Journal of athletic training
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Context: Athletes in the United States are at high risk for using spit (smokeless) tobacco (ST) and incurring its associated adverse health effects. Objective: To examine whether an athletic trainer-directed ST intervention could decrease initiation and promote cessation of ST use among male collegiate baseball athletes. Design: Stratified, cluster-randomized controlled trial. ⋯ Although at 1 year, cessation of ST use was relatively high in both groups (36%), we noted no significant difference between the groups (odd ratio = 0.94, 95% confidence interval = 0.70-1.27). Conclusions: The intervention was significantly effective in preventing incident ST use but did not significantly increase cessation beyond that seen in the control group. The latter finding is inconsistent with previous studies and may be explained by spillover of the intervention to control colleges, other anti-tobacco activity in control colleges, and/or the small sample of dependent ST users enrolled in the study.
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Context: As the number of female college students participating in athletics has grown dramatically in the last few decades, sports medicine health care providers have become more aware of the unique health concerns of athletic women. These concerns include disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis: the female athlete triad. Disordered eating appears to be central in the triad, and the literature has conflicting data regarding the influence of athletic participation on disordered-eating behaviors. ⋯ Within the athlete sample, the high-risk group included 2.9% of the non-lean-sport athletes and 25% of the lean-sport athletes. Conclusions: In our study, female athletes did not exhibit more disordered-eating symptoms than women who did not participate in collegiate sports. However, our data suggest that lean-sport athletes are at greater risk for disordered eating than athletes in non-lean sports.
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Specific search criteria identified 55 articles for review, of which 22 were eligible randomized, controlled clinical trials. The articles' scores on the PEDro scale were low, ranging from 1 to 5, with an average score of 3.4. Five studies provided adequate information on the subjects' baseline data, and only 3 studies concealed allocation during subject recruitment. No studies blinded their therapist's administration of therapy, and just 1 study blinded subjects. Only 1 study included an intention-to-treat analysis. The average number of subjects in the studies was 66.7; however, only 1 group undertook a power analysis. The types of injuries varied widely (eg, acute or surgical). No authors investigated subjects with muscle contusions or strains, and only 5 groups studied subjects with acute ligament sprains. The remaining 17 groups examined patients recovering from operative procedures (anterior cruciate ligament repair, knee arthroscopy, lateral retinacular release, total knee and hip arthroplasties, and carpal tunnel release). Additionally, the mode of cryotherapy varied widely, as did the duration and frequency of cryotherapy application. The time period when cryotherapy was applied after injury ranged from immediately after injury to 1 to 3 days postinjury. Adequate information on the actual surface temperature of the cooling device was not provided in the selected studies. Most authors recorded outcome variables over short periods (1 week), with the longest reporting follow-ups of pain, swelling, and range of motion recorded at 4 weeks postinjury. Data in that study were insufficient to calculate effect size. Nine studies did not provide data of the key outcome measures, so individual study effect estimates could not be calculated. A total of 12 treatment comparisons were made. Ice submersion with simultaneous exercises was significantly more effective than heat and contrast therapy plus simultaneous exercises at reducing swelling. Ice was reported to be no different from ice and low-frequency or high-frequency electric stimulation in effect on swelling, pain, and range of motion. Ice alone seemed to be more effective than applying no form of cryotherapy after minor knee surgery in terms of pain, but no differences were reported for range of motion and girth. Continuous cryotherapy was associated with a significantly greater decrease in pain and wrist circumference after surgery than intermittent cryotherapy. Evidence was marginal that a single simultaneous treatment with ice and compression is no more effective than no cryotherapy after an ankle sprain. The authors reported ice to be no more effective than rehabilitation only with regard to pain, swelling, and range of motion. Ice and compression seemed to be significantly more effective than ice alone in terms of decreasing pain. Additionally, ice, compression, and a placebo injection reduced pain more than a placebo injection alone. Lastly, in 8 studies, there seemed to be little difference in the effectiveness of ice and compression compared with compression alone. Only 2 of the 8 groups reported significant differences in favor of ice and compression. ⋯ Based on the available evidence, cryotherapy seems to be effective in decreasing pain. In comparison with other rehabilitation techniques, the efficacy of cryotherapy has been questioned. The exact effect of cryotherapy on more frequently treated acute injuries (eg, muscle strains and contusions) has not been fully elucidated. Additionally, the low methodologic quality of the available evidence is of concern. Many more high-quality studies are required to create evidence-based guidelines on the use of cryotherapy. These must focus on developing modes, durations, and frequencies of ice application that will optimize outcomes after injury.
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To quantify the cervical spine range of motion that occurred during application of 4 rigid cervical immobilization collars, the time of application, and the amount of active range of motion available after application. DESIGN AND SETTING: We evaluated the amount of cervical motion that occurred during application of 4 commonly used collars: NECLOC (NL), StifNeck (SN), StifNeck Select (SNS), and Rapid Form Vacuum Immobilizer (VI). Each clinician applied a properly sized collar to both a small- and medium-size model 3 times. After application, active range-of-motion testing was completed with the subject in the supine and seated positions. SUBJECTS: A total of 17 certified athletic trainers participated. MEASUREMENTS: We used 3-dimensional kinematic head and thorax data to calculate peak angular displacement, total linear distance, and total angular distance during application and peak angular displacement during supine and seated range-of-motion testing. Application time was calculated during each trial. ⋯ Of the collars tested, the SN and SNS appear to be the optimal collars for use by certified athletic trainers. They were applied with the least motion in the fastest time and provided superior restriction during active range-of-motion testing.
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Specific search criteria identified 600 articles for review, of which 24 met inclusion and exclusion criteria: 2 in group 2, 3 in group 3, 14 in group 4, and 5 in group 4. A total of 1172 patients were represented (surgical treatment = 833, mean = 43.7 months' follow-up; conservative treatment = 339, mean = 60.4 months' follow-up). Both surgically and conservatively treated patients reported similar overall satisfactory outcome (88% surgical versus 87% conservative). Patients with surgical treatment reported longer time to return to work and premorbid activities. Among patients treated surgically, 59% had additional surgery, 6% had wound breakdown, 20% had fixation failure, and 3% reported residual deformity. Only 1% of conservatively treated patients reported wound problems, 6% had additional surgery, and 37% reported residual deformity. In only 1 study did the authors report the incidence of posttraumatic arthritis: 25% among surgically treated and 43% among conservatively treated patients. Analysis of secondary outcomes suggests that both groups had little or no pain (93% surgical, 96% conservative) but more conservatively treated patients had normal to near-normal range of motion (95% versus 86%) and normal strength (92% versus 87%). Conservative treatment of AC dislocations is 21% more likely to result in a satisfactory outcome than surgical treatment (odds ratio = 0.79, 95% confidence interval = 0.36, 1.71). The need for additional surgery is 7.4 times more likely and infection is 3.2 times more likely with surgical management. ⋯ These data suggest that the current evidence does not support surgical treatment of grade III AC dislocations with respect to overall patient satisfaction as well as clinical outcomes such as pain, range of motion, and strength.