Publications by authors named "Kieran O' Sullivan"
Objective: To explore youth Rugby Union coaches' preferences for education and support in the implementation of injury prevention programmes (IPPs).
Methods: Twelve Rugby Union coaches involved with youth teams participated in five online focus groups. Conventional content analysis was used to determine preferences initially from transcripts, and thereafter main categories, generic categories and sub-categories.
Article Synopsis
- - Ladies Gaelic Football (LGF) is rapidly growing in popularity as the fastest growing female sport in Europe, and camogie is among the top female team sports in Ireland, both at a high risk for injuries comparable to professional sports like rugby and soccer due to their elite level demands.
- - A qualitative study was conducted using focus groups with elite LGF and camogie players to analyze their understanding of injury surveillance (IS) and discuss barriers and facilitators in injury reporting practices within their teams.
- - Findings revealed that injury reporting is influenced by player mindset, organizational culture, and accessibility to healthcare professionals (HCPs), highlighting the importance of HCPs in fostering a supportive environment that encourages timely injury reporting and management.
Exploring online health information-seeking behaviour for musculoskeletal pain in Europe: A study protocol combining expert panel insights with search trends on social media and Google.
Digit Health
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- Musculoskeletal pain is a major public health issue in Europe, and how people search for online health information plays a crucial role in managing their health.
- The study investigates the online information-seeking behavior of individuals in five European countries by using a two-phase approach that includes keyword extraction, panel refinement, and categorizing online sources.
- The findings aim to enhance digital health literacy and improve resources for managing musculoskeletal pain, ultimately leading to better health outcomes.
Not All Pain Is Caused by Tissue Damage in Sports. Should Management Change?
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- Sports injuries can occur without visible damage to tissues, and pain or reduced performance is considered an injury even without objective signs.
- Pain commonly happens in sports, regardless of whether there’s actual tissue damage, leading to varied management approaches for athletes.
- The editorial suggests a practical definition of sports-related pain to aid clinicians in understanding and managing athletes' pain, especially when there’s no visible injury.
Question: Do five baseline moderators identify patients with chronic low back pain who respond best to cognitive functional therapy (CFT) when compared with usual care?
Design: Secondary analysis of the RESTORE randomised controlled trial.
Participants: A total of 492 adults with low back pain for > 3 months with at least moderate pain-related activity limitation.
Intervention: Participants were allocated to CFT alone or CFT plus biofeedback; these two groups were combined for this secondary analysis.
Aim: To summarize current literature on the definition, categorization and measurement of social support in studies of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among hospital nurses.
Design: A scoping review.
Data Sources: A literature search of four databases (CINAHL, Medline, Embase and Web of Science) was employed to map the evidence between January 2012 and April 2023 on the definition, categorization and measurement of social support in studies of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among nurses in hospital settings.
Article Synopsis
- Disordered sleep and musculoskeletal pain often occur together, and interventions like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) are investigated for their effectiveness in treating both conditions simultaneously.
- A review of 12 studies showed that CBT-I typically includes core elements such as sleep restriction and stimulus control, along with additional methods like sleep education and relaxation strategies, maintaining a consistent weekly schedule over 5-9 weeks.
- While there was a general agreement on the components and frequency of CBT-I sessions in the studies, there was some lack of clarity in reporting specific details, such as who delivered the interventions and the exact content covered in the sessions.
Cognitive Functional Therapy compared with usual physiotherapy care in people with persistent low back pain: a mixed methods feasibility randomised controlled trial in the United Kingdom National Health Service.
Physiotherapy
June 2024
Objectives: To determine the feasibility of completing a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT), evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) in comparison to usual physiotherapy care (UPC), for people with persistent low back pain (LBP).
Design And Setting: A two-arm parallel feasibility RCT completed in a United Kingdom (UK) Secondary Care National Health Service (NHS) physiotherapy service.
Participants: Sixty adult participants who reported LBP lasting for more than three months, that was not attributable to a serious (e.
Objective: To systematically map the coach education (CE) component of injury prevention programmes (IPPs) for youth field sports by identifying and synthesising the design, content and facilitation strategies used to address competency drivers and behaviour change.
Design: Scoping review.
Data Sources: PubMed, PsycInfo, EMBASE, CINAHL, SportDiscus and Google Scholar electronic databases were searched using keywords related to IPPs and youth field sports.
The Intra-Rater Reliability of Ultrasonography for the Measurement of Lumbar Multifidus and Erector Spinae Thickness in Different Positions in People with and without Active Extension-Related Non-Specific Low Back Pain.
Med J Islam Repub Iran
October 2023
Background: The paraspinal muscles, including multifidus (MF) and erector spinae (ES) play key roles in the stability and movement of the lumbar spine. This study aimed to determine the intra-rater reliability of the ES and MF muscle thickness measures of the rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI) in people with active extension pattern (AEP) non-specific chronic low back pain and controls.
