Roberto Vital

Sleep quality evaluation, chronotype, sleepiness and anxiety of Paralympic Brazilian athletes: Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the sleep quality, sleepiness, chronotype and the anxiety level of Brazilian Paralympics athletes before the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Exercise and Psychobiology Studies Center (CEPE) and Universidade Federal de São Paulo, an urban city in Brazil. Participants A total of 27 Paralympics athletes of both genders (16 men and 11 women) with an average age of 28±6 years who practised athletics (track and field events) were evaluated. Main outcome measures Sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Scale and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to evaluate sleepiness. Chronotype was determined by the Horne and Östberg questionnaire and anxiety through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The evaluations were performed in Brazil 10 days before the competition. Results The studys results demonstrate that 83.3% of the athletes that presented excessive daytime sleepiness also had poor sleep quality. The authors noted that 71.4% were classified into the morning type and 72% of the athletes who presented a medium anxiety level also presented poor sleep quality. Athletes with poor sleep quality showed significantly lower sleep efficiency (p=0.0119) and greater sleep latency (p=0.0068) than athletes with good sleep quality. Athletes who presented excessive daytime sleepiness presented lower sleep efficiency compared to non-sleepy athletes (p=0.0241). Conclusions The authors conclude that the majority of athletes presented poor sleep quality before the competition. This information should be taken into consideration whenever possible when scheduling rest, training and competition times.

Lesões traumato-ortopédicas nos atletas paraolímpicos

In the last few years, the development of national and international games for the physically challenged has encouraged greater participation of athletes with physical disabilities. This resulted in an increase in intensity and frequency of the training routines and competitions and higher levels of trauma-orthopedic lesions. The aim of this descriptive-comparative study is to analyze statistically the incidence of trauma-orthopedic lesions of 82 physically challenged athletes selected in a non intentional and no probalistic way. These athletes belong to various sports categories, as follows: swimming = 37, table tennis = 19, athletics = 19, power lifting = 7. Sixty are males, 24, females, they range in age from 15 to 51 and they all took part in the 2002 World Championship. Applying the medical records of the Brazilian Paraolimpic Committee medical department filled in at those events (the technique of observing the athlete clinical-sports files and medical examinations), the result showed a recurrence of lesions in athletes in the following sports: athletics (MMII = 64.9%, backbone 19.3% and MMSS = 15.8%; power lifting (backbone = 54.5%, MMSS = 36.4% and MMII = 9.1%); swimming (MMSS = 44.4%, backbone = 38.9% and MMII = 16.7%) and table tennis (MMSS = 56%, Backbone = 36% and MMII = 8%). Such results lead to the conclusion that the performing of sports of the physically challenged athletes, and also the intensity of the training routing to try to beat their previous marks and results, cause these kinds of lesion. In addition, it is important to reinforce the preventive measures to the athletes.

Sport injuries in elite paralympic swimmers with visual impairment

CONTEXT Visually impaired athletes sustain overuse injuries in the lower limbs, but the pattern of injuries may vary according to the sport. The characteristics of sports injuries in visually impaired swimmers are unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine the characteristics and epidemiologic measures (prevalence, clinical incidence, and incidence rate) of sports injuries in visually impaired elite national swimmers and to assess differences among visual classes and between sexes. DESIGN Descriptive epidemiology study. SETTING International Paralympic competitions held between 2004 and 2008. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Twenty-eight elite, visually impaired swimmers (19 males, 9 females) from the Brazilian Paralympic Team participated in this study. Twelve were visual class S11 (blind swimmers), 12 were S12 (low-vision swimmers), and 4 were S13 (low-vision swimmers). INTERVENTION(S) A standardized report form was used to collect data during 5 competitions. This was endorsed by 2 Brazilian sports governing bodies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The characteristics, prevalence, clinical incidence, and incidence rate of injuries were calculated. RESULTS Eighteen athletes reported 41 sports injuries, with a prevalence of 64%, clinical incidence of 1.5 injuries per athlete, and an incidence rate of 0.3 injuries per athlete per competition. Overuse injuries (80%) were more frequent than traumatic injuries (20%). The clinical incidence and prevalence varied according to sex and visual class, but no statistical differences were observed (P > .05). The highest proportion of injuries was in the trunk (46.34%), followed by the upper limbs (34.15%). The shoulders (29.27%) were most affected, followed by the thoracic (21.95%) and lumbar spine (17.07%). Spasm (36.59%) was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by tendinopathy (26.83%). CONCLUSIONS Visually impaired swimmers had a relatively high proportion of overuse injuries, predominantly associated with muscle spasm in the spine and tendinopathy in the shoulders. No differences were apparent in injury prevalence and clinical incidence among visual classes or between sexes.

