Detection of Upper Limb Asymmetries in Athletes According to the Stage of the Season—A Longitudinal Study

Álvaro Velarde-Sotres, Antonio Bores-Cerezal, Marcos Mecías-Calvo, Martín Barcala-Furelos, Silvia Aparicio-Obregón and Julio Calleja-González
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Álvaro Velarde-Sotres: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Antonio Bores-Cerezal: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Marcos Mecías-Calvo: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Martín Barcala-Furelos: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Silvia Aparicio-Obregón: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Julio Calleja-González: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 01007 Vitoria, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Sports injuries can affect the performance of athletes. For this reason, functional tests are used for injury assessment and prevention, analyzing physical or physiological imbalances and detecting asymmetries. The main aim of this study was to detect the asymmetries in the upper limbs (right and left arms) in athletes, using the OctoBalance Test (OB), depending on the stage of the season. Two hundred and fifty-two participants (age: 23.33 ± 8.96 years old; height: 178.63 ± 11.12 cm; body mass: 80.28 ± 17.61 kg; body mass index: 24.88 ± 4.58; sports experience: 12.52 ± 6.28 years), practicing different sports (rugby, athletics, football, swimming, handball, triathlon, basketball, hockey, badminton and volleyball), assessed with the OB in medial, superolateral, and inferolateral directions in both arms, in four moments of the season (May 2017, September 2017, February 2018 and May 2018). ANOVA test was used with repeated measures with a p ≤ 0.05, for the analysis of the different studied variances. Significant differences were found ( p = 0.021) in the medial direction of the left arm, between the first (May 2017) and fourth stages (May 2018), with values of 71.02 ± 7.15 cm and 65.03 ± 7.66 cm. From the detection of asymmetries, using the OB to measure, in the medial, superolateral and inferolateral directions, mobility and balance can be assessed. In addition, it is possible to observe functional imbalances, as a risk factor for injury, in each of the stages into which the season is divided, which will help in the prevention of injuries and in the individualization of training.

Keywords: functional tests; injury prevention; functional assessment; asymmetries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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