Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-128). / Background: Previous clinical research of football players participating in international tournaments has mainly focussed on documentation of injuries and risk factors for injury. However, despite anecdotal evidence that medical symptomatology, illness and medical complaints are common during travel to international competitions, the epidemiology of medical conditions before, during or after elite level football tournaments, has not been well documented. Objective: The aims of the research presented in this dissertation were: 1) to determine the prevalence of medical conditions in elite football players 2) to determine the incidence and nature of medical conditions and illness in the elite football players participating in an international tournament (2009 FIFA Confederations Cup tournament) and 3) to provide data for the medical planning and management of elite football players during future events. Methods: The first component of this dissertation consisted of a comprehensive review of the current literature describing the prevalence and incidence of medical conditions and illness in athletes. The original research component of this dissertation consisted of two parts, and both studies were conducted during the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament, which was held in South Africa in June 2009. All the players in the 8 participating teams (23 players per team – a total of 184 players) were approached by the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) through their team physicians and invited to participate as research subjects in the studies. Part 1 (descriptive cross-sectional study): Prior to the tournament, all the players completed a previously validated medical history and illness questionnaire. Furthermore, the questionnaire contained sections on player demographics, training history, medication and supplement use, life-style history, family history of atopy, current and past history of medical conditions and detailed sections pertaining to upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), allergies, asthma, exercise associated muscle cramping (EAMC) and history of previous surgery. Part 2 (prospective cohort study): During the 15 days of the tournament each team physician was requested to complete a daily injury, medical illness and treatment log for each player. Finally, data on the environmental conditions at each venue were collected, as recorded by the South African Weather Service. Results: The main findings in part 1 of this study were: 1) exercise associated muscle cramping (EAMC) was the most prevalent medical condition reported, with 64 (46%) of the players reporting a history of EAMC, 2) the prevalence of allergy was 27 (20%) and asthma 6 (4%), 3) the prevalence of dermatological conditions was 16 (12%), 4) the prevalence of gastro-intestinal conditions was 10 (7%) and central nervous system conditions was 6 (4%), 5) URTI one week before the tournament was reported by 7 (5%) of the players, 6) 68 (49%) of the players reported a history of previous surgery and 7) 72 (52%) of the players reported the use of supplements or vitamins and 11 (8%) the use of medication. Knee surgery was the most common anatomical area operated with 33 (24%) of the players reporting previous knee surgery. This was followed by a much lower prevalence of ankle surgery, 8 (6%). In part 2 of the study, a total of 56 injuries and 35 illnesses were recorded during the tournament. The main findings in this study were: 1) an overall injury rate of 64.4 injuries per 1000 match hours or 2.1 injuries per match, 2) an overall rate of 2.7 injuries and 1.7 illnesses per 100 player days, 3) that 0.88 days were lost per injury and 0.46 days were lost per illness, 4) the lower limb was the most commonly injured body part, 5) 11 (20%) of the injuries reported were to the thigh, 6) 15 (44%) of the injuries reported were due to a contusion, 6) 13 (37%) of the illnesses reported were due to ENT conditions, and 7) 7 (20%) were due to respiratory tract symptoms. Summary and conclusion: Illness and injury are common during an international football tournament. The pattern of injury was similar to that previously reported. However, the novel finding of this dissertation was that illness is a significant component to the medical care to a travelling team and needs to be considered by team physicians managing the medical needs of elite football teams.

This study examined professional practice issues in sport psychology such as qualifications, credentialing, graduate training, and the scope of practice in order to address questions about who should be teaching and providing such services. We used frequencies, t-tests, and chi-square analyses to assess trends among licensed psychologists in the subdiscipline of sport psychology. Analyses show that 26.7% (n = 52) reported providing services to individual athletes and 17.9% (n = 35) to teams in which their work focused on directly improving sport performances. Additionally, 58.5% (n = 114) reported providing mental health services to individual athletes and 10.3% (n = 20) to sport teams. These results suggest services provided to individual athletes and groups/teams of athletes seem to emphasize mental health concerns. Regarding supervision, 18.5% (n = 36) indicated they had received supervision related to improving athletes' sport performance and 35.9% (n = 70) for mental health services they had provided. Another 17.5% (n = 34) indicated having provided supervision to other professionals who were working with athletes to improve their sport performance and 40.0% (n = 78) for those who were addressing athletes' mental health. Overall, 26 (13.3%) of the psychologists had published articles concerning sport and performance psychology in scientific journals; men (25.4%) were more likely than women (7.8%) to have done so, X 2 (1) = 11.26, p = .001. Issues related to training, professional involvement, and ethics in this growing field are discussed. Future directions for this research are also explored.

