Decrease in Attentional Performance After Repeated Bouts of High Intensity Exercise in Association-Football Referees and Assistant Referees

Abstract

Referees and assistant referees are submitted to high physical stress during matches. Pressure to make decisions in front of large crowds is another potential stressor. These two stressors can impair attention executive control, depending on physical fitness and individual vulnerability or resilience to situational pressure. Error percentage for referees and assistants may reach around 14% during a soccer match. Although previous studies have suggested that soccer referees and assistants should take cognitive assessments, they are only required by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to demonstrate knowledge of the rules and pass annually in a fitness test (FIFA-Test). This study aimed to assess attention performance in referees and assistants before and after the mandatory FIFA-Test. It is hypothesized that the high physical demands associated with the pressure to pass the FIFA-Test would interfere with attention performance. The sample included 33 referees and 20 assistants. The Continuous Visual Attention Test (CVAT) consisted of a 15-min Go/No-go task. Performance in the CVAT is based on four variables: omission and commission errors, reaction time, and variability of reaction time (VRT). Failure in the CVAT was defined by a performance below the 5th percentile of the age- and sex-matched normative data in at least one variable of the CVAT. Before the FIFA-Test all participants performed the CVAT. The second CVAT began 3–7 min directly following completion of the FIFA-test. Considering only the officials who passed both the FIFA-Test and the first CVAT (19 referees and 15 assistants), 44% (9 referees and 6 assistants) exhibited a performance decline in the second CVAT. A significant increase in VRT was found after the high intensity exercise. As increase in VRT is thought to reflect executive dysfunctions and lapses of attention, we concluded that physical fitness alone may not be enough to help officials cope with the physical and contextual stresses associated with the FIFA-Test. These data suggest that over 35% of soccer referees and their assistants who were considered physically able to referee matches may not be mentally prepared for the attentional demands of refereeing soccer matches.

Decisions and reasonings of top-class handball referees under physical load

“…This complies with previous research indicating that the correctness decreases under maximal physical load, respectively at the end of a match (Ahmed et al, 2017;Elsworthy et al, 2014;Emmonds et al, 2015;Gomez-Carmona & Pino-Ortega, 2016;Mallo et al, 2012;Oudejans et al, 2005;Samuel et al, 2019). The decrease also fits with recent studies pointing out an impairment of cognitive processes under maximal physical load (Schmidt et al, 2019). Furthermore, in study 1, the decision correctness was lowest at the beginning of the test, which corresponds to previous research showing that referees were less accurate at the beginning of a match and that they made more correct decisions during the match (Emmonds et al, 2015;Larkin et al, 2014;Mascarenhas et al, 2009).…”

“…Results are in line with previous research indicating that specific processes could be negatively affected by physical load (e.g. information processing efficacy; Schmidt et al, 2019;Tomporowski, 2003). In contrast, reasoning correctness increased particularly under medium physical load in study 2.…”

“…The improvement in running distance reflects an enhanced endurance performance, which could, in turn, have led to a differently subjectively perceived fatigue (Enoka & Duchateau, 2016). As previous research indicates that a higher endurance capacity is associated with higher attention (de Sousa et al, 2019) likewise that a higher physical fitness level is associated with better cognitive performance (Luque-Casado, Zabala, Morales, Mateo-March, & Sanabria, 2013), referees may have been more aware and concentrated in study 2 (Morillo et al, 2017;Schmidt et al, 2019), which, ultimately, might have resulted in more correct decisions under different physical load conditions in relation with a familiarisation with the YYTR. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses revealed a smallest effect size to which both studies are sensitive of ηp 2 = 0.10 (calculations revealed similar values for both studies).…”

“…Research suggests that perceptual-cognitive functions can be facilitated or impaired through physical load, depending on the task and the exercise intensity (Chang, Labban, Gapin, & Etnier, 2012). Hence, RDM might also be enhanced or impaired by physical load (Bloß et al, 2020;Schmidt et al, 2019). Currently, there are only a few studies investigating the relationship between physical load and RDM in sports, but none in handball.…”

Incidence of Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction Following Inhalational Vs. Total Intravenous General Anesthesia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

“…Most of these psychometric tests aim at a speci c domain of cognitive function (Supplementary Table 1). Many of these tests have been validated in different clinical scenarios, including the postoperative period (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34). It seems reasonable to hypothesize that different psychometric tests, targeting different cognitive domains, might differ in their ability to diagnose POCD.…”