Methods: Fifteen females with AEP and 19 controls participated in this test-retest intra-rater reliability study, including two different testing sessions performed in four to seven days apart.
Background: There is limited knowledge about when and how adolescents with low back pain (LBP) interact with health care providers. This limits our understanding of how to best help these young patients. This study aimed to understand when and how care-seeking adolescents with LBP interact with health care providers and which health literacy competencies and strategies do they use to self-managing their LBP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study compared superficial trunk muscle activity and postural control among an active extension subgroup of people with nonspecific chronic low back pain (AE-NSCLBP) with painfree controls during functional tasks. Thirty-two people (17 people with low back pain [LBP] and 15 painfree controls) participated in this study. Muscle activity of 5 trunk muscles and postural control were investigated during both standing tasks (eyes open/closed; single/double-leg balance) and dynamic functional tasks (spinal forward flexion and return, and a sit to stand transfer).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aimed to determine which psychological and psychosocial factors should be included in a core outcome set for clinical trials related to tendinopathy.
- An international panel of 38 participants reviewed 35 constructs over three online Delphi rounds, using a 9-point Likert scale to assess their importance.
- At the end of the rounds, the panel agreed that kinesiophobia, pain beliefs, pain-related self-efficacy, and fear-avoidance beliefs should be included, while factors like perceived injustice and family attitudes were deemed unimportant.
Objective: The study explores the attitudes of people with chronic health conditions towards the use of group-based telerehabilitation.
Design: A qualitative research study.
Setting: The setting involved semi-structured focus groups via videoconferencing software.
We evaluated the effects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) alone or with additional interventions on pain, disability, kinesiophobia, anxiety, stress, depression, quality of life, and catastrophizing of patients with chronic neck pain (CNP). Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria, and fourteen studies were quantitatively analysed. Risk of bias was assessed using the PEDro scale and the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Building clinical reasoning skills is important to effectively implement psychologically informed practice. We developed a multidimensional clinical reasoning form (CRF) to be used by physiotherapists in a psychologically informed practice training programme for low back pain. In this paper we describe the development of the CRF, how the CRF was used in the training, and present an evaluation of physiotherapists' perceptions of the CRF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aims to analyze the incidence of injuries and surveillance methods in elite adult female players of field-based team sports through a systematic literature review.
- A total of 20 studies were examined, finding that injuries occurred more frequently during match play than training, particularly in Australian football, where the highest injury rates were noted.
- The review emphasizes the need for standardized injury definitions and consistent data collection methods to improve injury surveillance and implement effective prevention strategies in this athlete population.
Background: Low back pain is the leading cause of years lived with disability globally, but most interventions have only short-lasting, small to moderate effects. Cognitive functional therapy (CFT) is an individualised approach that targets unhelpful pain-related cognitions, emotions, and behaviours that contribute to pain and disability. Movement sensor biofeedback might enhance treatment effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) can assess walking function but is time-consuming. We investigate the correlation of performance over the first two minutes of the 6MWT (2MWT#) and the 6MWT. We also evaluate the 2MWT#'s ability to predict 6MWT results, assess correlations to secondary explanatory outcomes, and assess the ability to discriminate between clinical subgroups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Persistent nonspecific back pain is now established as a biopsychosocial phenomenon that can be meaningfully affected by individuals' cognitions, emotions, lifestyle factors and family and social relationships. Recent guidelines for the treatment of adolescents with persistent nonspecific back pain, as well as those for youth with mixed chronic pain, strongly recommend interdisciplinary care in which adolescents receive treatment for both mind and body. The objective of this scoping review was to examine the interventions evaluated in randomized trials for adolescents with persistent back pain to determine whether they correspond to these guidelines and to reveal future research priorities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Telehealth could enhance rehabilitation for people with chronic health conditions. This review examined the psychometric properties of performance-based measures of physical function administered via telehealth among people with chronic health conditions using the Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) approach.
Methods: This systematic review was registered with Prospero (Registration number: CRD42021262547).
Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of back injury in elite male Gaelic football athletes between 2008 and 2016.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Injury data from the National GAA Injury Surveillance Database.
Objectives: Low back pain is highly prevalent in rowing and can be associated with significant disability and premature retirement. A previous qualitative study in rowers revealed a culture of concealment of pain and injury due to fear of judgement by coaches or teammates. The aim of this study was to explore rowers' perspectives in relation to diagnosis, contributory factors, and management of low back pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Eccentric exercise is thought to improve joint flexibility, but the size of the effect is not known. We aimed to quantify the overall effect of eccentric exercise on joint flexibility in adults.
Design: Systematic review, meta-analysis.