The development of hamstring strength over the course of a simulated soccer match

by Dominic Michael Rasp, Florian Kurt Paternoster, Michael Zauser, Jan Kern, Ansgar Schwirtz

Hamstring strain injuries are a prevalent burden in soccer. Low strength, muscle fatigue, and inter-limb differences in hamstring strength are associated with hamstring injury risk. Previous research shows increased hamstring injury incidence in soccer at the end of each half or the end of the match, respectively. This study aims at evaluating the aforementioned risk factors of hamstring injury over the course of a simulated soccer match. Ten active soccer players carried out the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test, during which hamstring strength of both legs was assessed on seven occasions via the optimized 90:20 Isometric Posterior Chain Test. Hamstring strength of each limb and inter-limb differences in hamstring strength over the course of the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test were parameters of interest. Repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the development of hamstring strength and limb-asymmetries in hamstring strength during the simulated soccer match. Compared to pre-match values, hamstring strength was significantly decreased after 15 and 30 minutes of simulated soccer match for the non-dominant and dominant leg, respectively. There were no further variations in hamstring strength within the simulated soccer match for either leg. We did neither measure significant recovery of hamstring strength to pre-match values at the beginning of the second half, as suspected by previous research, nor inter-limb differences, or a deterioration of limb asymmetries in hamstring strength during the simulated soccer match. Players who only participate for a short period in a soccer match may be exposed to the same risk of suffering hamstring injury like players who compete for a longer duration. Decreasing hamstring strength partly depicts the pattern of hamstring injury incidences during soccer matches. Additional factors may influence the increasing hamstring injury rate at the end of each half or the later stages of a match, respectively.

Executive functioning is associated to everyday interference of pain in patients with chronic pain

by Nils Berginström, Sofia Wåhlin, Linn Österlund, Anna Holmqvist, Monika Löfgren, Britt-Marie Stålnacke, Marika C. Möller

Dysfunction in executive functions is common among patients with chronic pain. However, the relationships between executive functioning and pain management have not been extensively studied. In this study, 189 outpatients (160 women, 29 men; mean age 33.15) with chronic pain underwent an extensive neuropsychological assessment, including several tests of executive functions. In addition, all participants completed self-assessment questionnaires regarding pain and interference of pain in everyday life. After adjusting for effects of age, education, and depression, several aspects of executive functioning were significantly associated with self-assessed everyday interference of pain (rs = 0.13–0.22, all ps 0.05). This indicates that lower performance on tests of executive functioning was significantly associated with a higher degree of pain interference and a lower degree of life control. Pain characteristics such as pain intensity, pain duration, and pain spreading were not associated with executive functioning. These results suggest that preserved executive functions are related to better coping with pain, but not directly to the pain itself, in patients with chronic pain. Depression was also associated with self-management of pain, indicating that patients with lower executive functioning in combination with depression may need special attention during rehabilitation.