Thermographic imaging in sports and exercise medicine: a Delphi study and consensus statement on the measurement of human skin temperature

The importance of using infrared thermography (IRT) to assess skin temperature (tsk) is increasing in clinical settings. Recently, its use has been increasing in sports and exercise medicine; however, no consensus guideline exists to address the methods for collecting data in such situations. The aim of this study was to develop a checklist for the collection of tsk using IRT in sports and exercise medicine. We carried out a Delphi study to set a checklist based on consensus agreement from leading experts in the field. Panelists (n = 24) representing the areas of sport science (n = 8; 33%), physiology (n = 7; 29%), physiotherapy (n = 3; 13%) and medicine (n = 6; 25%), from 13 different countries completed the Delphi process. An initial list of 16 points was proposed which was rated and commented on by panelists in three rounds of anonymous surveys following a standard Delphi procedure. The panel reached consensus on 15 items which encompassed the participants’ demographic information, camera/room or environment setup and recording/analysis of tsk using IRT. The results of the Delphi produced the checklist entitled “Thermographic Imaging in Sports and Exercise Medicine (TISEM)” which is a proposal to standardize the collection and analysis of tsk data using IRT. It is intended that the TISEM can also be applied to evaluate bias in thermographic studies and to guide practitioners in the use of this technique

Mean RTs (in ms) and ERs as a function of conditions (hand views) and corresponding and non-corresponding pairings for Condition a and b.

<p>Standard deviations are reported in brackets.</p

Correlations between personality traits and the impact of reputation on deception (RoD).

<p>A) the panel shows the RoD index for each subject. <i>Black dots</i> indicate subjects in whom deceptive behaviour was influenced by reputation risk. <i>White dots</i> indicate subjects in whom deceptive behaviour was not affected by reputation risk. The <i>left part</i> of the figure shows the negative correlations. B) indicates the TCI reward dependence scale is an independent predictor of RoD index. C) shows the significant negative correlation between RoD and Social Desirability Responding [Impression Management + Self-deceptive enhancement (BIDR)]. The <i>right part</i> of the panel show the positive correlations between RoD and Manipulativeness (MACH IV) (<i>D</i>) and Moral Disengagement (MD 2) (E). The higher impact of reputation (lower RoD), the higher the reward dependence and social desirable traits; the lower impact (higher RoD), the higher manipulativeness and moral disengagement traits.</p

The figure provides a visual representation of the concept of “Sidedness”.

<p>A hand always generates a spatial code based on the side it is imagined with respect to the body of reference. The case here reported shows a left hand shifts from a “right sidedness” to a “left sidedness” (we thank Rory O'Sullivan for the Blender UniHuman character model used in this work. UniHuman is available at <a href="http://unihuman.yolasite.com/" target="_blank">http://unihuman.yolasite.com/</a>).</p

dataRHI

dataRH

Number of lies.

<p>Self-gain and altruistic lies (mean ± standard error) produced by the two subject groups (No-Presence Group, <i>grey bars;</i> Presence Group, <i>black bars</i>) in the two possible opponent (OP) choice outcomes (<i>favourable/unfavourable</i>) in the two conditions (<i>Reputation Risk/No-Reputation Risk</i>) are reported. The number of Self-Gain lies is significantly reduced in the Reputation Risk Condition (p = .01).</p

Summary of the dependent variables.

<p>Summary of the dependent variables.</p

Pearson correlations between the change-sensitive candidates and the anticipatory mood changes (anxiety and anger) per test phase in CPT and TSST.

<p><i>Note</i>. AA: alpha-amylase; CHT: chin temperature; COR: cortisol; CRT: corrugator temperature; FT: finger temperature; HR: heart rate; NTT: nose tip temperature; POT: perioral temperature.</p>a<p>after multiple comparisons correction, p≤.010 for the anticipation phase of the TSST, the stress phases of both tests and p≤.025/.017 for the CPT/TSST recovery phases.</p

Tables 3. Pearson correlations between the change-sensitive candidates for each test phase in CPT and TSST.

<p><i>Note</i>. AA: alpha-amylase; CHT: chin temperature; COR: cortisol; CRT: corrugator temperature; FT: finger temperature; HR: heart rate; NTT: nose tip temperature; POT: perioral temperature.</p>a<p>after multiple comparisons correction, p≤.005 for the anticipation phase of the TSST, the stress phases of both tests and p≤.050/.017 for the CPT/TSST recovery phases.</p

Means and ±SEM of all dependent variables (raw or logged scores) during baseline, anticipation, stress and recovery (sampling time points for alpha-amylase and cortisol) of CPT and TSST.

<p>Means and ±SEM of all dependent variables (raw or logged scores) during baseline, anticipation, stress and recovery (sampling time points for alpha-amylase and cortisol) of CPT and TSST.</p