Carlos Mata

Participation in mountain sports and nature-based activities has grown substantially in recent decades, including in Portuguese mountain areas such as Peneda-Gerês and Serra da Estrela. These envir...

A crescente popularidade da escalada tem sido acompanhada pelo aumento da ocorrência de lesões desportivas. Este estudo analisou a prevalência de lesões em escaladores portugueses, considerando os contextos de prática e níveis de experiência. A amostra foi constituída por 130 praticantes (91 do sexo masculino e 39 do sexo feminino), distribuídos por três níveis de experiência: iniciantes (n=53), intermédios (n=35) e experientes (n=42). Os dados foram recolhidos através de um questionário de morbidade referida, permitindo caracterizar a ocorrência, a localização e o mecanismo das lesões desportivas. Globalmente, 75 escaladores (57.6%) referiram pelo menos uma lesão nos últimos três anos, não se verificando diferenças entre sexos em contexto outdoor (p=0.21) ou indoor (p=0.29). Observaram-se diferenças significativas entre níveis de experiência em contexto outdoor (p=0.01), com maior prevalência de lesões nos escaladores experientes (38%) face aos iniciantes (4%), diferença não observada em contexto indoor (p=0.49). A mão e ombro foram as regiões mais afetadas, sendo as distensões musculares as lesões mais frequentes. O esforço de execução de força surgiu como o principal mecanismo associado às lesões, enquanto as quedas indoor diferiram entre grupos (p=0.02), afetando sobretudo iniciantes. Os resultados reforçam a necessidade de estratégias de prevenção ajustadas ao nível de experiência e ao contexto de prática.

Introduction: This study aimed to build and validate a proposal for safety and emergency material and equipment adjusted to the practice of mountain sports in Portugal. The proposal was developed through documentary analysis, literature review, and expert consultation. Methods: The validation of the contents of the proposal was carried out using the Delphi technique, with the participation of 30 experts, male (N = 18) and female (N = 12), aged between 32 and 61 years (M = 42.50; SD = 7.29), with a mean of 16.63 ± 5.60 years of experience, divided into 4 groups: (i) pre-hospital trainers; (ii) pre-hospital nurses; (iii) pre-hospital physicians; (iv) higher education teachers in the field of mountain sports. The 1st version of the proposal was structured in 7 areas and included 29 items (material and/or equipment). The final version of the proposal was structured in 8 areas (general material, measuring equipment, burns, trauma, respiratory, medication, communications, and survival kit) and included 44 items (material and equipment). Results: The proposal showed Content Validity Index (CVI) values of 100%. Concerning the reliability and validity of the proposal, intraclass correlation coefficient values of 0.986 (excellent) were found for technical importance and 0.983 (excellent) for contextual fit. All values show a high level of inter-expert agreement. Conclusion: The validated proposal will be an appropriate tool for mountain sports technicians to use in order to promote safety, reduce accidents and their consequent morbidity, and reduce the activation of rescue teams.

There is no expectation to suppress all accidents in the outdoor recreation sector; nevertheless, it is expected that all possible safety measures are taken in order to minimize the risk of accidents. The objective of this study was to systematize the knowledge regarding recommended and used safety measures and risk assessments for technicians and outdoor recreation practitioners. We conducted a systematic review on PubMed, BVS, SciELO, Science Direct, ABI/INFORM, Spinger, Web of Knowledge, and Esmerald full text databases, up to February 2021. The eligible criteria followed the PICOS strategy; the included risk assessment studies on outdoor recreation (according to its definition) had methodological quality, were indexed, and peer reviewed. Ten studies, from ten countries, fulfilled these specifications, which focused on different approaches. Five studies focused on risk perception, four studies focused on safety practices, injuries, and risk assessment; three studies addressed safe behaviors; two studies addressed equipment- and risk matrix-related themes. We concluded that there was a concern for this topic, and the 28 mentioned measures could provide important information regarding health and prevention. These measures could be used to develop safety strategies and risk reduction, aimed at reducing accidents in outdoor recreation activities. In order to evaluate the pertinence and importance of the mentioned measures, namely risk perception, safe practices, sport injuries, risk analysis, safe behaviors, as well as equipment and risk assessment matrices, further investigation is needed using experimental or observational designs. These strategies and procedures can contribute to enhanced interventions by technicians with higher security and quality, and therefore, improved well-being and satisfaction of practitioners.

El desarrollo y crecimiento del turismo ha llevado al aumento de la práctica de los deportes en la naturaleza y aventura, con un riesgo asociado. En este estudio de revisión sistemática, se objetivó investigar el conocimiento producido en la última década, referente al tema de la seguridad y gestión del riesgo en los deportes de naturaleza y aventura. Utilizamos las siguientes fuentes: bases de datos electrónicas (web of knowledge, b-on, rcaap), y disertaciones. Las palabras clave utilizadas fueron: "Riesgo"; "Riesgo en las actividades al aire libre"; "Riesgo en el deporte aventura"; "Riesgo en el deporte de aire libre"; "Seguridad y gestión del riesgo en el deporte"; "Seguridad en las actividades de aventura" "Seguridad y gestión del riesgo en el deporte aventura. De las 40 producciones científicas listadas, sólo 33 atendían a los criterios de inclusión: estudios empíricos de los últimos 10 años, referentes a disertaciones académicas, artículos científicos o libros. Resultaron en 33 producciones seleccionadas, comprendiendo 17 estudios internacionales y 16 nacionales. The development and growth of tourism has increased the practice of nature and adventure sports, which is directly correlated to the risk inherent to the unpredictability of the environment and human reliance. In this exploratory systematic review, we set out to search for insight attained in the last decade, regarding safety and risk management in outdoor sports. We use the following sources: electronic databases (web of knowledge, b-on, rcaap), plus master’s and doctoral dissertations. The keywords used in our research were, in Portuguese, English and French: “Risk”; “Safety and risk management sport”; “Safety and risk management in adventure sports”; “Risk in outdoor activities”; “Risk in adventure sports”; “Safety in adventure activities”. From the 40 articles selected, only 33 attended to the necessary criteria: empirical studies of the past 10 years, pertaining academic dissertations, scientific articles or books. It resulted in 33 selected readings, comprising 17 international studies and 16 national.

Introduction The practice of sports has shown several benefits among adolescents. In Taekwondo, athletes train in barefoot, but the ground can be equipped with or without a tatami. Considering the number of jumps inherent in Taekwondo practice, it is unclear if in the absence of the tatami, the internal load on musculoskeletal structures trigger bionegative effects.

Introduction Mechanical loads lead to the production of biopositive or bionegative effects according to their magnitudes and frequencies. In Taekwondo, adolescent athletes train in barefoot and the ground may be equipped with tatami or not.