OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of injuries occurred during training and/or competition in triathlon athletes at SESC Triathlon Caiobá-2011. METHODS: One hundred and ninety athletes participated in the study (153 males and 37 females). RESULTS: Athletes reported time of practice between 3 to 6 years (20%), training frequency of 5 days per week (48%), at least one injury during trainings (76%). The prevalence of injuries according to the sports category was: running (79%), cycling (16%) and swimming (5%). The most injured region during training (39%) and competition (46%) was the calf. Female athletes reported 92% of injuries during running training and 35% of those injuries were on ankle and foot. During competition only two athletes reported injuries. Muscle injury was the most prevalent (54%) among male athletes, followed by tendon (19%), ligament (17%) and bone (9%) injuries. Among female athletes prevalent injuries were: 32% muscle, 32% bone, 32% tendon and only 4% ligament injuries. CONCLUSION: Skeletal muscle injuries were the most commom lesions during running training, however, male athletes reported mostly calf injuries, while female had mostly ankle and foot injuries. Level of Evidence III. Study of Non-Consecutive Patients; Without Consistently Applied Reference ''Gold'' Standard.

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INTRODUCTION: Among Parkinson's disease (PD) motor disabilities, postural and balance alterations are important parameters to physical therapists who need to choose specific, targeted therapies for their patients. Among many therapy options, virtual therapy is studied as to whether it can be a viable rehabilitation method. OBJECTIVE: To verify the applicability of virtual rehabilitation in PD patients for the improvement of their balance and quality of life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six volunteers, diagnosed to be in Stages II and III of PD (Hoehn and Yahr Scale), were recruited for this study. Patients (65 ± 13 years old) participated in activities involving Wii Fit, for a total of twelve interventions, twice per week. Clinical and qualitative methods were used for the data collection for the initial and final evaluations: Borg's Scale, Berg Functional Balance Scale, Time Up and Go, anterior and lateral functional reach and Nottingham's Scale were performed during the study. Penguin Slide, Ski Slalom, Soccer Heading and Table Tilt were the Wii games selected as a form of virtual therapy. RESULTS: The collected data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. Motor skill, functional capacities and quality of life were analyzed as variables of the patients' balance. Statistically significant differences were found in the following tests: Borg's Scale (p = 0.0464), Berg Functional Balance Scale (p = 0.0277), lateral functional reach to the right (p = 0.0431*) and lateral functional reach to the left (p = 0.0277). CONCLUSION: It is believed that exercises with virtual reality therapy can be a useful tool to improve the balance in PD patients.

Introduction: The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form (ASES), often used in research in Brazil, although translated and adapted to the Portuguese language, had not had its validity and reliability tested yet. Objective: To assess the validity, reliability, and internal consistency of the ASES-PT for shoulder dysfunction. Materials and methods: Fifty individuals (26 women; mean age, 39 ± 13 years) participated in the validity assessment, and 38 (19 women; mean age, 37 ± 13 years old) in the reliability assessment, all having shoulder dysfunction. The participants completed the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH), and the ASES-PT on two occasions with an interval of seven days. The convergent validity was assessed by use of the Spearman's rank correlation coeffi cient (ρ), and the analysis of the intrarater reliability used the intraclass correlation coeffi cient (ICC). The internal consistency was assessed by using Cronbach's alpha. Results: The ASES-PT scores correlated with the DASH scores (ρ = −0.69, P = 0.000) and with the "physical functioning" (ρ = 0.50, P = 0.000), "role limitation due to physical health" (ρ = 0.43, P = 0.002) and "bodily pain" domains (ρ = 0.60, P = 0.000) of the SF-36. The intrarater reliability of the ASES-PT proved to be adequate (ICC = 0.75, P = 0.000). The internal consistency (0.794) was satisfactory. Conclusion: The validity and reliability study of the ASES-PT supports its use for assessing shoulder dysfunction.

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