RESUMEN
The aim of the present study was to identify the different interventions for hamstring flexibility among university students with hamstring tightness and to determine the better treatment method. Design: Systematic review and network meta-analysis. An electronic search of the databases: Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane, EMBASE, CINAHL, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) was conducted. A total of 11 articles were included in the review. Of these articles, 02 were case-control studies, 02 were interventional pre-post studies and 07 were RCTs. The 07 RCTs were included for network meta-analysis. The findings of the initial network meta-analysis (NMA) which compared control i.e., no intervention with other interventions revealed that all the physical therapy interventions: stretching, electrotherapy combined with stretching, massage, dry needling and neurodynamic exercises combined with stretching and neurodynamics alone were superior to control. Since most studies included stretching as an intervention, a second NMA was conducted to compare the different physical therapy interventions with stretching. The results suggested that US-guided neuromodulation (WMD: -5.80, CI: -12.11, 0.51) had large effects on hamstring flexibility compared to stretching and stretching combined with electrotherapy i.e., cryotherapy and ultrasound (WMD: 0.25, CI: -1.14 to 1.64), MET (WMD: 3.10, CI: -3.28 to 9.48) and massage (WMD: 8.05, CI: -11.90 to 27.18) were inferior to stretching. To further investigate the effects of these interventions three meta-analysis were performed. The results revealed that stretching was more effective (SMD 2.27, 95% 0.72 to 3.81, p < 0.01) compared to control (no intervention). Neurodynamic exercises combined with stretching and neurodynamics alone were found to be superior to stretching alone ((SMD -0.69, 95% -1.35 to -0.03, p < 0.01) and stretching combined with electrotherapy was not significantly better than stretching alone ((SMD -0.07, 95% -1.00 to 0.87, p=0.88). Neurodynamic exercises combined with stretching and neurodynamics alone showed to be superior to the other physical therapy interventions in improving hamstring flexibility for hamstring tightness among university students, however, the reliability of the evidence is low.
RESUMEN
Dancing is a demanding form of art that consists of a purposefully selected series of human movements presented in a rhythmic way. However, Dancers represent a medically under-served occupational group who are at high risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Injury prevention among dancers has become challenging due to the dearth of research in the field. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among Sri Lankan traditional dancers is vital of need. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the prevalence of common musculoskeletal injuries among university undergraduates who follow Sri Lankan traditional dancing. This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study that included undergraduate students from four local universities. Stratified sampling method was used to select 293 participants and an online questionnaire was used to collect data. Among the three types of traditional dancing styles, many were following Kandyan dancing: 45.1%. Out of the study sample, 190 dancers (64.84%) reported injuries with males indicating the highest rate of injuries (36.87%). The most common injury types reported were strain and sprain. Kandyan dancers reported the highest number of injuries (p<0.025), contributing to the highest rate of injury due to strains (19.45%). Twirls and prolonged mandiya positions are found to be the common mechanisms that cause injuries. Only 10.6% of the participants approached physiotherapy treatments after an injury. According to the findings of the current study, there is a significant rate of dancing-related injuries among Sri Lankan traditional dancers.
