Intensive training combined with a growing body can predispose children to sports injuries. Our aim was to identify the importance of physical activity (PA) intensity and maturity as predictors of injury in youth. Information about injuries was collected using a questionnaire (LESADO), the PA intensity was assessed via accelerometry, and maturity was assessed using the Tanner–Whitehouse III bone age method and maturity offset. A total of 121 participants aged between 10 and 18 years were selected from four different schools. Regression analyses were used to determine the significant predictors of the injury profile. Only the injury type presented significant results. The time spent on moderate PA (χ²(2) = 6.701, p = 0.035) and bone age (χ²(2) = 7.196, p = 0.027) were the final predictors. The odds of having a strain or a fracture relative to a sprain increased 1.04 times for each minute of time spent on moderate PA. Likewise, the odds of having a strain or a fracture relative to a sprain decreased by 1.7 times per year of bone age. The PA intensity and bone age proved to be injury predictors in the growing athletes, with more predictive power in injury type. No meaningful associations were found for the injury occurrence, injury rate and body area injury location.

Article: Physiotherapy intervention on monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis: a systematic review - European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2024 Oct 10 - Minerva Medica - Journals

Engaging in sports activities at a young age has numerous health benefits but also involves risk of injury. Growth can make young athletes more vulnerable to sports injuries [ 1 Cohen E , Sala D. Rehabilitation of pediatric musculoskeletal sport-related injuries: a review of the literature. Eur J Rehabil Med. 2010;46:133–146. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ]. Few studies have produced information about injury profile and its predictors at these ages. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of age, maturation and physical activity (PA) level on injury type and body area injury location on a Portuguese sample. A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted. Injury profile and PA level information’s were obtained by LESADO and RAPIL II questionnaires. These data allowed to create four groups of PA levels. The no sports participation group, with no time spent in PA per week (except mandatory physical education classes), the recreative sports group with at least 90 min of PA per week being at least 60% of this volume of recreational activity; the school sports group with at least 90 min of PA per week being at least 60% of this volume of school sports activity and the federated sports group with at least 120 min of federated activity. Maturity measures were evaluated through maturity offset and Tanner-Whitehouse III method. Univariate analysis was used to identify the set of candidate predictors for multinomial logistic regression analysis that was used to determine significant predictors of injury type and body area injury location. Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Human Kinetics approved the research protocol. Before inclusion in the study all subjects’ parents gave their written informed consent. A total of 651 adolescents participated in this study, aged between 10 and 18 years (Mean = 13.7 years; Standard Deviation =1.8 years), being 343 boys (52.7%) and 308 girls (47.3%). Regarding injury type predictors recreative boys had more chances of having a sprain or a fracture than a strain when compared to federated boys (χ²(4)=15.165, p=.004). Also, recreative and scholar girls had more chances of having a sprain than a strain when compared to federated girls (χ²(6)=16.474, p=.011). As maturity offset decreased, the chances of girls having a strain or a fracture when compared to sprains were higher (χ²(2)=15.115, p=.001). For body area location boys with 10–11 years were more likely to have upper limbs injuries than boys of other ages (χ²(6)=13.587, p=.033). This was also confirmed by maturity offset (χ²(2)=6.014, p=.049). Spine and trunk injuries were more likely to occur in federate and no sports participation girls (χ²(6)=14.587, p=.022). Each sport group presented a specific injury profile and Peak Height Velocity was a significant predictor of injury patterns in adolescents of both sexes. The combination of growth, sport training and competition, create situations conducive to the development of specific injuries [ 2 Costa e Silva L , Fragoso MI , Teles J. Physical activity-related injury profile in children and adolescents according to their age, maturation, and level of sports participation. Sports Health. 2017;9(2):118–125. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar] ]. At these ages chronological age may be an incomplete indicator for injury risk, as some authors are starting to recognise [ 2 Costa e Silva L , Fragoso MI , Teles J. Physical activity-related injury profile in children and adolescents according to their age, maturation, and level of sports participation. Sports Health. 2017;9(2):118–125. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar] , 3 Bowerman E , Whatman C , Harris N , et al. Are maturation, growth and lower extremity alignment associated with overuse injury in elite adolescent ballet dancers? Phys Ther Sport. 2014;15(4):234–241. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ]. It seems warranted that the influence of maturity status and PA level on sports injuries should be studied in future studies.

