Association with injury of a Football-specific movement screen

INTRODUCTION: Movement screening is widely used within football to quantify players’ movement quality. An established definition of movement quality does not exist; however, it encompasses aspects typically associated with safe exercise technique such as maintenance of neutral posture, balance and coordination. The underlying theory behind movement screening is that ‘poor’ movement quality increases the risk of injury whereas ‘good’ movement quality reduces the risk. Indeed, current convention advocates for the risk stratification of individuals based on movement screening scores with intervention targeted only to the high-risk group. The appeal of such practice is clear: potentially more efficient allocation of resources. However, very little evidence to support this approach exists within football. Consequently, the aims of this thesis were as follows: i) to determine what movement screens currently exist within the scientific literature, how reliable they are and their potential association with injury, ii) investigate the predictive ability of the most widely used and researched movement screen within a football population, iii) develop a new football-specific movement screen and test its reliability, and iv) establish the association with injury of the newly created footballspecific movement screen. METHODS: i) A structured literature review was conducted to identify the movement screens with supporting evidence regarding their reliability and association with injury. ii) The Functional Movement Screen (FMS™) was identified as the most widely used and researched movement screen; however, a paucity of research involving football players was observed. In order to investigate the predictive ability of the FMS™ within football 84 elite youth players from a professional club academy performed the screen during the pre-season period and were subsequently observed during the in-season period and injury incidence recorded. iii) The Soccer Injury Movement Screen (SIMS) was developed as a footballspecific movement screen. The constituent movements making up the SIMS were selected based on the most common injury locations (lower-body) and types (muscle strains and ligament sprains). To assess the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the SIMS, 25 recreational athletes performed the assessment and were scored by three raters on three separate occasions. iv) The final investigation established the association with injury of the SIMS within a football population. Utilising a prospective cohort study design, 306 semiprofessional football players performed the SIMS during the pre-season period and were subsequently observed during the in-season period with injury incidence and exposure time recorded. RESULTS: i) A total of 10 movement screens were identified by the structured literature search. The majority of the identified screens demonstrated acceptable reliability for use in applied practice and future research. However, only two of the 10 identified screens had any supporting evidence regarding their association with injury. Furthermore, the limited available evidence related to association with injury was equivocal and not sufficient to justify any movement screen as ‘predictive’. ii) No association with injury was observed for the FMS™ within a cohort of elite youth football players. iii) The SIMS demonstrated good to excellent intra- and inter-rater reliability. iv) However, no association with injury was observed for the SIMS composite score in relation to any of the categories investigated. DISCUSSION: While many reliable movement screens exist none have compelling evidence supporting a strong association with injury. Despite its widespread use within football the FMS™ was not associated with injury among a cohort of elite youth players questioning its value in terms of injury prediction. The SIMS demonstrated good to excellent reliability indicating its suitability for use in applied practice and future research; however, no association with injury was observed for the composite score. The present results challenge current convention that advocates risk stratification and targeted intervention based on screening score. Implementing universal injury prevention programmes albeit with content informed by prospective studies such as the ones conducted within this body of work are recommended ahead of attempting to identify specific ‘at-risk’ individuals

‘Hand in Glove’: using qualitative methods to connect research and practice

Recent work has espoused the idea that within applied sporting environments, 'fast' working practitioners should work together with 'slow' working researchers. However, due to economical and logistical constraints, such a coupling may not always be practical. Therefore, alternative means of combining research and applied practice are needed. A particular methodology, which has been utilized in recent years, is qualitative research. Examples of qualitative methods include the use of online surveys, one-on-one interviews, and focus groups. This article aims to discuss the merits of using qualitative methods to combine applied practice and research in sport science. This includes a discussion of recent examples of the use of such methods in published journal articles, a critique of the approaches employed, and future directions and recommendations. The authors encourage both practitioners and researchers to utilize and engage with qualitative research with the ultimate goal of benefitting athlete health and sporting performance

Relative age and physical maturity status of elite Scottish youth soccer players: effects on physical performance

