BackgroundIllnesses impair athletes’ participation and performance. The epidemiology of illness in athletics is limited.ObjectiveTo describe the occurrence and characteristics of illnesses during international athletics championships (indoor and outdoor), and to analyse differences with regards to athletes’ sex and participation in explosive and endurance disciplines.MethodsDuring 11 international championships held between 2009 and 2017, physicians from both national medical teams and the local organising committees reported daily on all athlete illnesses using a standardised report form. Illness frequencies, incidence proportions (IPs) and rates (IRs), and relative risks (RR) with 95% CIs were calculated.ResultsDuring the 59 days of the 11 athletics championships, 546 illnesses were recorded in the 12 594 registered athletes equivalent to IP of 43.4 illnesses per 1000 registered athletes (95% CI 39.8 to 46.9) or IR of 1.2 per 1000 registered athlete days (95% CI 1.1 to 1.2). The most frequently reported illnesses were upper respiratory tract infections (18.7%), exercise-induced fatigue/hypotension/collapse (15.4%) and gastroenteritis (13.2%). No myocardial infarction was recorded. A total of 28.8% of illnesses were expected to lead to time loss from sport. The illness IP was similar in male and female athletes, with few differences in illness characteristics. During outdoor championships, the illness IP was higher in endurance than explosive disciplines (RR=1.87; 95% CI 1.58 to 2.23), with a considerably higher IP of exercise-induced illness in endurance disciplines, but a similar upper respiratory tract infection IP in both discipline groups.ConclusionsIllness prevention strategies during international athletics championships should be focused on the most frequent diagnoses in each discipline group.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the current study was to investigate the level of cardiorespiratory fitness and neuromuscular function of ICU survivors after COVID-19 and to examine whether these outcomes are related to ICU stay/mechanical ventilation duration. DESIGN: Prospective nonrandomized study. SETTING: Patients hospitalized in ICU for COVID-19 infection. PATIENTS: Sixty patients hospitalized in ICU (mean duration: 31.9 ± 18.2 d) were recruited 4–8 weeks post discharge from ICU. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients visited the laboratory on two separate occasions. The first visit was dedicated to quality of life questionnaire, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, whereas measurements of the knee extensors neuromuscular function were performed in the second visit. Maximal oxygen uptake (Vo2max) was 18.3 ± 4.5 mL·min–1·kg-1, representing 49% ± 12% of predicted value, and was significantly correlated with ICU stay/mechanical ventilation (MV) duration (R = –0.337 to –0.446; p < 0.01 to 0.001), as were maximal voluntary contraction and electrically evoked peak twitch. Vo2max (either predicted or in mL· min–1·kg-1) was also significantly correlated with key indices of pulmonary function such as predicted forced vital capacity or predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (R = 0.430–0.465; p ≤ 0.001) and neuromuscular function. Both cardiorespiratory fitness and neuromuscular function were correlated with self-reported physical functioning and general health status. CONCLUSIONS: Vo2max was on average only slightly above the 18 mL·min–1·kg-1, that is, the cut-off value known to induce difficulty in performing daily tasks. Overall, although low physical capacities at admission in ICU COVID-19 patients cannot be ruled out to explain the association between Vo2max or neuromuscular function and ICU stay/MV duration, altered cardiorespiratory fitness and neuromuscular function observed in the present study may not be specific to COVID-19 disease but seem applicable to all ICU/MV patients of similar duration.

ObjectivesTo identify individual characteristics associated with the adoption of injury risk reduction programmes (IRRP) and to investigate the variations in sociocognitive determinants (ie, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions) of IRRP adoption in athletics (track and field) athletes.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using an online survey sent to athletes licensed with the French Federation of Athletics to investigate their habits and sociocognitive determinants of IRRP adoption. Sociodemographic characteristics, sports practice and history of previous injuries were also recorded. Logistic regression analyses and group comparisons were performed.ResultsThe final sample was composed of 7715 athletes. From the multivariable analysis, competing at the highest level was positively associated with IRRP adoption (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.66; 99.9% CI 1.39 to 1.99 and AOR=1.48; 99.9% CI 1.22 to 1.80) and presenting a low number of past injuries was negatively associated with IRRP adoption (AOR=0.48; 99.9% CI 0.35 to 0.65 and AOR=0.61; 99.9% CI 0.44 to 0.84), both during their lifetime and the current season, respectively. These results were supported by higher scores of sociocognitive determinants among athletes who reported IRRP adoption compared with other athletes.ConclusionSome characteristics of athletes seem to be associated with IRRP adoption either positively (competing at the highest level) or negatively (presenting a lower number of past injuries), whereas all the sociocognitive determinants tested appear to be linked to IRRP adoption. Since many athlete characteristics are difficult or impossible to change, IRRP promotion may be enhanced by targeting athletes’ beliefs and intentions to adopt an IRRP.

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Background The Rating of Fatigue (ROF) scale can measure changes in perceived fatigue in a variety of contexts. Objective The aim of the present study was to translate and subsequently validate the ROF scale in the French language. Methods The study was composed of three phases. Phase 1 involved a comprehensive translation, back-translation, and consolidation process in order to produce the French ROF scale. During phase 2, the face validity of the French ROF scale was assessed. A cohort of 60 native French speaking participants responded to a range of Likert scale items which probed the purposes of the ROF scale and what it is intended to measure. During phase 3, the convergent and divergent validity of the ROF scale was assessed during ramped cycling to exhaustion and 10 min of resting recovery. Results The results from phase 1 demonstrated comparability and interpretability between the original and back-translated ROF scale. In phase 2, participants reported a high face validity, with a score of 3.48 ± 0.70 out of 4 when given the item probing whether the scale “measures fatigue”. This score further improved (3.67 ± 0.57, P = 0.01) after participants read the accompanying instructions. Participants were able to distinguish the purposes of the scale for measuring fatigue rather than exertion. In phase 3, strong correlations were found between ROF and heart rate (HR) both during exercise (r = 0.91, P < 0.01) and recovery (r = 0.92, P < 0.01), while discriminant validity between ROF and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was found during recovery. Conclusion The present study permits the applications of the ROF scale in the French language.