Aspectos das lesões esportivas em atletas com deficiência visual

Most research on sport injuries in disabled athletes uses a cross-disability (physical and sensorial) design and merges different sport modalities in the same study. This procedure creates difficulties in interpreting the results, since different disabilities and modalities may cause different injury conditions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the sports injuries frequency in visually impaired athletes, to identify the site of the injury, its mechanism, and the main injuries that occur to these athletes as well as to verify if the visual class relates to the sports injury frequency. The subjects were male and female visually impaired athletes, members of the Brazilian team of athletics, soccer 5, goalball, judo, and swimming, who played in international competitions between 2004 and 2008. Data was collected using the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and the Brazilian Confederation of Sports for the Blind medical form, which included the following information: name, age, modality, competition, visual classification (B1, B2, B3), injury type, location of injury, and diagnosis. A total of 131 athletes participated in this study: 42 female, 89 male amongst which 61 were B1, 46 B2, and 24 B3. From this total, 102 athletes reported 288 sports injuries; 2.82 injuries per athlete. Female athletes presented more injuries than male athletes; however, this difference did not show statistical significance. Regarding visual classification, B1 athletes got more injuries than B2 athletes, and these more than B3 athletes; statistically significant difference was found only between B1 and B3 group. As one group, athletes presented similar values between accident and overuse injuries. Concerning body segment, lower limbs showed more injuries, followed by upper limbs, spine, head, and trunk. Twenty-one diagnoses were reported, being tendinopathies, contractures, and contusions the most frequent.

Queixas musculoesqueléticas e procedimentos fisioterapêuticos na delegação brasileira paralímpica durante o mundial paralímpico de atletismo em 2011

Introduction: Athletics is an umbrella sport with high incidence of musculoskeletal injuries; however, the literature presents little information on injuries in Paralympics athletics. Objective: This study was to describe the profile of the musculoskeletal complaints, their anatomical locations, and physiotherapeutic resources used during the Paralympic Athletics World Championships in Christchurch in 2011. Methods: The Brazilian delegation included 34 athletes. Their musculoskeletal complaints, affected anatomical regions, and the physiotherapy resources used were daily recorded for all of the physiotherapy sessions. The sessions were held in the hotel that hosted the delegation and at the competition venue. Results: Out of the 34 athletes, 25 (73.5%) were treated at the Department of Physiotherapy. The main complaints were myalgia (38.4%), followed by arthralgia (23%). The region of the body with the most complaints was the thigh (n = 8, 30.7%), followed by the knee (n = 6, 23%). A total of 428 physiotherapy sessions were performed. At the hotel, the mostly used therapeutic approach was the ultrasound (35.1%), followed by TENS (31.2%) and cryotherapy (23.3%). At the competition venue, the mostly used therapeutic approach was cryotherapy (44.1%), followed by massage (37.2%). Conclusion: The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the major injuries in this sport and help to develop programs aimed for injury prevention.

A variação da acuidade visual durante esforços físicos em atletas com baixa visão, participantes de seleção brasileira de atletismo

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: This study had as an objective to evaluate the visual acuity behavior in athletes with low vision, during a continuous effort protocol. Researches point out that visual acuity presents performance varieties when submitted to physical efforts in subjects without visual impairment. METHOD: The studied population was composed by six peoples, who practiced athletics and were part of the Brazilian team in track events. The progressive physical effort test was applied on the first day in a treadmill. On the second day the continuous effort test was applied, which was divided in three levels, each one had a 15 and 30 minutes break between them. To determine the intensities, the results obtained in the progressive physical effort test (60% of VE peak, limiar VE and 90% VE peak) were used. The visual acuity was measured before, during and after each level of intensity in the continuous effort protocol. The t Student test was used for statistics analysis (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The visual acuity presented a decrease in the three levels of effort in its performance. The variety between the initial static visual acuity measure results and the measurement of the same variable in the end of the running phase was 44.5% in the first level, 52.5% in the second and 60% in the third level. The results presented higher degradation of the visual component during the dynamic measurements. The recuperation phases, which succeeded the most intense levels of effort, had the results of the visual acuity, after the deficit found during the exercise. CONCLUSION: It can be inferred that in this specific population there is a decrease in the visual acuity during the effort. This fact implies on the necessity of the visual sportive classification being directed to evaluate the visual functionality of each athlete with low vision during the physical effort, since these varieties can occur during it.

