Report

Thermoregulatory responses during competitive wheelchair rugby match play.

A player's physical impairment, rather than their activity profile, is related to the amount of thermal strain experienced during competitive wheelchair rugby.

Lead academic:
Dr Katy Griggs
Additional academics:
Professor Vicky Tolfrey
Funder:
The Peter Harrison Foundation

Introduction:

Wheelchair Rugby (WCR) allows individuals with tetraplegia (spinal cord injury (SCI) at the cervical region of the spinal cord) and other physical impairments, (e.g., cerebral palsy, multiple amputations, and neuromuscular disease) to compete alongside one another.

Individuals with an SCI are thermoregulatory impaired proportional to their lesion level due to a lack of central sudomotor and vasomotor control below their lesion level. Despite this noted thermoregulatory impairment, no study to date has examined the combination of thermal strain of WCR players during match play and the associated activity profiles. 

Study aims:

1) To compare the thermoregulatory responses and activity profiles of players with an SCI to those players with a NON-SCI during competitive WCR.

2) To determine in those players with an SCI whether their classification, activity profile and/or physical attributes were related to the thermal strain experienced during competitive WCR. 

Methods

  • 17 elite wheelchair rugby players were divided into 2 groups: players with a cervical spinal cord injury, (n=10) or non-spinal related physical impairment (n=7).
  • Participants completed an incremental exercise test to exhaustion on a treadmill in the laboratory for determination of peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak). Activity profiles, measures of core and skin temperature, heart rate and perceptual responses were taken during a competitive match.
  • Participants ingested a telemetry pill ~6–8 h prior to the start of the match. Core temperature (Tcore) was measured by Cortemp data recorders at the end of each quarter.
  • A radio-frequency-based indoor tracking system was used to provide real-time analysis of WCR activity profiles. Total distance travelled (m), distance travelled relative to time spent on court (m∙min−1) and mean and peak speed were determined for each participant.

Main findings:

  • During competitive WCR, SCI players covered ~17% less distance and pushed on average ~10% slower than NON-SCI players.
  • SCI players experienced a significantly greater change in core temperature.
  • Players with a spinal cord injury were under greater thermal strain during wheelchair rugby match play, because of their reduced heat loss capacity, due to their physical impairment and not because of their activity profile.
  • SCI players with greater functional ability (high point players) tend to produce more heat during play and be predisposed to a greater Tcore response than low point players.
  • Coaches and support staff should be aware of the greater thermal strain experienced by these players and implement appropriate cooling strategies and tactics.

Reference

Griggs KE, Havenith G, Price MJ, Mason BS, Goosey-Tolfrey VL. Thermoregulatory Responses during Competitive Wheelchair Rugby Match Play. Int J Sports Med. 2017 Mar;38(3):177-183. DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-121263

 

Image credit: © Paralympics GB