Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on an international sample of golfers with disabilities.

INTRODUCTION: Participation in adaptive sports can mitigate the risk for obesity and social isolation/loneliness in individuals with disabilities (IWDs). The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and related changes in physical activity exacerbated existing barriers to participation in adaptive sports. There is limited literature assessing the potentially disproportionate effect of pandemic-related changes to physical activity in IWDs. OBJECTIVE: To determine how golf benefits IWDs and understand the effect of changes to golfing habits during the pandemic. DESIGN: A survey was distributed to all registered players (n = 1759) of the European Disabled Golf Association (April 2021). It assessed participants' demographic information (age, sex, race/ethnicity, nationality, impairment, golf handicap), golf habits before/after the pandemic, and perceived impact of golf and COVID-19-related golf restrictions to physical/mental health and quality of life (QoL). SETTING: European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) worldwide database. PATIENTS: Responses were received from 171 IWDs representing 24 countries. Age 18 years or older and registration with EDGA were required for inclusion. INTERVENTIONS: Survey. OUTCOMES: Self-reported golfing habits, mental/physical health, and QoL. RESULTS: Mean participant age was 51.4 ± 12.9 years. Most respondents were amputees (41.5%) or had neurological diagnoses (33.9%). Pre-pandemic, 95% of respondents indicated that golf provided an opportunity to socialize, and most participants reported that golf positively affected physical/mental health and QoL. During the pandemic, more than 20% of participants reported golfing with fewer partners and 24.6% of participants reported playing fewer rounds per month (p < .001 for both); these findings were consistent across geographical region, ethnicity, and type of disability. Most participants (68.4%) perceived that their ability to golf had been impacted by COVID-19 and that these changes negatively affected their mental/physical health and QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Golf benefits the physical/mental health and QoL of IWDs internationally. Changes to golfing habits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected these individuals. This highlights the need to create opportunities for physical activity engagement and socialization among adaptive athletes during a global pandemic.

The global state of play: A study of the demographic characteristics of disability golfers.

BACKGROUND: Golf is a moderate-intensity physical activity that provides positive physical and mental health benefits. However, the inclusiveness of the sport for individuals with disabilities globally is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the demographics and disability characteristics of individuals engaging in disability golf globally. It was hypothesized that the majority of participants would be middle-aged, male, and from countries with higher gross domestic product, similar to the nondisabled population. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional analysis using European Disability Golf Association (EDGA) database. SETTING: Various international golf tournaments. PARTICIPANTS: Golfers (n = 1734) with disability from 44 countries registered with the EDGA (2017-2021). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOMES: Descriptive analyses of frequencies, distributions, and means differences of demographic characteristics (age, gender, type of disability, level of handicap, golf cart use, and country of origin) of golfers with disability were performed. Data provided analysis of the association between number of participants and a country's gross domestic product (GDP). RESULTS: Individuals had a mean age of 52.5 (±15.6) years: 1589 (91.6%) male and 145 (8.4%) female. Twenty-three countries had female participation. The most commonly reported primary disability diagnoses were neurologic (24.8%), orthopedic (21.4%), and amputation below the knee (14.4%). Neurologic impairments (24.7%) were most common in men and orthopedic impairments (29.7%) were most common in women. Individuals with neurological impairments (27.4%) most frequently required golf carts to play. The GDP of a country had a positive correlation (r = 0.68) with the number of registered golfers with disability. CONCLUSION: Golf is played by individuals with a variety of disabilities and provides numerous benefits. However, there is an underrepresentation of youth, women, and individuals with certain impairments and from lower-income countries. These are the potential areas of opportunity to improve engagement and inclusiveness of golf.

Risk-based analytical method transfer: application to large multi-product transfers.

As pharmaceutical companies adapt their business models, a new approach to analytical method transfer is needed to efficiently handle transfers of multiple products, associated with situations such as site consolidations/closures. Using the principles of risk management, a risk-based method transfer approach is described, which defines appropriate transfer activities based on a risk assessment of the methods and experience of the receiving unit. A key step in the process is detailed knowledge transfer from the transferring unit to the receiving unit. The amount of transfer testing required can be streamlined or eliminated on the basis of a number of factors, including method capability, receiving unit familiarity, and method past performance.

