A scoping review on the methods of assessment and role of resilience on function and movement-evoked pain when experiencing a musculoskeletal injury

Background: Resilience refers to an individual’s ability to maintain effective functioning, by resisting, withstanding or recovering from stressors or adversity, including pain associated with physical injury (J Clin Psychol Med Settings 28:518–28, 2021). The aim of this scoping review is to determine the role of resilience in the experience of movement-evoked pain (MEP) and return to functional activity following a musculoskeletal injury. Methods: This review conformed to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews and the scoping review protocol of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Five databases and one grey literature database were searched using predetermined key words and index terms to capture published and unpublished records on the topic. Two authors independently screened the title and abstract of each record, with the full-text of eligible records being reviewed. Papers were eligible for inclusion if they examined the population, concept and context of interest, were written in English and the full text was available. Data were extracted from each eligible record to guide discussion of the available literature on this topic. Results: Of 4771 records, 2695 articles underwent screening based on their title and abstract. After title and abstract screening 132 articles were eligible for full text review, with 24 articles included in the final analysis. This review identified that psychological resilience has primarily been investigated in the context of a range of age-related pathologies. The choice of functional and movement-evoked pain assessments in the included studies were often guided by the pathology of interest, with some being general or injury specific. Conclusion: This scoping review identified inconsistent conclusions regarding the role of resilience in the experience of MEP and the ability to return to function for older adults with a musculoskeletal injury. This scoping review highlights the need for longitudinal research to be conducted that allows a broader age range, including younger adults, to determine if multidimensional resilience may promote recovery form musculoskeletal injury

A comparison of gait stability between younger and older adults while head turning

Head turning while walking may challenge stability by altering visual and vestibular information. Whether there are age-related changes that affect gait stability while head turning during walking remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to compare gait stability between younger and older adults immediately following a head turn while walking. Ten younger [mean (SD)] [23.4 (3.3) years] and ten older [68.8 (6.0) years] healthy adults walked on a treadmill at their preferred gait velocity and performed head turns by responding to a visual cue. The margin of stability (MoS) in the mediolateral (MoSML), anterior (MoSA) and posterior (MoSP) directions, foot placement (mean step length and width) and rotation of the head, trunk and pelvis were calculated for the four steps immediately following a cue to head turn and compared to walking only. Older adults increased their MoSML and younger adults increased their MoSP immediately following a head turn. However, older adults had a significantly greater MoSP than younger adults during this time. Older adults also had greater pelvic rotation velocity and a trend towards smaller head-on-trunk rotation compared to younger adults. Age does not compromise the stability of healthy older compared to younger adults immediately following or when completing a head turn. However, older adults may use a different motor strategy to perform a head turn to limit isolated movement of the head and the effects of a changing sensory frame of reference

Comparison of lower extremity kinematics during free-swimming underwater kicking techniques

Despite the use of underwater dolphin kicking following freestyle turns by many swimmers, debate exists regarding the effectiveness of this technique. Moreover, a modest amount of scientific research has been conducted to confirm whether this wall exit strategy is superior to the more traditional flutter kick. Hence, the purpose of this investigation was to quantify performance differences in free-swimming underwater kicking styles and to identify technique and anthropometric characteristics that are predictive of efficient underwater kicking

A comparison and analysis of traditional and modified freestyle tumble turns by age-group swimmers

This study examined the use of a modified freestyle tumble turn which used a dolphin kick off the wall compared with the traditional flutter kick tumble turn. Twenty male and 17 female age-group swimmers (mean age 11.3 ± 1.3yrs; height 153.6 ± 9.7cm; weight 42.5 ± 8.3kg) performed 25m dolphin and flutter kick time trials and 4x50m (2 dolphin turns, 2 flutter turns) maximal freestyle efforts in a short course pool with push starts on a 6min departure interval. Underwater video and wall turn force data were collected

Does the method of measuring centre of mass displacement affect vertical stiffness calculation in single-leg hopping?

The purpose of this study was to compare vertical stiffness values calculated from two kinetic and two kinematic estimations of the vertical displacement of the centre of mass. Twenty recreationally active male and female participants completed one 15 s single-leg hopping trial at 2.2 Hz with vertical stiffness calculated for the first 10 complete hop cycles. Vertical displacement was estimated using double integration (DI), first principle (FP), sacral marker cluster (SMC) and segmental analysis (SA) methods. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated the SA and DI methods to have a small bias (0.92 kN/m) and tight 95% limits of agreement (-1.16 to 3.08 kN/m). In contrast, the SMC and FP methods underestimated and overestimated vertical stiffness, respectively. These findings suggest the SA and DI methods can be used interchangeably to calculate vertical stiffness

Transition from upright to greater forward lean posture predicts faster acceleration during the run-to-sprint transition

