Supporting morphometric determinants as a basis for the safety of physical culture and sports

BACKGROUND: The adopted strategy of development of amateur and professional sports in the Russian Federation reveals the possibilities of forming a health-saving and safe environment in this sphere. A predisposing background for retraumatism, post-traumatic musculoskeletal diseases and disability is connective tissue failure. The variety and polysystem clinical manifestations of this pathology mask this disease and make it difficult to identify it in time. AIM: To identify pathognomonic morphometric determinants of high injury risk to introduce a mandatory principle of their accounting in examining persons engaged in physical culture and sports. METHODS: In the period from October 2018 to March 2023, on the basis of Sechenov University and the European Osteopathic Clinical Center, a clinicо-somatometric examination of 117 people with recurrent musculoskeletal injuries was carried out with the connective tissue assessment according to the Kadurina T.I. and Abbakumova L.N. tables. Statistical data analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and MedCalc 11.5.00 (Medcalc Software, Oostende). RESULTS: Persons with recurrent musculoskeletal injuries were shown to be characterized by a significantly greater accumulation of dysplastic features in comparison with the control group. The universal, sex-and age-specific pathognomonic morphometric determinants of a high injury risk were determined. Thus, in women, these are asthenic build type, joint hypermobility, soft auricles, hyperelastic skin, atrophic striae, telangiectasia and varicose veins of the lower extremities. In men - chest deformities, arachnodactyly, dolichostenomelia, flat-valgus feet and abdominal muscle diastasis. In the ontogenesis, there was a significant modification and accumulation of dysplastic stigmas. Of particular diagnostic value are universal, gender- and age-independent, morphometric predictors of a high injury risk which include gothic palate, kyphoscoliosis, temporomandibular joint crunching during movements, O- or X-shaped legs, and moderate or high myopia. CONCLUSION: Biomedical support of sports activities should include mandatory screening of the connective tissue state. Timely express-diagnostics of the established pathognomonic morphometric determinants of a high risk of injury will contribute to the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries, post-traumatic diseases and disability, which is of particular importance for the safety of physical training and sports and preserving public health.