The 2004 Paralympic Games: Physiotherapy Services in the Paralympic Village Polyclinic

Abstract

Background: This work studied the relationship between changes in cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) through the middle cerebral artery (MCA) with non-invasive ventilatory threshold (VT) measurements determined by gasexchange during upright maximal cycle ergometry. Methods: Fourteen (M=8, F=6) healthy, young (23.1 ± 3.9 yr) participants volunteered for this study and performed a cycle ergometer protocol to maximal exertion. The CBFV was monitored continuously through the MCA by transcranial Doppler ultrasound and was assessed at rest, VT, and at maximal exertion (VO 2 max). Ventilatory threshold was assessed using three common methods: 1) V-slope, 2) nadir of the ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide production (V E /VCO 2), and 3) maximal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (P ET CO 2). Results: Analysis of variance demonstrated significant (p<0.001) main effects for CBFV, volume of oxygen consumed (VO 2), volume of carbon dioxide produced (VCO 2), and P ET CO 2. Bonferroni post hoc analysis demonstrated an increase in CBFV from rest to a peak CBFV (p<0.01) with a decrease from peak CBFV to VO 2 max (p<0.01). Stepwise linear regression suggest the only predictor of a reduction in CBFV during maximal exercise is the nadir of V E /VCO 2 (p<0.01). Conclusion: These data demonstrate an increase in CBFV during dynamic upright exercise up to approximately 78% VO 2 max after which CBFV decreases significantly to VO 2 max. This decrease in CBFV was closely related to common non-invasive measures of ventilatory threshold suggesting a close relationship between cerebral blood flow and the threshold for ventilatory compensation.

A Descriptive Study of Self‐Reported Injury in Non‐elite Adaptive Athletes

“…There have been very few studies investigating injuries incurred in adaptive rowing, wheelchair rugby, and sled hockey . Although there are several prior studies involving wheelchair basketball athletes , most studies have focused on elite‐level athletes with some not stating the level of athlete competition. Moreover, there is limited literature investigating injuries incurred by the pediatric adaptive athlete population .…”

The epidemiology of injuries in powerlifting at the London 2012 Paralympic Games: An analysis of 1411 athlete‐days

“…Athanasopoulos et al. () showed that powerlifting injuries were among the most commonly seen injuries by physiotherapists at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, although no attempt was made to obtain exposure data. Willick et al.…”

“…Available literature is scarce for powerlifting injuries in athletes with impairments. Athanasopoulos et al (2009) showed that powerlifting injuries were among the most commonly seen injuries by physiotherapists at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, although no attempt was made to obtain exposure data. Willick et al (2013) demonstrated an IR of 19.3 injuries/1000 athlete-days over the 14 days, including non-competition and competition period, of the London 2012 Paralympic Games from the same cohort; however, this did not include any additional analyses of the powerlifting injuries.…”

“…Data regarding injuries for para‐athletes participating in powerlifting are scarce. Injuries in powerlifters competing at the Paralympic Games have been mentioned only briefly in two prior reports (Reynolds et al., ; Athanasopoulos et al., ); both looked at only a subset of all injuries to all athletes. Because of this paucity of data, the first prospective, comprehensive epidemiologic reports of injuries seen in summer Paralympic sports, including powerlifting, were published following the London 2012 Games (Derman et al., ; Willick et al., ).…”

Description of injuries and associated factors of Colombians athletes with physical and sensory - visual disabilities

“…In various studies, in addition to the overall prevalence of injury information, the specific prevalence is reported by type of disability or sports. It should be clarified that the follow-up time of studies are very different and range from short observation periods (14 days) (Athanasopoulos et al, 2009), to monitoring for long periods but only during competitions (Ferrara et al, 2000;Silva et al, 2013a;2013b) or as ours, for a continuous period including all stages of professional life, making comparison more difficult.…”