Injury and illness in short-course triathletes:A systematic review

Background:Determining the incidence and prevalence of injury and illness in short-course triathletes would improve understanding of their etiologies and therefore assist in the development and implementation of prevention strategies.This study synthesizes the existing evidence on the incidence and prevalence of injury and illness and summarizes reported injury or illness etiology and risk factors affecting short-course triathletes.Methods:This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.Studies reporting health problems(injury and illness)in triathletes(all sexes,ages,and experience levels)training and/or competing in short-course distances were included.Six electronic databases(Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials,MEDLINE,Embase,APA PsychINFO,Web of Science Core Collection,and SPORTDiscus)were searched.Risk of bias was independently assessed by 2 reviewers using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale.Two authors independently completed data extraction.Results:The search yielded 7998 studies,with 42 studies eligible for inclusion.Twenty-three studies investigated injuries,24 studies investigated illnesses,and 5 studies investigated both injuries and illnesses.The injury incidence rate ranged 15.7-24.3 per 1000 athlete exposures,and the illness incidence rate ranged 1.8-13.1 per 1000 athlete days.Injury and illness prevalence ranged between 2%-15%and 6%-84%,respectively.Most injuries reported occurred during running(45%-92%),and the most frequently reported illnesses affected the gastrointestinal(7%-70%),cardiovascular(14%-59%),and respiratory systems(5%-60%).Conclusion:The most frequently reported health problems in short-course triathletes were:overuse and lower limb injuries associated with running;gastrointestinal illnesses and altered cardiac function,primarily attributable to environmental factors;and respiratory illness mostly caused by infection.

Analysis on sports and recreation activity-related eye injuries presenting to the Emergency Department

AIM：To investigate the incidence and general characteristics of sports-related eye injuries in patients visiting the Emergency Department. METHODS： A cross-sectional,multi-center,observational study.Patients with an injured eye who visited the Emergency Department at one of nine hospitals in Korea were enrolled.All data were prospectively collected between March and September 2010 using a questionnaire.Eye injuries that occurred during risky sports were examined by gender and age.Additionally,the rate of open globe injuries that occurred with and without protective eyewear was examined for each activity.Continuous variables were compared using Student＇s t-test and categorical variables were compared using Chi-square test.RESULTS： A total of 446 patients had sports-related eye injuries.Teenagers（10-19 years old） and young adults（20-29 years old） had the most eye injuries.Eye injuries accounted for 0.2% of Emergency Department patients.Baseball was the most common cause of sports-related eye injuries,followed by soccer and hiking.Protective gear was worn by 9.4% of all patients.Patients that were 30-39 years of age had the highest rate of protective gear use,followed by patients that were 40-49 years of age.The proportion of sports-related eye injuries that were open-globe injuries was highest for soccer and hiking.CONCLUSION： Although injuries were most common in patients below the age of 10 years,these patients had the lowest rate of protective eyewear use.Injuries in adults over 40 years of age most commonly occurred during hiking,but the rate of protective eyewear use was low.Young athletes should be educated on and provided with protective eyewear and policies protective gear use should be established.For older adults,eye protection should be encouraged,especially during hiking.

Effect of deep transverse friction massage vs stretching on football players’ performance

BACKGROUND Flexibility,agility and muscle strength are key factors to either win or lose a game.Recently the effect of a new technique,deep transverse friction massage(DTFM)on muscle extensibility as compared to traditional stretching techniques has been examined.AIM To compare the effect of DTFM vs static and dynamic stretching techniques on the hamstring’s extensibility,agility,and strength amongst Lebanese and Syrian football players.Recording the incidence of non-contact hamstring muscle injury was a secondary objective.METHODS This study is a single-blinded prospective longitudinal randomized controlled trial.The experiment took place over a period of four weeks.Football players were randomized into three intervention groups(static stretching;dynamic stretching;DTFM).Participants of each group were followed-up carefully by assessors during their intervention sessions three times per week,for a total of 12 sessions and during the data collection.Extensibility,agility,and strength were compared between intervention groups at(baseline;acute;and chronic)phases.Straight leg raise and 1 repetition maximum tests were used to measure the dominant leg hamstring muscle extensibility and maximal strength respectively.T-drill test was used to assess the lower extremities agility.RESULTS Of 103 Lebanese and Syrian male football players aged between 18 and 35 were sampled from Damascus-Syria and South of Lebanon to participate in this study.Between-groups measures of acute strength(P=0.011)and chronic extensibility(P=0.000)solely showed a significant difference,and the static group showed to be superior as compared to the other groups.No loss to follow-up or protocol violation was recorded.CONCLUSION Static stretching is showing to be superior to the other techniques used,regarding gaining long-term extensibility and short-term maximal muscle strength.In addition,DTFM showed improvements but did not outweigh the effects on footballers’performance when comparing it to static and dynamic techniques.Finally,no difference between the interventions is recorded regarding the rate of muscle injuries incidence.

Are Off-Field Activities an Underestimated Risk for Hamstring Injuries in Dutch Male Amateur Soccer Players?An Exploratory Analysis of a Prospective Cohort Study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore what extent male amateur soccer players participate in off-field activities and whether these off-field activities are associated with the development of hamstring injuries.Methods Amateur soccer players(n=399)from first-class selection teams(n=32)filled out a baseline screening question-naire concerning off-field activities(i.e.,work and study type and hours,traveling time,sleep,energy costs,and time spent on other activities)and their history of hamstring injury as a part of a cluster-randomized controlled trial.Throughout one competition,the players reported weekly their hamstring injuries,which were verified by medical/technical staff.Multivari-able Firth corrected logistic regression models were used to explore associations between off-field activities and hamstring injuries.Results Sixty-five hamstring injuries were recorded.Previous injury was significantly associated with hamstring injuries(OR ranging from 1.94[95%CI 1.45-2.61]to 2.02[95%CI 1.49-2.73]),but off-field activities were not.Conclusion Although amateur soccer players spent a relatively large amount of time on off-field activities,we did not find off-field activities measured at baseline to be associated with hamstring injuries in the subsequent competitive soccer season.In contrast,previous hamstring injury was found to be strongly associated with(recurrent)hamstring injuries.