Avaliação clínica dos atletas paraolímpicos

The purpose of this study was to evaluate characteristics that were important for preventive health and for performance of paralympic Brazilian athletes. The athletes were evaluated clinically (questionnaires, clinical history, physical examination) and also with laboratory studies, chest roentgenogram and doping control. The Brazilian team that participated in the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games was also classified according to some characteristics such as gender, age, sports modality, way of locomotion, types of disabilities, laboratory study results, chest X-ray results, odontological evaluation, and doping control. The results obtained were used to define a profile of such athletes and to give them information about prevention of diseases and sports-related injuries that could hinder their training and competition results

Assessment of Body Composition and Sport Performance of Brazilian Paralympic Swim Team Athletes

CONTEXT Body-composition assessments of high-performance athletes are very important for identifying physical performance potential. Although the relationship between the kinanthropometric characteristics and performance abilities of Olympic swimmers is extremely important, this subject is not completely understood for Paralympic swimmers. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between body composition and sport performance in Brazilian Paralympic swimmers 6 mo after training. DESIGN Experimental pre/posttest design. SETTING Research laboratory and field evaluations of swimming were conducted to verify the 50-m freestyle time of each athlete. PARTICIPANTS 17 Brazilian Paralympic swim team athletes (12 men, 5 women). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Body-composition assessments were performed using a BOD POD, and swimming performance was assessed using the 50-m freestyle, which was performed twice: before and after 6 mo of training. RESULTS Increased lean mass and significantly reduced relative fat mass and swimming time (P < .05) were observed 6 mo after training. Furthermore, a positive correlation between body-fat percentage and performance (r = .66, P < .05) was observed, but there was no significant correlation between body density and performance (r = -.14, P > .05). CONCLUSIONS After a 6-mo training period, Paralympic swimmers presented reduced fat mass and increased lean body mass associated with performance, as measured by 50-m freestyle time. These data suggest that reduced fat-mass percentage was significantly correlated with improved swimming performance in Paralympic athletes.

ACTUACIÓN DE LA FISIOTERAPIA EN EL DEPORTE PARALÍMPICO

Cada vez mas, los atletas paralimpicos han logrado resultados expresivos en competiciones importantes, asi como la aparicion de lesiones musculoesqueleticas esta aumentando en estos atletas y, por lo tanto, el papel de la fisioterapia se vuelve importante y se esta volviendo mas popular en esta area. El objetivo de este estudio es demostrar las principales lesiones musculoesqueleticas y el papel del fisioterapeuta en el deporte paralimpico. Se ha observado que hay varios articulos publicados sobre lesiones musculoesqueleticas relacionadas con la discapacidad y el deporte practicado por el atleta. Sin embargo, hay pocos detalles en cuanto a la actuacion del fisioterapeuta y cuales serian las posibles contribuciones de estos profesionales en la evaluacion, el seguimiento, la intervencion y la prevencion de lesiones en los atletas paralimpicos. Se puede concluir que el fisioterapeuta es un profesional sumamente importante para la rehabilitacion de lesiones. No obstante, la informacion sobre su actuacion en el deporte paralimpico sigue restringida en relacion con las areas en que puede actuar y ayudar al atleta paralimpico.

ATUAÇÃO DA FISIOTERAPIA NO ESPORTE PARALÍMPICO

Cada vez mas, los atletas paralimpicos han logrado resultados expresivos en competiciones importantes, asi como la aparicion de lesiones musculoesqueleticas esta aumentando en estos atletas y, por lo tanto, el papel de la fisioterapia se vuelve importante y se esta volviendo mas popular en esta area. El objetivo de este estudio es demostrar las principales lesiones musculoesqueleticas y el papel del fisioterapeuta en el deporte paralimpico. Se ha observado que hay varios articulos publicados sobre lesiones musculoesqueleticas relacionadas con la discapacidad y el deporte practicado por el atleta. Sin embargo, hay pocos detalles en cuanto a la actuacion del fisioterapeuta y cuales serian las posibles contribuciones de estos profesionales en la evaluacion, el seguimiento, la intervencion y la prevencion de lesiones en los atletas paralimpicos. Se puede concluir que el fisioterapeuta es un profesional sumamente importante para la rehabilitacion de lesiones. No obstante, la informacion sobre su actuacion en el deporte paralimpico sigue restringida en relacion con las areas en que puede actuar y ayudar al atleta paralimpico.