Características das lesões desportivas e fatores associados com lesão em iniciantes de ginástica artística do sexo feminino

The artistic gymnastics is a modality that associates arts with biomechanical gestures, and it has been prominent among children and adolescents. Its practice can lead to sports injuries; therefore, it is important to know the factors inherent to trauma for the formulation of preventive models. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize sports injuries and to verify factors associated with injury in people practicing artistic gymnastics with different levels of competitiveness. Forty-six gymnasts were interviewed with mean age of 10.1±2.0 years for female participants, who were classified in two competitive levels, i.e, initiation and training. We used the morbidity questionnaire adapted to sports characteristics to collect personal, training, and injury data. It was observed that injury risk was 0.3 injuries per athlete and 1.4 injuries per injured athlete, in which the gymnasts of the training category showed a higher frequency of the injury (83.3%; n=10) compared with the ones in the initiation category (10.5%; n=4). For both levels of competitiveness, training moment and light severity were the most reported variables. In the mechanism, contactless was more prevalent in the training category (90%; n=9) and the direct contact was more common at initiation category (75%; n=3). Anthropometric and training variables were considered as factors associated with injury to the gymnasts. It is concluded that gymnasts of the training category have higher injury frequency. Anthropometric and training variables were factors associated with injury. Characteristics of the injuries depend on the competitiveness level of the ­gymnasts.A ginástica artística é uma modalidade que combina arte a gestos biomecânicos e tem se destacado entre crianças e adolescentes. Sua prática pode conduzir a lesões desportivas, por isso é importante conhecer os fatores inerentes ao traumatismo para formulação de modelos preventivos. Desse modo, objetivou-se caracterizar as lesões desportivas e verificar os fatores associados com lesão em praticantes de ginástica artística de diferentes níveis de competitividade. Foram entrevistadas 46 ginastas, com média de idade de 10,1±2,0 anos do sexo feminino, classificadas em dois níveis competitivos: iniciação e treinamento. Utilizou-se o inquérito de morbidade referida adaptado com as características da modalidade para reunir dados pessoais, de treinamento e da lesão. Foram observadas 0,3 lesões por atleta e 1,4 lesões por atleta lesionado, em que ginastas da categoria de treinamento apresentaram maior frequência de lesão (83,3%; n=10) do que as de iniciação (10,5%; n=4). Para ambos os níveis, o momento treinamento e a gravidade leve foram os mais relatados. No mecanismo, o sem contato foi mais prevalente na categoria de treinamento (90%; n=9) e o contato direto foi o mais frequente na iniciação (75%; n=3). As variáveis antropométricas e de treinamento foram consideradas fatores associados com lesão para as ginastas. Conclui-se que ginastas da categoria de treinamento possuem maior frequência de lesão. As variáveis antropométricas e de treinamento foram fatores associados com lesão. As características das lesões dependem do nível de competitividade das ginastas.La gimnasia artística es una modalidad que combina arte y gestos biomecánicos, y es destacada entre niños y adolescentes. Su práctica puede conducir a lesiones deportivas, por eso es importante conocer los factores inherentes al traumatismo para la formulación de modelos preventivos. De ese modo, el objetivo de este estudio es caracterizar las lesiones deportivas y verificar los factores asociados con lesión en practicantes de gimnasia artística de diferentes niveles de competitividad. Fueron entrevistadas 46 gimnastas, con edad media de 10,1±2,0 años de sexo femenino, clasificadas en dos niveles competitivos: iniciación y entrenamiento. Se utilizó la encuesta de morbilidad adaptada a las características de este deporte para recabar datos personales, de entrenamiento y de lesión. Fueron observadas 0,3 lesiones por atleta y 1,4 lesiones por atleta lesionado, en que gimnastas de la categoría de entrenamiento presentaron mayor frecuencia de lesión (83,3%; n=10) comparadas con las de iniciación (10,5%, n=4). Para ambos niveles, el momento de entrenamiento y la gravedad leve fueron los más relatados. En cuanto al mecanismo, el sin contacto fue el más prevalente en la categoría de entrenamiento (90%; n=9) y de contacto directo fue el más frecuente en la iniciación (75%; n=3). Las variables antropométricas y de entrenamiento fueron consideradas factores asociados con lesión para las gimnastas. Se concluye que las gimnastas de la categoría de entrenamiento poseen mayor frecuencia de lesión. Las variables antropométricas y de entrenamiento fueron factores asociados con lesión. Las características de las lesiones dependen del nivel de competitividad de las gimnastas

Spine Day 2012: spinal pain in Swiss school children- epidemiology and risk factors

