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The aim of this project was to create a national database to determine sports-related sudden cardiac event (SCE) burden in Luxembourg. Systematic data collection was carried out from 2015 until 2019 (5 years). Cases of SCE met the following criteria: (1) any major cardiac adverse event, (2) occurring during or until one hour after a sports activity (3) on national territory or outside Luxembourg by a Luxembourgish resident or sports license holder. The victim or family were contacted to inquire on the SCE by means of a standardized questionnaire.In total, 43 SCE cases were registered. The incidence was 2.6 cases/year/100000 physically active inhabitants. The 43 events occurred in 41 persons (40 males, 1 female), at an average age of 49.7 years. Seventeen events were fatal. The most concerned sports were cycling (17 cases), followed by football (5), and running (4). Twenty-four victims suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, of which 16 received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Eight (33%) of those survived. The survival rate was highest in patients receiving immediate CPR after SCE. The incidence of SCE related to sports in Luxembourg is relatively high and mainly affects middle-aged men during cycling. Bystander CPR significantly improves the chances of survival.Key Words: Cardiac Arrest, SCE, CPR, Chances of Survival

A physical activity (PA) promotional campaign was launched in June 2018 to raise awareness of the health benefits of PA in patients with chronic diseases in Luxembourg. This study aimed to evaluate the behavior of general practitioners (GPs) regarding PA counselling before and after the campaign. The campaign consisted of advertisement broadcasts on national TV/radio in June and July 2018 and comprised a toolkit (flyers and a PA evaluation tool) sent in September 2018 to all medical doctors registered in Luxembourg. PA counselling behaviors were evaluated in 59 and 53 GPs who answered a standardized questionnaire before and after the campaign, respectively. Interviewed GPs declared having advised only a small proportion of their patients regarding PA participation before and after the campaign (29% and 24%, respectively; p

Purpose: The current criterion to evaluate 30-second side hop (SH) test performance following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is limited to the absolute number of jumps, neglecting the quality of execution. This study aims to assess the relevance of spatiotemporal and force plate derived parameters during the SH test.Methods: Seventeen patients nine months post-surgery and 27 healthy controls were instructed to realize a maximal number of jumps during 30 seconds over a 40 cm-distance. Spatiotemporal and force plate derived variables were recorded from two force plates: number of jumps, flight time, contact time, jump distance, vertical impact force, average and instantaneous vertical loading rate. Group (patients and controls) by leg (non-operated/first tested and operated/second tested) interactions were tested using a mixed model analysis of variance.Results: Patients performed a similar number of jumps compared to controls. No differences were found for spatiotemporal and force plate derived parameters, neither for lateral nor medial jumps. High interindividual spread of impact peak forces existed in both groups.Discussion: Patients 9 months following ACLR and successful rehabilitation can safely perform strenuous lateral hops similar to controls. Although the force plate derived parameters during the SH test were normalized compared to controls, impact peak forces outlined particularly high loading parameters in some participants. Applying biomechanical analysis in association to the commonly used clinical parameters helps to point out individual and potentially harmful loading strategies during the SH test.Key Words: Return to Sports, Functional Performance, Biomechanics, Knee Injury

Previous work has demonstrated the protective effect of shoe cushioning on injury risk in leisure-time runners, but most models currently available on the market have greater cushioning than those investigated so far. Also, the optimal level of cushioning and the role of cushioning on the forepart of the shoe for injury prevention are still unknown. The main aim of this study is to determine whether (1) current ‘extra soft’ cushioning material at the rear part of the shoe reduces injury risk compared with stiffer material and (2) cushioning under the forepart of the shoe also contributes to injury risk reduction. This randomised trial with a 6-month intervention will involve 1000+ healthy leisure-time runners who will randomly receive one of the three running shoe versions. Study shoe versions will differ in their cushioning properties (ie, stiffness) at the rear or the forepart. Participants will self-report any lower limb or lower back problems on a dedicated electronic system every week, while the system will collect training data from the participant’s sports watch. Time-to-event analyses will be used to compare injury risk between the three study groups and to investigate the association between the runner’s characteristics, cushioning level and position, training and injury risk. The study was approved by the National Ethics Committee for Research (Ref: 202405/02 v2.0), and the protocol has been registered on https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT06384872, 02/08/2024). Outcomes will be disseminated through presentations at international conferences and publications in peer-reviewed journals, popular magazines and specialised websites.

Organised youth sport has become increasingly professionalised, and the associated sports injury problem has received much attention lately. Sports injury prevention should rely on permanent surveillance and encompass the collection of epidemiological data, the establishment of risk factors, the implementation of prevention initiatives and the analysis of their effectiveness. Overall, injury incidence in youth sport is usually within a range of 1-10 injuries/1000 hours. About one fifth of all injuries are severe, implying a withdrawal from normal sport activity for at least 4 weeks, while up to 20% of all injuries are recurrences. Chronic overuse injuries amount to up to 40%, many of which concern episodes of traction apophysites, typical in youth sports. Risk factors can be extrinsic (e.g. sport context) or intrinsic (e.g. gender), modifiable (e.g. neuro-muscular control) or non-modifiable (e.g. previous injury). Injury risk is higher in team compared to individual sports and in competition compared to training. Active sports injury prevention initiatives have been introduced and tested in a number of controlled studies. Putting aside a possible publication bias, most results are encouraging, showing a possible reduction of injuries by 50% on average. Modern information technology can provide excellent solutions to assist in sports injury surveillance and prevention. One example of such an infrastructure is the Training and Injury Prevention Platform for Sports (www.tipps.lu) developed by the Sports Medicine Research Laboratory (CRP-Sant, Luxembourg).Key Words: sports injuries, injury incidence, injury mechanism, injury surveillance

