Research Article: Ankle

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2707072/pdf/attr-44-04-363.pdf

Zinder SM, Granata KP, Shultz SJ, Gansneder BM. J Athl Train. 2009 Jul-Aug;44(4):363-9.

 

Soccer Injuries in Female Youth Players: Comparison of Injury Surveillance by Certified Athletic Trainers and Internet

This study was conducted to compare the accuracy of injury reporting by athletic trainers and through parent surveys. Soccer is one of the leading sports in the world and one of the most common causes for sports injury in youth athletes. There is not a lot of research available for this age group because these teams and leagues often do not have the medical personnel available to address the injuries involved.

The first thing this group did was to collect injury information via a parent survey conducted on the internet. The parents were required to respond to the survey each week and were contacted if they did not complete the survey. They could not edit the information once it was submitted and they could not do multiple weeks at one time.

Research of the Week: Soccer Injuries in Female Youth Players

 

Soccer Injuries in Female Youth Players: Comparison of Injury Surveillance by Certified Athletic Trainers and Internet. Melissa A. Schiff,MD,MPH
; Christopher D. Mack,MS
; Nayak L. Polissar,PhD; Marni R. Levy; Sara P. Dow,MD; John W. O’Kane,MD

Check back later this week..

Research of the Week: Sex Differences in Concussions

Here is a brief overview of the article out of the newest Journal of Athletic Training. I suggest you take a chance to read the entire article. It’s free to NATA members!

Frommer LJ, Gurka KK, Cross KM, Ingersoll CD, Comstock RD, Saliba SA. Journal of Athletic Training. Sex Differences in Concussion Symptoms of High School Athletes. 2011; 46(1):76-84.

An estimated 1.6-3.8 million sport-related concussions are reported each year with about 21% of those being high school athletes. The occurrence of injury in female athletes has continued to rise with the increase in sports participation and females have a higher incidence rate than males of sport-related concussions.

Research has shown that females may respond to concussions differently than males. Females tended to fare worse than male counterparts leading to longer hospitalizations, longer disability, and higher mortality rates. Females also require greater monitoring and more aggressive treatment due to symptoms not aligning with Glascow Coma Scale.

Research of the Week: Sex Differences in Concussions

Frommer LJ, Gurka KK, Cross KM, Ingersoll CD, Comstock RD, Saliba SA. Journal of Athletic Training. Sex Differences in Concussion Symptoms of High School Athletes. 2011; 46(1):76-84.

 

My summary and conclusions will be posted on Saturday..

Research of the Week: High School Sports Concussions.

Concussions appear to continue to rise. Is it due to an increase in incidence or is it due to an increase in awareness? This study was conducted over an 11 year period in the Fairfax County School District in Falls Church, Virginia. The authors note that the numbers saw significant increases over the course of the study, but they do not attribute that to anything in particular.

The researchers conducted an 11 year study in a large school district with a certified athletic trainer onsite for games and practices. Each school had 2 part-time athletic trainers from 1997-2005 and then a minimum of one full-time athletic trainer and one part-time athletic trainer after that.

A common occurrence is that football was the leading sport for concussion incidence. I think this fairly well-known at this point and no surprise. Girls’ soccer was #2 on the list which also should not be a great surprise. One result I found interesting in this study was its conclusion that in sports where the male and female games were similar in equipment and rules, females had a higher incidence of concussions than their male counterparts. One exception to this conclusion is lacrosse because the rules and equipment are different between the two.

Research of the Week: High School Sports Concussions

Lincoln, AE., Caswell, SV., Almquist, JL., Dunn, RE., Norris, JB., & Hinton RY. (2011). Trends in concussion incidence
in high school sports. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 39(5), 958-963.

 

I’ll try to find a link to this article and post it..

Research: Graston Technique

The first research article was the Graston Instrument Soft Tissue Mobilization and Home Stretching for The Management of Plantar Heel
Pain article posted on the GrastonTechnique website. You can find the article here.

The article mainly focused on the treatment of plantar fasciitis. The subjects were treated utilizing the Graston Technique and some home stretching. 7 of the 10 subjects saw “clinically significant” improvements. The treatments were focused on the triceps surae, soleus, plantar fascia, and the medial calcaneal tubercle. This study lasted approximately 8 weeks with some being treated for only 3 weeks 1-2 times per week.

This article did not impress me because I don’t believe it showed much evidence of anything. I would not say that this article led to much with regards to education. I was disappointed.

Hopefully future articles are more interesting. Check back on Monday for the next article!

Research of the Week: Graston Technique

Last weekend I was afforded the opportunity to attend a training course and learned the Graston Technique. This week, to start off this new series, I will explore the use of this manual therapy. Here is the first research article. Feel free to read the article is you please and let me know what you think! I will post my thoughts later in the week after I have a chance to read the article myself..

http://www.grastontechnique.com/file/sites%7C*%7C86%7C*%7CGISTMPF2011JMPT_Looney.pdf

Research of the Week

Keeping with the theme, it’s time to introduce the next new feature here. Athletic Training is all about keeping up with the new things that are coming out; staying current in the literature. This is my next big thing here in that I will begin to present research articles each week. It’s my goal to read at least one new article every week and analyze it. Each Monday I will post a new article and on Saturday I will post my conclusions and thoughts on the article.

Check back August 8 for the first article…