Introduction: Despite the growth in participation of younger generations in physical activity (PA), significant lack of knowledge exists regarding sports injuries [ 1 Stracciolini A , Casciano R , Levey Friedman H , et al. Pediatric sports injuries: an age comparison of children versus adolescents. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(8):1922–1929. doi:10.1177/0363546513490644 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ]. The increased sports involvement from an early age through the years of growth raises serious concerns [ 1 Stracciolini A , Casciano R , Levey Friedman H , et al. Pediatric sports injuries: an age comparison of children versus adolescents. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(8):1922–1929. doi:10.1177/0363546513490644 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] , 2 Myer GD , Jayanthi N , DiFiori JP , et al. Sports Specialization, Part II: Alternative Solutions to Early Sport Specialization in Youth Athletes. Sports Health. 2015;8(1):65–73. doi:10.1177/1941738115614811 [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar] ]. Therés a general trend toward specialization, intensive training and competition. These factors combined with a growing body can predispose the young child to sports injuries [ 1 Stracciolini A , Casciano R , Levey Friedman H , et al. Pediatric sports injuries: an age comparison of children versus adolescents. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(8):1922–1929. doi:10.1177/0363546513490644 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] , 3 Jayanthi NA , LaBella CR , Fischer D , et al. Sports-Specialized Intensive Training and the Risk of Injury in Young Athletes: A Clinical Case-Control Study. Am J Sports Med. 2015;43(4):794–801. doi:10.1177/0363546514567298 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ]. So our aim was to identify the importance of PA intensity and maturity as predictors of injury in youth. Materials and methods: Information about injury was assessed via a questionnaire (LESADO), PA intensity via accelerometry and maturity via TW III bone age and maturity offset. To perform this evaluation 121 participants aged between 10 and 18 years attending four schools were selected. Logistic regressions analyses were used to determine significant predictors of injury occurrence, injury rate, body area injury location and injury type. All subjects’ guardians gave their written informed consent. The research protocol was in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Human Kinetics. Results: There were not found significant results for injury occurrence, injury rate and body area injury location. Only injury type presented significant results. Time spent in moderate PA (χ²(2) = 6.701, p = .035) and bone age (χ²(2) = 7.196, p = .027) were the final predictors. The odds of having a strain or a fracture, relatively to a sprain, increased 1.04 times for each minute of time spent in moderate PA. Likewise the odds of having a strain or a fracture, relatively to a sprain, decreased 1.7 times for year of bone age. Discussion and conclusions: There were not found meaningful associations between injury occurrence, injury rate and body area injury location and the evaluated predictors. Several studies have already discussed the association between injuries and higher intensity PA [ 4 Soprano J V. , Fuchs SM. Common Overuse Injuries in the Pediatric and Adolescent Athlete. Clin Pediatr Emerg Med. 2007;8(1):7–14. doi:10.1016/j.cpem.2007.02.009 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] , 5 Malisoux L , Frisch A , Urhausen A , et al. Monitoring of sport participation and injury risk in young athletes. J Sci Med Sport. Sports Medicine Australia; 2013;16(6):504–508. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2013.01.008 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ]. However considering the present results and previous studies by Costa e Silva et al. [ 6 Costa e Silva L , Fragoso I , Teles J. Prevalence and injury profile in Portuguese children and adolescents according to their level of sports participation. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2018;58(3):271–279. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] , 7 Costa e Silva L , Fragoso MI , Teles J. Physical Activity–Related Injury Profile in Children and Adolescents According to Their Age, Maturation, and Level of Sports Participation. Sports Health. 2017;9(2):118–125. doi:10.1177/1941738116686964 [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar] ] PA volume and level of sports participation seem to influence in a more significant way these three variables. Nonotheless PA intensity and bone age proved to be injury predictors of the growing athlete, with expression over injury type.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to identify and categorise the educational, training, and support needs of informal caregivers of stroke survivors in order to inform the development of an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) intervention within the European caregIVR project (Project No. 101129454; EU4Health Programme). Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using three focus groups involving informal caregivers, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders, and academics and healthcare students in Portugal (n = 33). Discussions explored everyday caregiving challenges, priority educational needs, and expectations regarding digital support tools. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive–deductive coding strategy supported by NVivo software (version 14). Results: Participants identified the transition from hospital to home as the most critical stage of the caregiving journey, characterised by poor continuity of care and insufficient preparation before hospital discharge. Major challenges included limited stroke-related health literacy, difficulties adapting the home environment, and substantial emotional, financial, and social burdens that frequently resulted in social isolation and caregiver burnout. Participants regarded IVR as a promising educational strategy for delivering practical, repetitive, and low-risk skills training. Conclusions: The findings suggest that caregiver empowerment should be promoted through progressive, person-centred, and non-judgemental educational programmes tailored to caregivers’ evolving needs. Caregivers should be supported by multidisciplinary teams capable of addressing the clinical, practical, and psychosocial complexity of post-stroke home care. Rather than replacing professional support, IVR should be considered a complementary educational tool with the potential to improve caregivers’ preparedness, confidence, and safety in the home-care setting.