score significantly showed the lowest postural control. There was no significant difference in back, left and right orientation between the last month of pregnancy and after delivery while a significant decrease in other orientations was observed. After delivery, postural orientation increased to 25% (P=0.001). This study suggested that pregnancy-related physical changes are associated with poor postural orientation. However, it is not clear if this deficiency is due to the muscle weakness or proprioceptive deficits. Although postural orientation improved after delivery, it was still lower than normal subjects. Postpartum postural rehabilitation is recommended during pregnancy and after delivery.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mental preparation of athletes participating in 10th University Sport Olympiad on the prevalence of sport injuries. For this purpose, 375 athletes in two groups of girls (n=178) and boys (n=197) participated in this study. Participants were selected from seven sport fields which were divided into team sports and individual sports. Data were collected by sport injuries report form and Ottawa Mental Skills Assessment Tool (OMSAT-3). Descriptive statistics (such as mean and standard deviation) and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data at %95 significance level. The results showed that most injuries occurred in lower extremities of the girls while most injuries occurred in upper extremities of the boys. Moreover, girls and boys were not significantly different in the three subscales of mental skills. The results showed a reverse and significant relationship between cognitive skills and occurrence of injuries in female athletes’ lower extremities (r=0.015). Also, there was a reverse and significant relationship between cognitive skills and occurrence of injuries in bones and joints (r=0.003 and r=0.046). There was no significant relationship between mental skills and occurrence of injuries in male athletes. In summary, findings of this study demonstrated that high levels of cognitive skills (such as competition planning) help athletes to more easily deal with different sport occasions. This can play an important role in decreasing the occurrence of sport injuries. Therefore, coaches and specialists in youth sport are recommended to improve cognitive skills in young athletes so that sport injuries can decrease. Overall, findings of this study supported different aspects of injury- stress model.