Initial steps towards an evidence-based classification system for golfers with a physical impairment.

PURPOSE: The present narrative review aims to make a first step towards an evidence-based classification system in handigolf following the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It intends to create a conceptual framework of classification for handigolf and an agenda for future research. METHOD: Pubmed was searched on three themes: "Classification in Paralympic sports", "Performance determining factors in golf" and "Impact of impairments on golf performance". IPC-regulations were gathered on the IPC-website and their official publications. RESULTS: In developing a classification system conform IPC-regulations, the main challenge is to identify the activity limitation caused by the impairment, not influenced by training, talent or motivation. Timing, accuracy and control, work per joint, range of motion, balance and flexibility are important performance determining factors in abled-bodied golf and should be considered when determining activity limitations in handigolf. Only five articles on handigolf were found, mainly addressing the asymmetric golf movement. Based on the present review, a conceptual framework for classification was developed, while a future research agenda was designated. The conceptual framework presents factors that are essential for sports performance categorized under "technology", "interface" and "athlete characteristics". It also includes impairment related factors essential for determining eligibility and classification. Ideally, measures to be used during classification need to be resistant against training, natural development of the athlete's talent and motivational changes. CONCLUSIONS: The conceptual framework and a multidimensional scientific research agenda will support further development of the knowledge base required for an evidence-based classification in handigolf, including multi-level analysis of player statistics, experimental analyses of biomechanics and modeling studies. Implications for Rehabilitation The main challenge in developing an evidence-based classification system conform IPC-regulations is defining eligibility criteria and sport classes based on activity limitation caused by only the impairment and not affected by training, talent and motivation. It is expected that a transparent classification system, a lively competition and admission to the Paralympic program will further promote participation in disabled golf. Timing, accuracy and control, work per joint, range of motion, balance and flexibility are of greater importance for golf performance in able-bodied golfers and expected to be of interest to incorporate in classification for handigolf. Side and level of amputation influence activity limitation in the asymmetric golf movement, and should be incorporated in classification. The proposed conceptual framework is fundamental to the research agenda that must further generate the knowledge-base to determine activity limitations caused by different impairments in handigolf and may serve as a guideline for other Paralympic sports in the development of evidence-based classification.

Coping with Meniere's disease: experience and benefits from the use of complementary and alternative medicine.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the significant events and persons prompting search for non-biomedical/complementary and alternative (CAM) ways to cope with the impact of Ménière's syndrome, the CAM therapies used and perceived benefits. METHODS: A narrative-based approach, with participants recruited from web sites and newsletters of two Ménière's Societies (in the UK and in Victoria, Australia) and searches of a monthly newsletter, Spin, for letters related to the use of CAM therapies. A thematic approach to data analysis was undertaken. RESULTS: Twenty personal, written stories were obtained and 23 letters. Commonly, critical events or changes in the condition provided the catalyst to seek alternative treatment, and sometimes significant others (a GP, CAM practitioner, friends, family). The accounts illustrate a range and variety of journeys that participants travelled in locating satisfactory ways to manage the condition, and the essential 'personal' nature of the experience and perceived benefits. No single CAM solution or pathway was evident. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest the importance of 'finding your own way', having a positive outlook and being proactive in regaining control over one's health, and the value of early recommendations to 'perhaps try alternative/ CAM treatments'.

The historical universal: the role of cultural value in the historical sociology of Pierre Bourdieu.

Best known for his pioneering study Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, in which the aesthetic attitude of disinterestedness is accounted for as the expression of a class ethos, Bourdieu has become something of an icon of relativism. In thus effecting a Bakhtinian 'discrowning' of official hierarchies of the arts, he is often celebrated for his concern to place all tastes, popular and high, on a similar footing, equally rooted in specific class practices. Only a careless inattention could support such a conclusion. From his early interventions in French cultural policy debates up to and including The Rules of Art and Pascalian Meditations (1996), Bourdieu has consistently repudiated the view that a sociological approach to questions of aesthetic judgment must result in a levelling form of relativism. In exploring why this should be so, this paper considers the issues at stake in the forms of 'historical universalism' that are associated with Bourdieu's account of the autonomy of the aesthetic sphere. It does so with a view to identifying some of the difficulties underlying his understanding of sociology as a historical practice.