There is conflicting evidence regarding whether females are more adversely affected after concussion than males. Further, recent research suggests that hormonal contraceptive (HC) use may affect symptom severity and duration post-concussion. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of sex and HC use on outcomes following concussion among collegiate varsity athletes. We hypothesized that females would have longer length of recovery (LOR), and that peak symptom severity would be associated with longer LOR in both males and females. Among females, we hypothesized that non-HC users would have longer LOR and higher peak symptom severity than HC users. Ninety collegiate student-athletes were included in this study (40 males, 50 females; 24 HC users, 25 non-HC users). Demographic, injury, and recovery information was abstracted via retrospective record review. LOR was defined as days between injury and clearance for full return to play by team physician. Peak symptom severity score (Sport Concussion Assessment Tool [SCAT] 2 or 3) was used in analyses. Study results revealed that males had shorter LOR than females (F[1, 86] = 5.021, p < 0.05, d = 0.49), but had comparable symptom severity scores. Symptom severity was strongly related to LOR for males (r = 0.513, p < 0.01) but not females (r = -0.003, p > 0.05). Among females, non-HC users demonstrated higher symptom severity than HC users (F[1,47] = 5.142, p < 0.05, d = 0.70). No significant differences between female HC users and non-HC users on LOR were observed. This study provides evidence for differential concussion outcomes between male and female collegiate athletes and between HC users and nonusers among females.

Athletes with muscle dysmorphia suffer from constant dissatisfaction with body size and shape because they perceive themselves as smaller and less muscular than they actually are. There may be discrepancies among the various subgroups within the weightlifting community in regards to vulnerability and susceptibility to the development of MD. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine and compare MD symptomology between male and female, competitive and noncompetitive, and appearance-related and performance-related weightlifters. The MD assessments were made with the muscle dysmorphia inventory (MDI). The participants included 85 competitive (55 men and 30 women) and 48 noncompetitive (24 men and 24 women) weight training athletes. Each group included athletes with a primary focus on appearance enhancement or performance enhancement. Factorial analyses of variance were used to measure differences between each group on all MDI subscales. The results showed that men scored significantly higher than did women on the supplement (p = 0.006), physique protection (p = 0.039), and body size and symmetry subscales (p < 0.001). Competitive athletes scored significantly higher than noncompetitive athletes did on diet (p < 0.001), supplement (p < 0.001), exercise dependence (p < 0.001), and body size and symmetry (p = 0.002) subscales. Finally, the athletes focused on appearance enhancement scored significantly higher than athletes focused on performance enhancement on all 6 subscales (p < 0.01). Coaches and health and fitness professionals should understand that the goals of athletes in regard to weight training can influence susceptibility to development of MD symptoms. Knowing that athletes who engage in weight training to enhance appearance may exhibit greater behavioral characteristics than those athletes who do not may be helpful so they may be able to identify, prevent, and reverse MD in the athletes they serve.

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Background: Physical demands at work are a major source of work incapacity, resulting in significant expenditures. According to EU directive 90/269/EEC, occupational manual handling of loads needs to be avoided by technical and organisational measures. If this is not possible or sufficient, additional measures can be implemented, that focus on behavioural changes in the workers. This study evaluates how an educational training program developed for luggage handlers at Hamburg Airport effects their musculoskeletal load.Methods: This quasi-experimental open-label parallel group trial allocated workers into two groups, one involves the educational training program and the other group receiving no intervention. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the main follow-up observation had to be carried out 3-6 months after baseline instead of 7 months. The program consisted of 16 sessions in three simulated work scenarios. Transfer into practice was enhanced through visitations to the work place. The primary outcome was the weighted cumulative musculoskeletal load of the back, knee and shoulder. We assessed this by using a motion-capturing system and video recordings in order to calculate the cumulative weighted degree-seconds for each body region. Results: We recruited 52 male participants (mean age = 36, 39; sd = 10, 9.5) for the study and lost five during the follow-up period, resulting in total 33 participants in the intervention group and 14 in the control group. Observations were not complete for all participants, thereby resulting in sample sizes of 32, 43 and 25 in the different work scenarios. For the scenario of loading the luggage at the luggage wagon the adjusted difference between intervention and control group for the weighted cumulative musculoskeletal load of the back was -1,455 weighted degree-seconds (°s) (95%-CI -2,517 – -393), 2,227 °s (1,644 – 2,810) for the load of the knees and 813 °s (-523 – 2,150) for the load of the shoulders. After Bonferroni correction for nine tested hypotheses, only the results for the knees were statistically significant. There were no significant differences in the other two scenarios.Conclusions: The intervention induced behavioural changes in some working scenarios. Physical load decreases for the back and increases for the knees. Trial registration: DRKS00024583