Youth soccer in Scotland is structured according to chronological age with the intention of creating fair competition. Eligibility for a squad is a date of birth between 1st January and 31st December of the relevant year, which allows for an almost one-year difference in chronological age between players in the same squad. The relative age effect (RAE) is the widely reported observation that athletes born at the start of a selection year are over-represented and those born at the end are under-represented compared with the birthdate distribution in the general population. Differences in physical maturity status between relatively older and younger players are most commonly cited as the explanation for this observation. The implication is that advanced physical maturity status is associated with superior physical performance. However, few studies have investigated this relationship in youth soccer players within the context of one-year age-bands. The aims of the present study were firstly; to investigate the extent to which the RAE existed within a Scottish Premiership club academy and secondly to reveal if advanced physical maturity status was associated with superior physical performance within the context of one-year age-bands. Data was collected from youth players registered at a Scottish Premiership club academy over the course of six seasons from 2007 to 2012. Players in the under 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17 age categories were assessed each year in measures of physical performance (0-15m sprint, T-test and a bespoke change of direction test) and anthropometry. An unequal birthdate distribution was observed within all age categories. Within most of the age categories players born in the first quarter were more physically mature than those born in the last. However, more advanced physical maturity was only associated with superior sprinting speed within the under 14 and 15 age categories. Similarly, superior change of direction ability was only associated with advanced physical maturity in the under 14 age category. Potentially large differences in physical maturity status between players within the under 14 and 15 age categories due to variability in the timing and tempo of peak height velocity may contribute to the RAE. It is less clear why a RAE should exist among the under 11, 12 and 13 age categories. Practical measures to counteract the RAE are suggested and discussed

Reliability of Measures of Lower-Body Strength and Speed in Academy Male Adolescent Soccer Players

Ferguson, J, Gibson, NV, Weston, M, and McCunn, R. Reliability of measures of lower body strength and speed in academy male adolescent soccer players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2023—The Nordbord and ForceFrame represent a practical and time efficient means of assessing eccentric hamstring and isometric adductor strength in the large number of squads and players associated with youth soccer academies, yet measurement reliability in this population is unexamined. Therefore, over a period of 4 days, with no less than 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between trials, 37 players (age: 14.7 ± 0.8 years, stature: 168.7 ± 7.8 cm, mass: 57.7 ± 9.1 kg, and maturity offset: 0.8 ± 0.9 years) were assessed for eccentric hamstring strength (force, torque), isometric adductor strength (long and short lever positions), and 30-m sprint (5, 10, and 20-m splits), using the Nordbord, ForceFrame, and electronic timing gates, respectively, on 3 separate occasions. Relative reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) was rated as good for all Nordbord (range: 0.86–0.89) and ForceFrame (0.78–0.85) measures and ranged from moderate (0.53) to excellent (0.93) for the speed measures, improving with increased distance. Absolute reliability (standard error of the measurement [%SEM]) ranged from 7 to 8% (Nordbord), 3 to 11% (ForceFrame), and 1 to 4% (sprints). Our data provide the first Nordbord and ForceFrame reliability estimates in adolescent soccer academy players. To interpret test sensitivity, practitioners are encouraged to interpret our estimates of absolute reliability against meaningful change values derived from personal experience and evidence-based knowledge and not against absolute or standardized thresholds

Reproducibility of Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) in rats at 9.4 Tesla

© 2019 McCunn et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Purpose Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) is a diffusion MRI (dMRI) technique used to characterize tissue microstructure by compartmental modelling of neural water fractions. Intra-neurite, extra-neurite, and cerebral spinal fluid volume fractions are measured. The purpose of this study was to determine the reproducibility of NODDI in the rat brain at 9.4 Tesla. Methods Eight data sets were successfully acquired on adult male Sprague Dawley rats. Each rat was scanned twice on a 9.4T Agilent MRI with a 7 ± 1 day separation between scans. A multi-shell diffusion protocol was implemented consisting of 108 total directions varied over two shells (b-values of 1000 s/mm2 and 2000 s/mm2). Three techniques were used to analyze the NODDI scalar maps: mean region of interest (ROI) analysis, whole brain voxel-wise analysis, and targeted ROI analyses (voxel-wise within a given ROI). The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to assess the reproducibility of NODDI and provide insight into necessary sample sizes and minimum detectable effect size. Results CV maps for orientation dispersion index (ODI) and neurite density index (NDI) showed high reproducibility both between and within subjects. Furthermore, it was found that small biological changes ( 50) for biological changes to be detected. Conclusions The ODI and NDI measured by NODDI in the rat brain at 9.4T are highly reproducible and may be sensitive to subtle changes in tissue microstructure

Professional youth football academy injury data: collection procedures, perceived value, and use

Purpose: There is a paucity of descriptive injury data relevant to professional academy football, with little to no evidence reporting how sports science/medicine staff within academies collect and use injury data. Materials and methods: An online survey relating to the perceptions surrounding injury data collection, its value and use was developed. Forty-seven applied practitioners working for different professional football academies completed the survey. Results: Injury data collection procedures conducted by appropriately trained medical staff are widespread among football academies. Injury data collection within academies was deemed worthwhile and important by 79% of practitioners. Similarly, 79% strongly agreed/agreed that using injury data for academic research is worthwhile. The engagement with and use of injury data by coaching staff appears to be relatively poor, with only 49% of practitioners stating coaches formally review data. Conclusions: Injury data are widely collected within academies and practitioners consider this information valuable. However, improving engagement with coaches and using the data for academic research could further improve applied practice. Practical implications: Applied practitioners should consider sharing injury data with both researchers and coaches. In doing so evidence-guided injury prevention interventions may be developed and subsequently applied in the field

