The Behaviour of Home Advantage during the COVID-19 Pandemic in European Rink Hockey Leagues.

The primary purpose of the present study was to compare the home advantage (HA) and the home team performance in the most relevant European rink hockey leagues (Spanish, Portuguese and Italian), considering the presence or absence of spectators in the competition venues due to the effect of COVID-19 restrictions. The sample was composed of 1665 rink hockey matches (654 from the Spanish league, 497 from the Portuguese league, and 514 from the Italian league) played between the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 seasons. The HA and match variables comparisons were established using several negative binomial regression models. Results showed that the effect of HA did not disappear despite playing without spectators but decreased from 63.99% to 57.41% (p = 0.002). Moreover, the comparison of the match variables showed that playing with spectators benefited local teams' performance, especially in the Portuguese and Italian leagues. Playing with spectators favoured local team performance in rink hockey matches, which is more evident in some analysed leagues. However, as HA does not disappear entirely without spectators, it is necessary to study other relevant performance factors that are not directly or indirectly attributable to crowd behaviour in rink hockey performance analyses.

Guillain-Barré-Strohl syndrome and COVID-19: Case report and literature review.

In recent months, the new beta-coronavirus has caused a pandemic with symptoms affecting mainly the respiratory system. It is established that the virus may play a neurotropic role and in recent months several cases of Guillain-Barré-Strohl syndrome (GBS) have been reported in patients infected with COVID-19. We report the case of a 54-year-old patient with acute demyelinating polyneuropathy during infection by SARS-CoV-2 who progressed clinically to require assisted ventilation. After several weeks of specific symptomatic treatment, the patient had a favorable outcome. In conclusion, despite being a rare complication, we think it is important to consider the possibility of diffuse involvement of the peripheral nervous system in patients with COVID-19 to adjust clinical monitoring and treatment in these cases.