To the author’s knowledge, no research has earlier been done on the development of a sport specific strength measurement system for para kayak classification.Aim: In order to work in line with the International Paralympic Committee, to develop more evidence-based methods for classification, the overall purpose of this study was to design and develop a sport specific test battery to measure force in isometric contractions. It was also: (1) to test-retest the battery on able-bodied participants, to ensure the reliability of the method for further research and (2) to evaluate whether performing two or three trials is sufficient when testing the test battery for reliability. Method: Ten able-bodied participants volunteered to this study. All participants performed a test battery of four isometric strength tests. The participants completed three voluntary maximal isometric contractions for each exercise with a duration of 5 seconds, and a 30 second rest separating each trial. Data used in the analysis, was the mean value of two respectively three trials. The Shapiro-Wilk test of normality was used to assess the normality of the data. The level of significance when testing normality was set to p < 0.05. A dependent t-test and an intraclass correlations coefficient (ICC) with a 2-way mixed effects- model, absolute agreement, method 3.1 were used to assess the test-retest reliability for both trial 1-2 and trial 1-3. Results: All tests showed high reliability and no systematic error were found. The data were normally distributed. When analysing data from three trials, one test showed good reliability; knee extension left (ICC=0,77). All other data showed excellent reliability. When analysing data from two trials, two tests showed good reliability; leg press left (ICC = 0,88) and knee extension left (ICC = 0,78). All other data showed excellent reliability (> 90). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that all tests can reliably be applied in a classification system for para-kayak. Both of the methods, using three data points and using two data points, can be used when analysing the data.

Goal of this thesis is design and implementation of application for editing multimedia content used for entertaining fans during sport events on stadiums, which will provide easy to use and intuitive graphical user interface. The theoretical part contains description of multimedia data from the perspective of this thesis, namely statical images and video. It provides the overview of multimedia applications, ranging from low end video editors to hi end media control centers. At last the closer look into sport stadiums environment is given in perspective of used digital display devices and multimedia content.