Background: Forward body lean and greater horizontal ground reaction force have been associated with being able to accelerate during running. However, kinematic features which may predict acceleration during the run-to-sprint transition have not been determined. The purpose of this study was to identify kinematic features which are predictive of greater acceleration during the run-to-sprint transition. Methods: Forty-seven healthy adults completed straight line running along a 30 m track by running in at ~4 m.s-1. A minimum of 20 trials were completed, with 25% triggering a light to signal the participant to accelerate as fast as possible. Step characteristics (velocity, length, duration, cadence) and kinematics (neck, trunk, hip, knee and ankle angles and excursions) were determined using a radar gun and inertial measurement units, respectively. ANOVA was used to determine the step-to-step differences and a multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationship between kinematics and acceleration. Results: There was an initial increase in trunk flexion angle during early acceleration (p < 0.001) with knee joint excursion significantly lower (p < 0.001) during loading and propulsion compared to the run-in steps. Greater acceleration was predicted using a stepwise linear regression by five variables including less neck flexion excursion and trunk flexion angle during swing of the 1st step, greater trunk flexion angle and extension excursion of the neck during propulsion of the 2nd step and greater hip flexion angle at foot strike of the 3rd step (r2 = 0.804, p < 0.001). Significance: Faster acceleration was observed when participants transitioned from an upright posture to greater forward trunk lean in the early phase of acceleration. This may be encouraged as a training strategy to improve acceleration in fields sports with the observation that the greatest increase in running velocity occurs over the first 5 m during the run-to-sprint transition

Traditional and modified exits following freestyle tumble turns by skilled swimmers

Dolphin kicking and flutter kicking off the wall were compared via videography and force platform following a tumble turn by elite age-group swimmers. Subjects comprised eight males (n=8) of mean height, 178.9±7.03cm; mass, 70.8±6.59kg; and age, 16.88±2.42 years; and five females (n=5) of mean height 169.5+3.30cm; mass, 61.0±5.56kg; and age 15.0±1.22 years. Subjects swam 4 x 50m (2 dolphin turn, 2 flutter turn) freestyle sprints in a 25m pool. A repeated measures ANOVA using selected variables as covariates was conducted with 5m out-time as the dependent variable. No significant differences were observed between the dolphin kick and flutter kick turns for 5m out-time. The time spent kicking during the dolphin trials was significantly greater (63.3%) than the time-to-5m compared with the flutter trials (45.6%). Deceleration was less during the dolphin kick than the flutter kick trials and velocity above that of free swimming was maintained longer when using the dolphin kick technique. No significant advantage was gained from either kick technique following a tumble turn

The effect of leg compression garments on the mechanical characteristics and performance of single-leg hopping in healthy male volunteers

Background: Compression garments (CG) are commonly used by athletes to improve motor performance and recovery during or following exercise. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of CG on physiological and physical parameters with variable results as to their efficacy. A possible effect of commercially available CG may be to induce a change in leg mechanical characteristics during repetitive tasks to fatigue. This investigation determined the effect of CG on performance and vertical stiffness during single-leg-hopping to exhaustion. Methods: Thirty-eight healthy, male participants, mean (SD) 22.1 (2.8) years of age performed single-leg hopping at 2.2 Hz to volitional exhaustion with a CG, without CG and with a sham. Differences in total duration of hopping (1-way repeated ANOVA) and dependant variables for the start and end periods (2-way repeated ANOVA) including duration of flight (tf), loading (tl) and contact (tc) phases, vertical height displacement during flight (zf) and loading (zl) phases, normalised peak vertical ground reaction force (FzN) and normalised vertical stiffness (kN), were determined. Bonferroni correction was performed to reduce the risk of type 1 error. Results: There was no significant difference (p = 0.73) in the total duration of hopping between conditions (CG (mean (SD)) 89.6 (36.3) s; without CG 88.5 (27.5) s; sham 91.3 (27.7) s). There were no significant differences between conditions for spatiotemporal or kinetic characteristics (p > 0.05). From the start to the end periods there was no significant difference in tl (p = 0.15), significant decrease in tf (p < 0.001), zf and zl (p < 0.001) and increase in tc (p < 0.001). There was also a significant increase in kN from start to end periods (p < 0.01) ranging from 9.6 to 14.2%. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that commercially available CG did not induce a change in spatiotemporal or vertical stiffness during a fatiguing task. The finding that vertical stiffness increased towards the end of the task, while hopping frequency and duration of loading were maintained, may indicate that there was an alteration to the motor control strategy as fatigue approached

Kinetic and kinematic analysis of underwater gliding and kicking during towed swimming

Swim turns are a component of competitive swimming where considerable advantage can be gained or lost. Further, the importance of selecting an appropriate underwater kicking technique and minimising the deceleration caused by drag following wall push-off from a turn has been stated frequently. This investigation examined underwater kicking styles at speeds representing turn wall exits to enable greater understanding of technique and anthropometrical characteristics that are predictive of efficient underwater kicking

The effect of fatigue on lower limb motor variability during a controlled repetitive stretch-shorten cycle task

This study evaluated changes in lower limb joint coupling variability during single-leg hopping to exhaustion. Twenty recreationally active male and female participants performed single-leg hopping at 2.2 Hz to a target height. At 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% of the total duration of hopping, spatio-temporal characteristics and variability of the knee ankle (KA) and hip-knee (HK) joint couplings were determined. There was a significant increase in variability of the KA and HK joint couplings in the flexion-extension axes during the loading and propulsion phases as hopping progressed. However, there was maintenance of performance output characteristics throughout the task. These findings suggest that changes in joint coupling variability may be a compensatory strategy to allow continuous single-leg hopping as the effects of muscular fatigue increase