BACKGROUND: The key to a better understanding of the immense problem of spinal pain seems to be to investigate its development in adolescents. Based on the data of Spine Day 2012 (an annual action day where Swiss school children were examined by chiropractors on a voluntary basis for back problems), the aim of the present study was to gain systematic epidemiologic data on adolescent spinal pain in Switzerland and to explore risk factors per gender and per spinal area. METHOD: Data (questionnaires and physical examinations) of 836 school children were descriptively analyzed for prevalence, recurrence and severity of spinal pain. Of those, 434 data sets were included in risk factor analysis. Using logistic regression analysis, psycho-social parameters (presence of parental back pain, parental smoking, media consumption, type of school bag) and physical parameters (trunk symmetry, posture, mobility, coordination, BMI) were analyzed per gender and per spinal area. RESULTS: Prevalence of spinal pain was higher for female gender in all areas apart from the neck. With age, a steep increase in prevalence was observed for low back pain (LBP) and for multiple pain sites. The increasing impact of spinal pain on quality of life with age was reflected in an increase in recurrence, but not in severity of spinal pain. Besides age and gender, parental back pain (Odds ratio (OR)=3.26, p=0.011) and trunk asymmetry (OR=3.36, p=0.027) emerged as risk factors for spinal pain in girls. Parental smoking seemed to increase the risk for both genders (boys: OR=2.39, p=0.020; girls: OR=2.19, p=0.051). Risk factor analysis per spinal area resulted in trunk asymmetry as risk factor for LBP (OR=3.15, p=0.015), while parental smoking increased the risk for thoracic spinal pain (TSP) (OR=2.83, p=0.036) and neck pain (OR=2.23, p=0.038). The risk for TSP was further enhanced by a higher BMI (OR=1.15, p=0.027). CONCLUSION: This study supports the view of adolescent spinal pain as a bio-psycho-social problem that should be investigated per spinal area, age and gender. The role of trunk asymmetry and passive smoking as risk factors as well as the association between BMI and TSP should be further investigated, preferably in prospective studies

Pain characteristics of adolescent spinal pain

BACKGROUND: Although adolescent spinal pain increases the risk for chronic back pain in adulthood, most adolescents can be regarded as healthy. The aim of the present study was to provide data on localization, intensity and frequency of adolescent spinal pain and to investigate which physical and psycho-social parameters predict these pain characteristics. METHOD: On the occasion of Spine Day, an annual event where children and adolescents are examined by chiropractors on a voluntary basis for back problems, 412 adolescents (10 to 16 years) were tested (by questionnaire and physical examination). Pain characteristics (localization, intensity, and frequency) were identified and evaluated using descriptive statistics. Regression analyses were performed to investigate possible influencing psycho-social and physical influence factors. RESULTS: Adolescents who suffered from pain in more than one spinal area reported higher pain intensity and frequency than those with pain in only one spinal area. Sleep disorders were a significant predictor for pain in more than one spinal area (p < 0.01) as well as a trend for frequent pain (p = 0.06). Adolescents with frequent pain showed impaired balance on one leg standing with closed eyes (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Studies on adolescent spinal pain should report data on pain frequency, intensity and localization. Adolescents who present with pain in more than one spinal area or report frequent pain should be followed carefully. Reduced balance with visual deprivation might be a physical indicator of a serious back problem

Center of pressure excursion as a measure of balance performance in patients with non-specific low back pain compared to healthy controls: a systematic review of the literature

Over the past 20 years, the center of pressure (COP) has been commonly used as an index of postural stability in standing. While many studies investigated COP excursions in low back pain patients and healthy individuals, no comprehensive analysis of the reported differences in postural sway pattern exists. Six online databases were systematically searched followed by a manual search of the retrieved papers. The selection criteria comprised papers comparing COP measures derived from bipedal static task conditions on a force-plate of non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) sufferers to those of healthy controls. Sixteen papers met the inclusion criteria. Heterogeneity in study designs prevented pooling of the data so only a qualitative data analysis was conducted. The majority of the papers (14/16, 88%) concluded that NSLBP patients have increased COP mean velocity and overall excursion as compared to healthy individuals. This was statistically significant in the majority of studies (11/14, 79%). An increased sway in anteroposterior direction was also observed in NSLBP patients. Patients with NSLBP exhibit greater postural instability than healthy controls, signified by greater COP excursions and a higher mean velocity. While the decreased postural stability in NSLBP sufferers further appears to be associated with the presence of pain, it seems unrelated to the exact location and pain duration. No correlation between the pain intensity and the magnitude of COP excursions could be identified