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Introduction: The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity around the world has promoted researchers to identify ways to slow down or reverse this development. As a part of that work, the school-based obesity prevention project Rörlig Ungdom Nu (RUN) was initiated. Method: The RUN-project was implemented at schools on Hisingen, Göteborg. It was a cooperation between the local school authorities, the primary healthcare and a sport club. The project included 90-180 minutes extra physical activity during school-time each week for one year for children at the age of ten who was included in the study. The children were followed-up for another two years. As outcome measures, both factors related to obesity and health related fitness was measured. For obesity height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) were calculated as weight (kg) /height2 (m2), in addition waist circumference was also measured. As markers of health-related fitness all children conducted a Counter Movement Jump (CMJ) and a 10 m shuttle run test for aerobic fitness. The school nurses at each school monitored all measurements. To analyze the effect of the intervention, a series of linear and mixed models were fitted with BMI, waist circumference, CMJ and 10 m shuttle run as dependent variables To control for the possible confounding effects of age, weight and height they were also entered into the models, except when BMI was the dependent variable, then only age was included. Given that children grow and naturally change in both body composition and in fitness level the most interesting variable to evaluate the outcome of the study is the interaction term between group (intervention or control) and time of measurement. Results: In all, 971 children were included distributed on eight intervention schools (n=667) and six control schools (n=304). As expected, all children increased their BMI, waist circumference, CMJ and 10 m shuttle run over time, but this increase was not the same in both groups. The intervention group had a slower increase in waist circumference at both follow up measurement (p<0.05), and they also showed a more preferable outcome in the CMJ and the numbers of shuttle-runs between baseline and follow ups (p<0.001). There was no difference in BMI between the both groups. Conclusion: This study shows that it may be possible to prevent an unfavorable development of obesity if there is a broad approach to the problem, at least in a relative short-term perspective. The long-term effects of such a program is unknown and future studies should address that.   Keywords                                                                                                      Adolescents, children, physical activity, school   Thanks to Patrick Bergman my supervisor and my Family. / Inledning: Den ökade förekomsten av barn-obesitas världen över har gjort att forskare har försökt att identifiera vad som kan hjälpa till att bromsa den utvecklingen. Som en del av det arbetet genomfördes Rörlig Ungdom Nu (RUN). Metod: RUN genomfördes på skolorna på Hisingen, Göteborg. Det var ett projekt som genomfördes i samarbete mellan skolan, BK Häcken och Hisingens hälso- och sjukvårdsnämnd. I projektet ingick 90-180 minuter fysisk aktivitet varje dag under ett år, för de barn som var tio år. Barnen följdes upp under ytterligare två år. Som mätmetoder användes både antropometri och fysisk kondition. För antropometri användes Body Mass Index (BMI) som beräknades med vikt (kg) / längd2 (m2), dessutom mättes midjemåttet. För att mäta konditionen användes Counter Movement Jump (CMJ) och 10 meter shuttle-run. Samtliga mätningar utfördes av skolsköterskorna på skolorna. För att utvärdera effekten av interventionen, genomfördes en rad linjära och mixade modeller. För att kontrollera eventuella felkällor av ålder, vikt och längd användes de som förväxlingsfaktorer, förutom när BMI var den beroende variabeln då vikten exkluderas. Eftersom barn växer och mognar naturligt var det interaktionen mellan mättiden och gruppen (intervention eller kontroll) som barnen tillhörde, som var den viktigaste variabeln och mättiden. Resultat: Totalt inkluderades 971 barn på åtta interventionsskolor (n=667) och sex kontrollskolor (n=304). Som förväntat ökade samtliga grupper i BMI, midjemått, CMJ och shuttle-run, men det var inte samma ökning i båda grupperna. Interventionsgruppen hade en långsammare utveckling av midjemåttet vid båda uppföljningarna (p<0.05), och de visade också ett bättre resultat i CMJ och shuttle-runs mellan baslinje och uppföljning (p<0.001). Det var ingen skillnad i BMI mellan de båda grupperna vid uppföljningarna. Konklusion: Den här studien visar att det kan finnas möjlighet att förebygga och påverka en ogynnsam utveckling av obesitas, åtminstone i ett relativt kortsiktigt perspektiv. De långsiktiga effekterna av en sådan studie är okända och framtida studier bör undersöka detta vidare.   Nyckelord Barn, fysisk aktivitet, skola, ungdomar   Tack till Handledare Patrick Bergman och min familj.

Syfte och frågeställningar: Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur prestation på 3000m, uppskattad ansträngningsnivå, medel- och maxpuls påverkades efter intag av 3mg koffein/kg. Studien undersökte även testpersonernas koffeinkonsumtion kopplat till träning och tävling. Metod: Tolv elever från orienteringsgymnasier sprang två 3000m-test med cirka en veckas mellanrum. Den ena gången sprang de med 3mg koffein/kg och den andra med placebo. Testpersonerna svarade på en enkät om sin koffeinkonsumtion till vardags och i träning- och tävlingssammanhang samt uppskattade sin ansträngning vid de båda tillfällena med Borgskalan. För att se om någon signifikant skillnad förekom inom gruppen gjordes ett t-test med Microsoft Excel (version 2016). Signifikansnivån sattes till P ≤ 0,05 och all data presenterades som medelvärden tillsammans med standardavvikelse (n=12). Resultat: Efter intag av koffein förbättrades den fysiska prestationen på 3000m signifikant (P=0,0052). Deltagarnas medelvärde förbättrades med 18,5 s. Den självskattade ansträngningen var statistiskt signifikant högre efter intag av koffein (P=0,012). Ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad sågs på vare sig medel- eller maxpuls.Ingen av försökspersonerna använde systematiskt koffein i träning- och tävlingssammanhang för att förbättra den fysiska prestationen. En av deltagarna intog mer än 1000mg koffein under en vecka. Tre av deltagarna intog aldrig koffein, varken i träning- eller tävlingssammanhang eller i vardagen. Slutsats: Intag av 3mg koffein/kg ökar fysisk prestationsförmåga på 3000m hos orienteringsgymnasieelever. Deras självskattade ansträngningsnivå är högre efter intag av 3mg koffein/kg jämfört med placebo på ett 3000m-lopp. Resultatet kan ha påverkats av flera faktorer, framförallt yttre omständigheter, så som väder och dagsform. / Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate how 3000 m performance, self-assessed exertion, average heart rate and maximum heart rate was affected by a caffeine intake of 3mg/kg. The study also covered test subjects caffeine consumption when training and competing. Method: Twelve orienteering high school students ran two 3000 m tests circa one week apart. One experiment after 3mg/kg caffeine intake and the other occation on placebo. The test subjects also did a survey regarding caffeine consumption in everyday life, training and competition. The Borgskala was used for self-assessed exertion. Significance was assessed using a t-test in Microsoft Excel (2016 version). Significance level was set to P ≤ 0.05 and data was presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (n=12). Results: 3000 m performance was significantly increased after caffeine intake (P=0.0052). Self-assessed exertion was significantly higher after caffeine intake (P=0.012). No significant change in mean or maximum heartrate was observed. None of the test subjects used caffeine systematic to increase physical performance. One of the test subjects used more than 1000mg caffeine per average week. Three of the test subjects never used caffeine in either training, competition or everyday life. Conclusion: 3mg/kg caffeine increase 3000 m physical performance in orienteering high school students. Self-assessed exertion is higher after 3mg/kg caffeine intake compared to placebo when orienteering high school students run 3000 m. The Results may have been affected by several factors, especially extrinsic factors, like weather and incentive.

