Clinical Measures of Adolescent Softball Players With and Without Upper-Extremity Pain: A Preliminary Study.

CONTEXT: Upper-extremity (UE) pain is a concern among softball adolescent athletes. However, research on preseason screening of demographic characteristics and clinical measures among those with and without UE pain among adolescent softball athletes is underreported. This study sought to present functional outcomes and clinical measures of shoulder and hip complex flexibility, range of motion (ROM), and strength in adolescent softball athletes with and without UE pain. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Sixty-seven athletes were assessed at the start of the spring season. The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow Questionnaire was administered to determine UE function. UE measurements included shoulder ROM, flexibility, and strength; lower-extremity measurements included hip ROM and strength. These variables were reported for players with and without UE pain as mean and SD. Independent samples t tests were performed to analyze differences between the groups. RESULTS: Thirteen (19.4%) athletes reported UE pain during preseason screening. Mean Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow Questionnaire score among athletes with UE pain was 58.0 (17.6) compared with 97.1 (6.9) for athletes reporting no UE pain (P < .001). Athletes with UE pain presented with significantly less dominant side external rotation ROM (UE pain: 106.5 [10.4], no UE pain: 114.6 [11.3]) and total ROM (UE pain: 163.7 [14.5], no UE Pain: 174.8 [14.3]). CONCLUSION: These findings inform clinicians on function and preseason clinical measures in adolescent softball athletes who present with or without UE pain. Athletes with UE pain demonstrated lower outcome scores indicating likely impact on overall UE function. These athletes also appeared to demonstrate UE ROM differences compared with athletes without UE pain. Further research is needed to investigate larger sample sizes and positional differences at baseline and throughout the season to determine if clinical measures used in the current study are risk factors for pain and injury.

Influence of Exercise Time of Day on Salivary Melatonin Responses.

BACKGROUND: Sleep deprivation negatively affects cognition, pain, mood, metabolism, and immunity, which can reduce athletic performance. Melatonin facilitates sleepiness and may be affected by the proximity of exercise to sleep. PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of exercise time of day on salivary melatonin (s-melatonin) responses. METHODS: Twelve regularly exercising men (age 20.75 [0.62] y, height 1.75 [0.04] m, mass 73.63 [10.43] kg, and maximal oxygen consumption 57.72 [6.11] mL/kg/min) participated in a randomized, crossover design. Subjects completed 3 protocols-morning exercise (09:00 h), afternoon exercise (16:00 h), and no exercise (CON)-at least 5 d apart. Exercise sessions consisted of 30 min of steady-state running at 75% of maximal oxygen consumption. Saliva was collected via passive drool at 20:00, 22:00, and 03:00 h following all sessions. RESULTS: Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed significant time (P = .001) and condition (P = .026) effects for melatonin. Levels of s-melatonin were significantly increased at 03:00 h compared with 20:00 and 22:00 h for all conditions. Post hoc analyses revealed that s-melatonin at 22:00 h was significantly higher after morning exercise (16.5 [7.5] pg/mL) compared with afternoon exercise (13.7 [6.1] pg/mL) sessions (P = .03), whereas neither exercise condition significantly differed from the control (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: It appears that exercising in the afternoon may blunt melatonin secretion compared with morning exercise. If sleep is an issue, morning exercise may be preferable to afternoon exercise.