Synergistic toxicity in an in vivo model of neurodegeneration through the co-expression of human TDP-43\u3csup\u3eM337V\u3c/sup\u3e and tau\u3csup\u3eT175D\u3c/sup\u3e protein

Although it has been suggested that the co-expression of multiple pathological proteins associated with neurodegeneration may act synergistically to induce more widespread neuropathology, experimental evidence of this is sparse. We have previously shown that the expression of Thr175Asp-tau (tauT175D) using somatic gene transfer with a stereotaxically-injected recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV9) vector induces tau pathology in rat hippocampus. In this study, we have examined whether the co-expression of human tauT175D with mutant human TDP-43 (TDP-43M337V) will act synergistically. Transgenic female Sprague-Dawley rats that inducibly express mutant human TDP-43M337V using the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) tetracycline response element (TRE) driver with activity modulating tetracycline-controlled transactivator (tTA) were utilized in these studies. Adult rats were injected with GFP-tagged tau protein constructs in a rAAV9 vector through bilateral stereotaxic injection into the hippocampus. Injected tau constructs were: wild-type GFP-tagged 2N4R human tau (tauWT; n = 8), GFP-tagged tauT175D 2N4R human tau (tauT175D, pseudophosphorylated, toxic variant, n = 8), and GFP (control, n = 8). Six months post-injection, mutant TDP-43M337V expression was induced for 30 days. Behaviour testing identified motor deficits within 3 weeks after TDP-43 expression irrespective of tau expression, though social behaviour and sensorimotor gating remained unchanged. Increased tau pathology was observed in the hippocampus of both tauWT and tauT175D expressing rats and tauT175D pathology was increased in the presence of cholinergic neuronal expression of human TDP-43M337V. These data indicate that co-expression of pathological TDP-43 and tau protein exacerbate the pathology associated with either individual protein

Influence of physical maturity status on sprinting speed among youth soccer players

The relative age effect is well documented with the maturation-selection hypothesis the most common explanation; however, conflicting evidence exists. We observed the birth date distribution within an elite junior soccer academy. The influence of physical maturity status on anthropometric variables and sprinting ability was also investigated. Annual fitness testing was conducted over an 8-year period with a total of 306 players (age: 12.5 ± 1.7 years [range: 9.7-16.6 years]; stature: 156.9 ± 12.9 cm; mass: 46.5 ± 12.5 kg) drawn from 6 age categories (under-11s to under-17s) who attended the same Scottish Premiership club academy. Measurements included mass, stature, maturity offset and 0-15 m sprint. Odds ratios revealed a clear bias toward recruitment of players born in quartile 1 compared with quartile 4. The overall effect (all squads combined) of birth quartile was very likely small for maturity offset (0.85 years; 90% confidence interval [CI], 0.44-1.26 years) and stature (6.2 cm; 90% CI, 2.8-9.6 cm), and likely small for mass (5.1 kg; 90% CI, 1.7-8.4 kg). The magnitude of the relationship between maturity offset and 15-m sprinting speed ranged from trivial for under-11s (r = 0.01; 90% CI,-0.14 to 0.16) to very likely large for under-15s (r =-0.62;-0.71 to-0.51). Making decisions about which players to retain and release should not be based on sprinting ability around the under-14 and under-15 age categories because any interindividual differences may be confounded by transient inequalities in maturity offset

Rethinking place-making: aligning placeness factors with perceived urban design qualities (PUDQs) to improve the built environment in historical district

Understanding the concept of place is critically important for urban design and place-making practice, and this research attempted to investigate the pathways by which perceived urban design qualities (PUDQs) influence placeness factors in the Chinese context. Twelve hypotheses were developed and combined in a structural equation model for validation. The Tanhualin historical district in Wuhan, China was selected for the analysis. As a result, place attachment was verified as a critical bridge factor that mediated the influence of PUDQs on place satisfaction. Among the five selected PUDQs, walkability and space quality were revealed as the most influential factors associated with place attachment and place satisfaction. Accessibility was actually indirectly beneficial to place-making via the mediation of walkability. Corresponding implications and strategies were discussed to maintain the sense of place for historic districts