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Context: Although occupational injuries for police officers cannot be prevented, factors that contribute to musculoskeletal injury risk could be better identified to inform preventative interventions. Previous research has supported screening tools such as the functional movement screen (FMS) and Y-Balance Test (YBT) as possible indicators of musculoskeletal injury risk. The purposes of this study are to (1) examine the relationships between age, dynamic balance, and functional movement in police officers and (2) determine how much variance in functional movement is predicted by age and dynamic balance. Methods : This study was conducted in a university research laboratory as part of an ongoing collaboration with a local police department. All data for the current study were collected across 2 separate laboratory visits within a 14-day period. Participants: Thirty- five active-duty police officers (31 men and 4 women; mean [SD], age 33.4 [9.4] y, height 177.4 [8.0] cm, body mass 88.4 [15.3] kg) volunteered to participate in this study . Main Outcome Measures : Functional movement was assessed using the FMS, and FMS overall scores were calculated. Dynamic balance was assessed via the YBT, and lower quarter Y-Balance Test scores (LQYBT%) were calculated. Results : There was a significant negative correlation between FMS overall score and age ( r = -.641, P <.001 ) Correlations between FMS overall score and LQYBT% and between LQYBT% and age were not statistically significant. Age and LQYBT% scores significantly predicted FMS overall scores (F2,32 = 11.162, P < .001), accounting for 41.1% of the variance in FMS overall scores (R²= All ) with age being the only significant predictor . Conclusions : This study confirms that age and FMS overall score have a strong, negative relationship, suggesting that age may be a contributing factor to movement quality and may lead to an increased risk of musculoskeletal injury within this unique population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attitudes and beliefs of parents about sport specialization may indicate why youth athletes decide to specialize. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between sport specialization level, ice hockey position, and the parent/guardians' attitudes and beliefs on sport specialization. Our results demonstrate that goalies were the most likely to specialize, and parents of specialized ice hockey players tend to believe that sport specialization helps their child achieve future sporting aspirations. Increased sport specialization may put ice hockey goalies at an increased risk for overuse injuries, and parents' beliefs about sport specialization may impact their child's sporting behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Immediate athletic trainer (AT) availability for acute injuries is essential as worse long-term outcomes are associated with delays in receiving medical care. Several factors have been found to influence AT availability between secondary schools, but few studies have evaluated how medical coverage varies between athlete groups., Objective: The purpose of this project was to identify factors that impact the time to AT evaluation following acute sport-related injury in secondary school setting., Design: Cross-Sectional Study., Setting: Retrospective analysis of de-identified patient records via the Athletic Training Practice-Based Research Network., Patients: High school athletes diagnosed with an acute sport related injury during in-season play from 2010-2023., Main Outcome Measure: Time to AT evaluation was measured as the number of days between injury onset, reported by the patient, to AT evaluation., Results: This report consists of 17,354 patient cases representing 20 different sports. Overall, 46.9% (n=8,138) of patients who sustained an injury during in-season play were evaluated by an AT the same day (range=0-14days). Significant group differences were reported for sex (p <. 001), setting (p <. 001), and sport level (p < .01), with females and in-game injuries associated with longer times to AT evaluation. Freshmen were evaluated sooner than JV (p < .01) and varsity (p < .001) athletes. No difference was observed between JV and varsity athletes (p=0.34)., Conclusions: Almost half of patients received medical care within 24 hours following an acute injury during in-season play, highlighting how qualified health care is accessible for many student athletes through ATs in the secondary school setting. Differences in time to AT evaluation may be attributable to sex discrepancies in immediate medical coverage between sports and injury reporting patterns among athletes.

Research indicates that the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) can be used to measure functional movement quality and characterize musculoskeletal injury risk in tactical populations. Although body composition has been linked to chronic disease in police officers, the link between body composition and functional movement quality has not been explored in this population. As such, the purposes of the study were to examine: (a) the effect of body mass index (BMI) on functional movement, and (b) determine the significance of fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) in predicting functional movement among active-duty police officers. Thirty-five active- duty police officers (31 male, 4 female; mean ±SD, age: 33.4 ±9.4 years, height: 177.4 ± 8.0 cm, weight: 88.4 ± 15.3 kg) were recruited to participate in this study, as part of a larger study on police fitness. All demographic data, BMI, FM, FFM, and FMS composite score (FMS CS) were obtained over two data collection sessions. With age held as a significant covariate, the results of the one-way ANCOVA revealed no significant effect of BMI category on FMS CS ( p = 0.077). The linear regression analysis results suggest that FM and FFM contributed 36.9% variance in FMS CS while controlling for age ( p < 0.001). FM was a significant individual predictor of FMS CS ( p < 0.001), while FFM was not a significant individual predictor of FMS CS ( p = 0.111). The current results reinforce the importance of police officers body composition management for health and functional movement quality across a career.

Context: Although occupational injuries for police officers cannot be prevented, factors that contribute to musculoskeletal injury risk could be better identified to inform preventative interventions. Previous research has supported screening tools such as the functional movement screen (FMS) and Y-Balance Test (YBT) as possible indicators of musculoskeletal injury risk. The purposes of this study are to (1) examine the relationships between age, dynamic balance, and functional movement in police officers and (2) determine how much variance in functional movement is predicted by age and dynamic balance., Methods: This study was conducted in a university research laboratory as part of an ongoing collaboration with a local police department. All data for the current study were collected across 2 separate laboratory visits within a 14-day period., Participants: Thirty-five active-duty police officers (31 men and 4 women; mean [SD], age 33.4 [9.4] y, height 177.4 [8.0] cm, body mass 88.4 [15.3] kg) volunteered to participate in this study., Main Outcome Measures: Functional movement was assessed using the FMS, and FMS overall scores were calculated. Dynamic balance was assessed via the YBT, and lower quarter Y-Balance Test scores (LQYBT%) were calculated., Results: There was a significant negative correlation between FMS overall score and age (r = -.641, P < .001). Correlations between FMS overall score and LQYBT% and between LQYBT% and age were not statistically significant. Age and LQYBT% scores significantly predicted FMS overall scores (F2,32 = 11.162, P < .001), accounting for 41.1% of the variance in FMS overall scores (R2 = .411) with age being the only significant predictor., Conclusions: This study confirms that age and FMS overall score have a strong, negative relationship, suggesting that age may be a contributing factor to movement quality and may lead to an increased risk of musculoskeletal injury within this unique population.