Standards of Conditions During Preparations for the Summer Paralympic Games Between 2004 and 2012 Assessed by Polish Athletes

Prevalence and incidence of health problems and their characteristics in Brazilian para athletes: A one-season single-center prospective pilot study

BACKGROUND

Para athletes experience high prevalence and incidence of health problems related to sport. Despite this, there are few longitudinal studies.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the characteristics, prevalence, incidence, and severity of health problems in para athletes from one of the Brazilian Paralympic Reference Centers during a sports season and to compare the prevalence of health problems between para athletics, para powerlifting, and para swimming.

METHODS

This prospective pilot study was conducted from October 2019 to March 2020. The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Questionnaire on Health Problems was used to record injuries and illnesses every week for 24 weeks. The characteristics, prevalence, incidence, and severity of health problems were described for each modality. The prevalence of health problems was compared among the three sport modalities.

RESULTS

Thirty-five para athletes participated. Most of the injuries occurred in the shoulder, and most illnesses caused respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. The average weekly prevalence and the incidence rate of health problems were 40.6% (95% CI 17.0-64.4) and 12.7 (95% CI 9.6-15.9) per 1000 athlete hours, respectively. Para powerlifting had the highest prevalence of all and substantial health problems; para swimming had the lowest prevalence of injuries; and para athletics had the lowest prevalence of illnesses.

CONCLUSIONS

This group of Brazilian para athletes showed a high prevalence and incidence of health problems throughout the season. Para athletics, para powerlifting, and para swimming each had a different prevalence of injuries and illnesses.

The Sport Training Process of Para-Athletes: A Systematic Review

The aim of this systematic review was to identify the main factors affecting the training process of para-athletes, as well as the barriers they encounter. For this purpose, a systematic review was carried out in accordance with the PRISMA declaration guidelines, in which six databases were analysed (Web of Science, Scopus, SportDiscus, Pubmed, Eric, and PsycInfo). A total of 19 articles were selected for analysis after applying the inclusion criteria. The results show that the figures of the coach and families in the sporting and social contexts, respectively, had a relevant influence on the training process of para-athletes. Furthermore, in terms of psychological aspects, stress reduction, the importance of self-esteem, and motivation were highlighted. On the other hand, there are some barriers hindering the training and performance of athletes, which are related to the lack of financial support, lack of visibility in the media, and dependence on other people. These considerations can be of great help to coaches and competent institutions in the field (Paralympic committees, federations, etc.) in order to improve the training process and performance of para-athletes and to eliminate the barriers encountered by this group, promoting policies which facilitate access to sports for people with disabilities.

Polish Paralympic Sports in the Opinion of Athletes and Coaches in Retrospective Studies

The study aimed to identify the limitations observed in Polish Paralympic sport depending on the environment in which athletes train on a daily basis. The study included 581 persons divided into two basic groups. The first group consists of athletes (n = 324) and coaches (n = 88) appointed to the national team by associations and unions providing sports training exclusively for athletes with disabilities. The second group consisted of athletes with disabilities (n = 146) and their coaches (n = 23), who work in national sports associations working for both able-bodied and disabled people. The study used the diagnostic survey method with a questionnaire developed by Sobiecka. The difficulties indicated by the respondents referred to various aspects related to the activity in professional sport. Particularly emphasised difficulties were related to organizational and financial limitations as well as the management and coaching staff. At the same time, it was demonstrated that the environment was a differentiating factor between the studied groups of athletes and coaches.

The Development of Medical Care in Polish Paralympic Sport

Precursory preparticipation examination among athletes took place during the interwar period of the 20th century at university centres, which laid the foundation for present sports and medical counselling. The first study was founded in Lvov in 1924. Initially, care was provided for non-disabled athletes, despite the fact that international sport organizations for the disabled athletes were established in those years. The interest in medical care of athletes with disabilities increased at the end of the previous century, along with the development of Paralympic sport. At the beginning of the 21st century, entire chapters devoted to this subject appeared in sports medicine textbooks. In 2018, in the book titled “Adaptive Sports Medicine”, it was finally confirmed that so-called ‘pre-participation evaluation’ is important in assessing the health status of all athletes with disabilities. However, in Poland, up until the end of the 20th century, people with various disabilities practicing sports were practically not interested in sports medicine. Analysis of available documentation and domestic literature suggests that the development of medical care in Polish Paralympic sport took place in four periods, ranging from rehabilitation to the implementation of mandatory preparticipation examination in the field of sports medicine. Moreover, the Paralympic Games in Atlanta (1996) proved to be an important event in this aspect. For the first time, the Polish representation was accompanied by a specialist in sports medicine and a massage therapist. Apart from this, a breakthrough in the development of medical care was the establishment of the Polish Paralympic Committee in 1998, which undertook many initiatives in this area. However, it was only in 2012, following the Regulation of the Minister of Health from 2011, that obligatory preparticipation examination in the field of sports medicine were enforced for all Polish athletes and representatives of the Paralympic team. But unfortunately, to this day, medical care is stock and limited to the years of paralympic games.