The 2004 Olympic Games: physiotherapy services in the Olympic Village polyclinic

Abstract

Objective:First, to document the injuries sustained during the 2004 Olympic Games in a sample of patients visiting the physiotherapy department of the Olympic Village polyclinic. Second, to provide information and data about the physiotherapy services for planning future Olympics and other mass gatherings.Design:Observational study.Setting:Olympic Village polyclinic.Participants:457 patients aged 15–72 years visited the physiotherapy department from 30 July through 30 August.Results:The department’s workload was at a peak during the last 15 days of the Olympic Games (periods B and C). The most common injuries were overuse injuries (47.3%). The most common pathology for physiotherapy attendance was myofascial pain/muscle spasm (32.5%), followed by tendinopathy (19.2%) and ligament sprain (18.7%). The most prevalent site of injury was the thigh (21%), followed by the knee (14.1%) and the lumbar spine (13.5%). Most injuries had symptoms of <7 days’ duration. The geographical region with the greatest demand for physiotherapy services was Africa (40.6%). Most patients were athletes (74.8%), although team officials accounted for a considerable number (14%).Conclusions:The smallest national teams—especially those from developing countries—were more likely to take advantage of services, probably because the larger teams had their own medical and physiotherapy staff. The characteristics of patients, their sustained injuries and the subsequent treatment varied by the accreditation status of the patients. The physiotherapy department’s workload was dependent on the Olympic Games schedule.

Impact of athletic recovery parameters of hemodynamics in disabled powerlifters with cerebral palsy

“…(2006) and Dec (1979) claim that no research on bodily reactions as regards cardiac capacity of powerlifters with disability has been carried out, and use of the outcome of research on able-bodied sportsmen diminishes efficacy of their application in the training of sportsmen with disability [7,12] This study was performed to shed more light on training athletes with CP. The aim of the work was to examine of the impact of athletic recovery treatment on blood pressure and heart rate of disabled power-lifters with CP in sport-medical classes CP 4,5,6,7,8 with normal function of the upper extremities.…”

“…Therefore, not only monitoring health condition and hemodynamic parameters during exercise but also the proper recovery after training seems to be very important. Moreover, proper planning of athletic training and complex recovery treatment is a vital issue for athletes in general as well as those with disabilities [6][7][8][9][10][11] There is still not enough data regarding the effectives of training in comparison to the impact on the body physiology. Scoon GS.…”

Dental Service in 2008 Summer Olympic Games

“…However, it is found that more and more participants seek dental care during the Olympic Games 2–4. Besides physiotherapy, dental care becomes the second busiest service provided in the polyclinic of the Olympic Village (OLV) 5. It is very important to estimate how many athletes and/or coaches may need dental care during the period of the Games; which days are the peak time of the dental care during the period; and what kind of dental treatment might be required.…”

Queixas musculoesqueléticas e procedimentos fisioterapêuticos na delegação brasileira paralímpica durante o mundial paralímpico de atletismo em 2011

“…Athanasopoulos et al 10 described the physiotherapy services performed during the Olympic Games of 2004, and found out that the athletics modality was the one which presented the most injuries, representing 51.1% of the services performed by the physiotherapy sector during the competition.…”

“…These two modalities corresponded in the study by Lopes et al 21 to approximately 40% of all the procedures, which may be attributed to the characteristics of the most frequent injuries and even more for being acute injuries. The ultrasound was also frequently used in the services of the Physiotherapy Department in the Polyclinic during the Olympic Games in Athens 10 .…”