Postural control in football players with vision impairment: Effect of sports adaptation or visual input restriction?

Abstract Aim: To assess the postural control performance of football 5-a-side (FFS) players, comparing them with sighted players. Methods: Eight FFS players and 7 sighted futsal players were included. Postural control tests included feet together stance (FTS) and single-leg stance (SLS) tasks, performed on rigid and foam surfaces. Sighted players performed the tests with open (EO) and closed (EC) eyes. Area of displacement (Area) and average velocity (Vavg) were calculated from the center of pressure time-series coordinates. Results: On both surfaces conditions, a significant difference between visually impaired football 5-a-side players and sighted EO players was observed during FTS (higher Vavg for visually impaired football 5-a-side players; p < 0.04) and SLS (higher Area and Vavg for visually impaired football 5-a-side players; p < 0.01). No differences between visually impaired football 5-a-side players and sighted EC players were found. Differences between sighted EO vs. sighted EC were observed during FTS on the foam surface, and in SLS on both surface conditions (p < 0.03). Conclusion: FFS players' postural control performance is similar to sighted players with EC but worse than sighted players with EO, suggesting their postural control performance can be simply explained in terms of visual restriction.

Impacto do hipotireoidismo subclínico na resposta cárdio-pulmonar em esforço e na recuperação / Impact of subclinical hypothyroidism in cardiopulmonary response during effort and its recovery

No intuito de identificar as manifestações clínicas do hipotireoidismo subclínico (HS) durante o estresse físico e na recuperação, foram comparadas 15 portadoras de HS com 16 mulheres saudáveis através de um teste cárdio-pulmonar em esteira ergométrica. Análise das médias obtidas através do Mann-Whitney U Test. As pacientes obtiveram valores menores no pico do exercício para fração expirada de O2 (14,90 ± 1,05 x 16 ± 1,14 por cento; p = 0,014); na variação da pressão arterial sistólica (34,33 ± 17,92 x 52,50 ± 17,22; p = 0,009); na duração do exercício (8,83 ± 2,91 x 14,5 ± 5,63 min; p = 0,0005), na carga máxima de teste (11,6 ± 4,22 x 18,94 ± 5,45 por cento; p = 0,0004), além de tendências na razão de trocas gasosas e na freqüência cardíaca de pico. Entre o primeiro e o terceiro minutos de recuperação, houve uma redução média de 0,71 mmHg na pressão arterial diastólica para essas pacientes, comparado a 5,33 mmHg das mulheres saudáveis (p = 0,0009) (recuperação mais lenta). Pode-se inferir que o HS é capaz de causar disfunções cárdio-pulmonares, com maior sensibilidade para os parâmetros previamente citados.

In order to identify the characteristics of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) during physical stress and its recovery, 15 SH patients and 16 healthy women were compared by a treadmill cardiopulmonary test. Means of variables were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U test. Patients obtained lower values for peak expired fraction of O2 (14.90 ± 1.05 x 16 ± 1.14 percent; p = 0.014); systolic blood pressure variation (34.33 ± 17.92 x 52.50 ± 17.22; p = 0.009); exercise duration (8.83 ± 2.91 x 14.5 ± 5.63 min; p = 0.0005), maximal test load (11.6 ± 4.22 x 18.94 ± 5.45 percent; p = 0.0004), as well as tendencies in gas exchange ratio and peak heart rate. Between the first and the third recovery minutes, there was a reduction of only 0.71 mmHg in the diastolic blood pressure, whereas there was a 5.33-mmHg reduction to control group (p = 0.0009) (slower recovery of patients). It is presumable that SH may cause cardiopulmonary dysfunctions, with higher sensibility to the parameters previously cited.