Objective To investigate asymmetry in spatiotemporal and kinetic variables in 800+ recreational runners, identify determinants of asymmetry, investigate if asymmetry is related to greater running injury risk and compare spatiotemporal and kinetic variables between the involved and uninvolved limb at baseline in runners having sustained an injury during follow-up.Methods 836 healthy recreational runners (38.6% women) were tested on an instrumented treadmill at their preferred running speed at baseline and followed up for 6 months. From ground reaction force recordings, spatiotemporal and kinetic variables were derived for each lower limb. The Symmetry Index was computed for each variable. Correlations and multiple regression analyses were performed to identify potential determinants of asymmetry. Cox regression analyses investigated the association between asymmetry and injury risk. Analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to compare the involved and uninvolved limbs in runners who had sustained injuries during follow-up.Results 107 participants reported at least one running-related injury. Leg length discrepancy and fat mass were the most common determinants of asymmetry, but all correlation coefficients were negligible (0.01–0.13) and explained variance was very low (multivariable-adjusted R2

After many decades of effective control of stem rust caused by the Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici, (hereafter Pgt) the reported emergence of race TTKSK/ Ug99 of Pgt in Uganda reignited concerns about epidemics worldwide because ∼90% of world wheat cultivars had no resistance to the new race. Since it was initially detected in Uganda in 1998, Ug99 variants have now been identified in thirteen countries in Africa and the Middle East. Stem rust has been a major problem in the past, and concern is increasing about the risk of return to Central and East Asia. Whilst control programs in North America and Europe relied on the use of resistant cultivars in combination with eradication of barberry ( Berberis spp .), the alternate host required for the stem rust pathogen to complete its full lifecycle, the focus in East Asia was principally on the use of resistant wheat cultivars. Here, we investigate potential airborne transmission pathways for stem rust outbreaks in the Middle East to reach East Asia using an integrated modelling framework combining estimates of fungal spore deposition from an atmospheric dispersion model, environmental suitability for spore germination, and crop calendar information. We consider the role of mountain ranges in restricting transmission pathways, and we incorporate a representation of a generic barberry species into the lifecycle. We find viable transmission pathways to East Asia from the Middle East to the north via Central Asia and to the south via South Asia and that an initial infection in the Middle East could persist in East Asia for up to three years due to the presence of the alternate host. Our results indicate the need for further assessment of barberry species distributions in East Asia and appropriate methods for targeted surveillance and mitigation strategies should stem rust incidence increase in the Middle East region.

COVID-19 vaccination raised concerns about its potential effects on physical performance. To assess the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on the perceived change in physical performance, we conducted an online survey among elite athletes from Belgium, Canada, France and Luxembourg, with questions about socio-demographics, COVID-19 vaccination, perceived impact on physical performance and perceived pressure to get vaccinated. Full vaccination was defined as two doses of mRNA or vector vaccine or a heterologous vaccine scheme. Among 1106 eligible athletes contacted, 306 athletes answered the survey and were included in this study. Of these, 72% perceived no change in their physical performance, 4% an improvement and 24% a negative impact following full COVID-19 vaccination. For 82% of the included athletes, the duration of the negative vaccine reactions was ≤3 days. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, practicing an individual sport, a duration of vaccine reactions longer than 3 days, a high level of vaccine reaction and the perceived pressure to get vaccinated were independently associated with a perceived negative impact on physical performance of more than 3 days after the vaccination. The perceived pressure to get vaccinated appears to be a parameter associated with the negative perceived change in the physical performance and deserves further consideration.

In regular times, implementing exercise-based injury prevention programs into the training routine of high-level and professional athletes represents a key and challenging aspect to decrease injury risk. Barriers to implementing such prevention programs have previously been identified such as lack of resources, logistic issues or motivation. The COVID-19 pandemic associated with restrictions on daily life dramatically impacted sports participation from training to competition. It is therefore reasonable to assume that such lockdown-like context has exacerbated the challenge to implement exercise-based injury prevention programs, potentially leading to a greater musculoskeletal injury risk. In this narrative review, recommendations are proposed for building an expertise- and evidence-based Standard Operating Procedure for injury prevention in lockdown-like contexts for high-level and professional athletes. The following recommendations can be provided: (1) assess the global and sport-specific risks in the light of the ongoing cause of isolation; (2) adapt remote training materials and programs; (3) ensure regular quality communication within the staff, between athletes and the staff as well as between athletes; (4) follow the athlete's mental well-being; and (5) plan for a safe return-to-sports as well as for an ongoing monitoring of the load-recovery balance. These key domains should further be addressed to comply with local policies, which are subject to change over time in each individual country. The use of these recommendations may improve the readiness of athletes, coaches, physicians and all sports stakeholders for future lockdown-like contexts.