Journal of science and medicine in sport
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of wearing compression garments on physiological and performance measures in a simulated game-specific circuit for netball.
This study combined compression garments and Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking to examine the effects on key physiological and performance measures in a simulated game-specific circuit for netball. Compression garments have anecdotal and research supported evidence of enhancing exercise performance. However, the absence of sport specificity warrants further investigation. ⋯ Analysis of effect sizes however, showed greater distances traveled at a faster velocity (3.5ms(-1)) using compression garments in comparison to control and placebo garments (Cohen's d=0.86). Using traditional statistical analysis, performance enhancing effects of compression garments were minimal. However, results of effect sizes analyses showed repeated performances at high speeds were improved in this sample of well-trained netball players.
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Comparative Study
Pediatric martial arts injuries presenting to Emergency Departments, United States 1990-2003.
Although an estimated 6.5 million United States (US) children aged 6-17 practiced a martial art in 2004, there have been no nationally representative studies comparing pediatric injuries among the three most popular disciplines, karate, taekwondo, and judo. Describe pediatric martial arts injuries presenting to a representative sample of US Emergency Departments (EDs) from 1990 to 2003. We reviewed all martial arts injuries captured by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC), National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). ⋯ There were also higher proportions of neck injuries sustained by judo participants compared to karate (IPR=4.73, 95% CI: 1.91-11.70) or taekwondo (IPR=4.17, 95% CI: 1.02-17.06) participants. Pediatric martial arts injuries differ by discipline. Understanding these injury patterns can assist with the development of discipline-specific preventive interventions.
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The cardiovascular pre-participation screening proposal for young competitive athletes has the potential to save young lives. This study aimed to identify individuals at risk for potentially lethal cardiovascular diseases in athletes before competition. Between June 2005 and July 2005, 351 (170 male and 181 female) elite Chinese athletes from 21 sports were profiled. ⋯ In three athletes with relatively mild ventricular septal hypertrophy (13-14 mm), it was not possible to discern with absolute certainty whether the wall thickening was a manifestation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or secondary to athletic conditioning ("athlete heart"). This screening protocol identified no athletes with definite evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Marfan's syndrome or other cardiovascular diseases that convey a significant potential risk for sudden death or disease progression during athletic activity. This is largely due to the relative low prevalence of conditions resulting in sudden cardiac death in young athletes and high false positive/negative rates in the tests used as part of the screening process (due to a large overlap between cardiovascular changes due to pathology and those due to intense training).
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This study looked at the relationship between athletic identity and three levels of sport participation (elite, recreational, non-participation). Athletic identity was measured using the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) with participants being compared on the total AIMS score and scores on its three factors (social identity, exclusivity, negative affectivity). Results indicated that the male non-participation group scored lower on all three factors and the total AIMS when compared to the two athlete groups. ⋯ Findings suggest that to assume sport is only important to elite athletes ignores the role that sport may play for less talented sport participants. Whilst not seeing themselves as athletes per se, it is suggested that participation in sport may still impact upon the self-perceptions of recreational sport participants. Therefore, threats to participation may result in similar negative consequences for both elite athletes and recreational sport participants.