Game Performance Evaluation in Male Goalball Players.

Goalball is a Paralympic sport exclusively for athletes who are visually impaired and blind. The aims of this study were twofold: to describe game performance of elite male goalball players based upon the degree of visual impairment, and to determine if game performance was related to anthropometric characteristics of elite male goalball players. The study sample consisted of 44 male goalball athletes. A total of 38 games were recorded during the Summer Paralympic Games in London 2012. Observations were reported using the Game Efficiency Sheet for Goalball. Additional anthropometric measurements included body mass (kg), body height (cm), the arm span (cm) and length of the body in the defensive position (cm). The results differentiating both groups showed that the players with total blindness obtained higher means than the players with visual impairment for game indicators such as the sum of defense (p = 0.03) and the sum of good defense (p = 0.04). The players with visual impairment obtained higher results than those with total blindness for attack efficiency (p = 0.04), the sum of penalty defenses (p = 0.01), and fouls (p = 0.01). The study showed that athletes with blindness demonstrated higher game performance in defence. However, athletes with visual impairment presented higher efficiency in offensive actions. The analyses confirmed that body mass, body height, the arm span and length of the body in the defensive position did not differentiate players' performance at the elite level.

Balance Functional Assessment in People with Visual Impairment.

The aims of this study were twofold: to assess the level of balance of people with visual impairment against the BOT-2 standard scores for the able-bodied, and to identify in which trials subjects had the greatest difficulties in maintaining balance with respect to the degree of vision loss and age categories. One hundred twenty-seven subjects with visual impairment aged 6-16 years, participated in the study (68 girls and 59 boys). The division for partially sighted people (61) and the blind (66) was made according to the WHO classification. Functional balance assessment was made using a balance subtest from the Bruininks-Oseretsky test. Significant relationships were noticed between age and the level of balance (χ2 = 8.35 p <0,05), as well as between the degree of vision loss and the level of balance (χ2 = 24.53 p <0,001). The level of balance of almost all blind subjects was below (20%) or well-below (60%) the average for the able-bodied. The subjects' ability to maintain balance was not dependent on gender and was associated primarily with the degree of visual impairment and age. Partially sighted people had better balance than the blind and the decrease in visual acuity resulted in reduction of balance skills. The lowest level of balance was observed in blind students aged 7-11 years. Elaborating physical fitness improvement programs for children and adolescents with visual impairment, diversity of age, the degree of vision loss and limitations of ablility to maintain balance should be taken into account.