The complexity of the menstrual cycle is considered a major barrier to the inclusion of women in sports research. This limits the studies of how women’s menstruation cycle and health are affected by exercise, along with limitations in studies concerning women’s experiences of exercising during the different phases of the cycle. These are all important parts to consider among women who are physically active due to decrease both short-term and long-term health effects that intensive physical activity can lead to. The study is based on a holistic health perspective with support in KASAM. The study is investigating women’s experiences of exercising during the different phases of the menstrual cycle. The aim is to investigate the health effects of exercise and lifestyle in connection with the menstrual cycle, from a health perspective.    A qualitative method in the form of interviews was used. The material was analyzed with the support of Kvale and Brinkman (2014) also Hassmén and Hassmén (2008). Three main categories were identified during the analysis; experiences, adaptation and menstrual disorders. The categories report the women's experiences of exercising during the different phases of the menstrual cycle, as well as the adaptation of exercise and lifestyle along the menstrual cycle, and the menstrual disorders experienced by the women.     The conclusion is that women who are physically active experience that the menstrual cycle affects their exercise in such a way that they feel both psychological and physiological effects of where in the cycle they are. The menstrual cycle can also be affected by the woman's training in connection with not enough recovery or a deficiency in calorie intake.  Menstrual cycle based periodizing training can from a health perspective, as well as for performance optimization be a possible solution. / Menstruationscykelns komplexitet ses som en begränsning vid inkludering av kvinnor i idrottsforskningen. Detta begränsar forskningen kring hur träning påverkar kvinnans menstruation och hälsa, samt kring hur kvinnor upplever att träna under de olika faserna i cykeln. Dessa är väsentliga delar att ta hänsyn till bland fysiskt aktiva kvinnor för att minska både kortvariga och långvariga hälsoproblem som långvarig högintensiv fysisk aktivitet kan leda till. Studien grundar sig i ett holistiskt hälsoperspektiv med stöd i KASAM. Studien undersöker kvinnors upplevelser av att träna under menstruationscykelns olika faser. Ett underliggande syfte är att utifrån ett hälsoperspektiv undersöka hälsoeffekter av träning och livsstil utifrån menstruationscykeln.    En kvalitativ metod i form av enskilda intervjuer användes. Materialet analyserades med stöd av Kvale och Brinkman (2014) samt Hassmén och Hassmén (2008). Tre huvudkategorier identifierades under analysen; upplevelser, anpassning och menstruationsstörningar. Kategorierna redovisar kvinnornas upplevelser av att träna under de olika faserna i menstruationscykeln samt anpassning av träning och livsstil utefter menstruationscykeln. Därtill redovisas även de menstruationsstörningar som kvinnorna upplevt.    Slutsatsen är att kvinnor som är fysiskt aktiva upplever att menstruationscykeln påverkar deras träning på så sätt att de känner av både psykologiska och fysiologiska effekter av var i cykeln de befinner sig. Även menstruationscykeln kan påverkas av kvinnans träning i samband med för lite återhämtning och för lågt kaloriintag. Att periodisera träningen och kaloriintaget utifrån menstruationscykeln kan vara en möjlig lösning utifrån ett hälsoperspektiv samt för optimering av prestation.

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