Effects of chronic pain in highly competitive athletes on the body schema, motor performance and humor states

Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2008v10n2p214 Body schema (BS) is the capacity to recognize the parts and dimensions of the body blindfolded. Over and underestimation are alterations of this awareness. The presence and intensity of a chronic pain can interfere in the BS and also change moods. We assessed the BS of high competitive athletes (men and women), with chronic pain, so as to identify the effects of the pain on the motor agility and on their moods. Thirty-six individuals were divided into two groups: 1) active, without pain (n=20) and 2) athletes with chronic pain (n=16). We used the Image Marking Procedure (IMP) and the Kinaesthetic Size Estimating Apparatus (KSEA) to assess the BS. Tender point examination was performed, the motor agility through the Grooved Pegboard test and the moods through the POMS test. The BS of the groups showed underestimation for the height and underestimation for the width of the other segments, mainly the waist. The group with pain presented a signifi cant difference between the genders: the men presented more awareness of the width between the shoulders and the waist; the women between the trochanters. The KSEA showed overestimation in all the body parts in the group without pain, and the group with pain underestimation (except for the width of the waist). The number of painful points was no different between the groups. The motor agility was greater in the women with pain. With regard to the mental health, the men with pain presented predominance of fatigue and confusion whereas the women showed anger. We concluded that chronic pain did not interfere in the body schema, in their moods, nor did it reduce the motor performance of the high competitive athletes of this study.