Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on injury incidence and burden in amateur rugby union.

OBJECTIVES: To analyse match and training injury incidence rates and burden from pre-(2019) and post-COVID-19 (2021) seasons; To analyse injury related variables as mechanisms, type, body locations, severity and the differences of the most common injuries according to playing positions. DESIGN: An observational study was performed according to the consensus statement on injury definitions and data collection from World Rugby. Injury variables were collected retrospectively for 2019 season and prospectively during 2021 season. SETTING: Argentinian amateur rugby club. PARTICIPANTS: Male (n = 110) senior amateur rugby players. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Match and training time loss injuries, time of exposures and injury related variables. RESULTS: Training incidence rate during post-lockdown season (4.2/1000 player-training-hours) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the pre-lockdown season (0.9/1000 player match hours). Post-lockdown hamstring strain injury (HSI) and concussions match incidence rates were significantly (p < 0.001; p < 0.05 respectively) higher in comparison with 2019 season. Regarding playing positions, backs showed a significantly increase (p < 0.05) in HSI match incidence rate post lockdown. CONCLUSIONS: After the COVID-19 lockdown, training incidence rate was significantly higher than previous season (2019), showing the impact of the lockdown restrictions. Coaches and medical staff must consider that players probably need more lead-in time for conditioning and more monitoring after periods of no rugby.

Effects of long-haul transmeridian travel on physiological, sleep, perceptual and mood markers in Olympic team support staff.

The objective of this study was to holistically examine the impact of long-haul transmeridian travel (LHTT) on perceptual, mood, sleep and physiological markers in Olympic team support staff travelling to Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. An observational descriptive study design was used. Nine support staff members of the Irish Olympic team (2 M/7 F; age 34.3 ± 8.3 y (mean ±SD)) embarked on a long-haul (LH) eastward flight across eight time-zones from Ireland to Japan (approx. 24 h total travel time), to work at the Irish Team's 2020 Summer pre-Olympic Games camp, postponed to July 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic. Perceived jet lag and travel fatigue symptoms, mood states and salivary markers for circadian rhythm and stress were assessed in the morning and evening during the week prior to travel as baseline (BL) measures and on days 1 to 8 (C1-C8) and day 15 (C15) post-travel. Night-time sleep (duration and quality) was monitored via actigraphy monitors and self-report sleep diaries. Participants perceived themselves to be significantly jet lagged for six days post-travel (p < .05). Morning sCort decreased by 66% on C1 and remained significantly lower than BL until C6 (p ≤ .03). On arrival participants perceived sleep to be worse than BL on arrival (C1, C2, C4, C5; p ≤ .04), with significantly shorter sleep duration (C2, C3, C6; p ≤ .01) and lower sleep efficiency (C2, C6; p ≤ .04) recorded by actigraphy, all normalizing by C7. Negative changes in mood states were evident in the evening time following LHTT, with significant elevations in confusion (C2, C3, p ≤ .02), fatigue (C2, C3; p ≤ .03) and depression (C3, C7; p < .05) and reduction in vigour (C2, C6, C7; p < .05). Following LHTT in an eastward direction across eight time-zones, it took seven days for perceived jet lag, physiological markers for circadian rhythm and sleep to normalize in Olympic team support staff. Despite alleviation of jet lag and fatigue and return of sleep to normal by C15, vigor remained low, indicating a "submerged" mood profile in these Olympic team support staff. These findings highlight the need to put strategies in place before and after LHTT for the Olympic Games to assist Olympic team support staff to maximize sleep, minimize stress and assist with expediating recovery from jet lag and travel fatigue, allowing them to perform optimally in supporting Olympic athletes in their final preparations for the Games.