Cervical Motor Control Exercises in Strength and Perception of Effort in Electronic Sports Players

Effectiveness of a Physical Therapy Intervention Through Cervical Motor Control Exercises in the Improvement of Strength and Perception of Effort in Electronic Sports Players. A Randomized Clinical Study

Introduction. One of the most common injuries in competitive esports professionals is dorsolumbar and neck pain, due to the effort caused by the maintenance of the site for long periods of time. Cervical motor control exercises recruit the deep musculature by increasing its strength and reducing muscle fatigue.

Aim. Evaluate the effectiveness of motor control exercises in cervical muscle fatigue and strength, in electronic athletes from 18 to 25 years.

Study design. Randomized clinical trial, simple blind. Methods. 30 electronic athletes will be randomly assigned in two groups: experimental (which will perform 3 sessions of 3 motor control exercises) and control (which will not perform any type of intervention). The intervention will last 6 weeks, with 3 weekly sessions of 10 minutes each. The study variables are the muscle strength of the deep cervical muscle (measured by a stabilizer pressure gauge) and the subjective perception of the effort (Borg scale).

Expected results. The aim is an improvement in the muscular strength of deep cervical muscles, together with a decrease in subjective perception of exertion.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Sports Physical Therapy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Control motor intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Madrid, Spain, 28670
    • European University of Madrid

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 25 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Electronic sportsmen
• Male sex
• From 18 to 25 years
• That at the time of the study participate in national competitions
• That they have not suffered a musculoskeletal pathology in the last 4 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Athletes taking anti-inflammatory drugs that may influence the intervention
• Players who are allergic to nylon (main component of the evaluation device)
• That they have not signed the informed consent document.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental group; Each session will last 10 minutes, taking place 3 days a week, over a period of 6 weeks. The intervention will take place at the beginning of the training session. The intervention will be carried out in 3 sessions with 3 exercises of 15 repetitions, and with breaks of 40 seconds between each series and exercise. Exercise 1. In quadruped position, keeping the back flat, making an isometric contraction of the transverse muscle, and raising one arm and one leg contralaterally. Exercise 2. Training of the deep cervical flexor muscles, supine. Players will move their heads slowly towards craniocervical flexion. Exercise 3. In standing position, an ocular-cervical coordination exercise by means of a cranio-cervical flexion, adding a rotation, guided by an eye feedback provided by the physiotherapist by means of a laser projected on a wall.	Other: Control motor intervention; The intervention through motor control will consist in the application of the protocol described by Hidalgo-Peréz et al. The objective of the application of the technique is to produce an increase in the strength of the deep cervical musculature. The exercises will be performed with the subject in different positions: supine, quadrupedic and standing position. The physiotherapist will be placed in standing position in front of the subject. The intervention will be carried out in 3 sessions with 3 exercises of 15 repetitions, and with breaks of 40 seconds between each series and exercise.
No Intervention: Control group; Athletes in the control group will be asked to follow their usual warm-up routine.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline strength of the deep cervical musculature after treatment and at 1 month	An assessment will be carried out with a pressure gauge (Stabilizer model). It will be used according to the protocol indicated by Hudswell et al. The athlete will be positioned supine. The pressure gauge will be placed on the stretcher in the posterior cervical area, asking the subject for a craniocervical flexion. The unit of measure of this measuring instrument is mmHg. A higher score indicates greater strength.	Screening visit, within the first seven days after treatment and after one month follow-up visit

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline subjective perception of effort after treatment and at 1 month	It will be done by administering the Borg scale. With this scale, the perception of effort will be measured. After the intervention, we will ask the athlete to assign a number from 0 to 10 to represent the subjective feeling of the amount of work done. The scoring range is from 0 to 10 points, where a higher score will indicate a greater perception of effort.	Screening visit, within the first seven days after treatment and after one month follow-up visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Investigación en Hemofilia y Fisioterapia

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): September 24, 2020
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): November 20, 2020
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 10, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 4, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 5, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 6, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 29, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 25, 2020
• Last Verified: September 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Cervical; Physiotherapy; Motor Control; Stabilizer; Esports
• Other Study ID Numbers: CMOTOR

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No