(10) SENSORY ORGANIZATION TESTING IN WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYERS – INSIGHTS FOR RESEARCH AND PERFORMANCE

Purpose: To describe neurosensory function in a group of Women’s Professional soccer athletes, to gain insights into other possible contributing factors to knee injuries not yet clinically defined in the scientific literature. Methods: After obtaining approval from the Institutional Review Board at the sponsoring university, data were collected on 24 women's professional soccer players (24.6±0.5y; 168.8±1.0 cm; 65.5±0.9 kg). The participants ranged from 20-30y and included four national team athletes. The athletes underwent neurosensory testing at the start of the assessment battery prior to training camp and utilized a Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP) assessment device. Sensory organization testing was performed standing on the CDP force plates under six different conditions: baseline (eyes open, stable surface), eyes closed on a stable surface, eyes open with a sway-referenced visual surround, eyes open on a sway-referenced support surface, eyes closed on a sway-referenced support surface, and eyes open with both sway-referenced support surface and visual surround. The magnitude of sway was recorded (unitless values) and compared to a national database of normative data. The results provided combined scores for somatosensory (SOM), visual (VIS), visual preference (VIP), vestibular function (VEST), and overall stability (COMBO). Results: The team scored higher than expected for SOM (98.2 ± 3.3; p< 0.001). All athletes scored above the expected target score. VIS was also greater than expected for the team (86.9±8.04; p< 0.01), but three of the athletes failed to achieve the target score. VEST scores for the team (64.5±20.9; p=0.01) were significantly greater than expected (d=0.61; p< 0.01), but notably, eight of the athletes failed to achieve the target score and one was unable to stand without falling with their eyes closed. VIP scores for the team were similar to the target score (97.6±8.5; p=0.37) Four athletes scored worse than the target. The COMBO score for the team was 97.6±8.5; although this was higher than expected for the team (p=0.02) seven of the athletes scored lower than the target score. Conclusions: Soccer is a sport that demands speed, agility, quickness, and metabolic fitness for success. Athletes must maintain neuromuscular control in fatigued states to reduce the risk of injury. Many soccer-related injuries affect the anterior cruciate ligament or ankle, are non-contact, and occur disproportionately more often in women compared to men. Women’s professional soccer players demonstrated strong SOM, although several athletes experienced difficulty with VIS, VIP, and VEST stimuli. Eight of the athletes exhibited compromised vestibular function, four athletes fell at least once during vestibular trials, and one athlete fell during all three vestibular trials. This may contribute to decreased perception of joint position in space and an increased risk of non-contact lower-extremity injuries in female athletes due to sensory deficits. Research is needed to see if vestibular deficits persist across sexes and if these deficits persist in developing youth soccer players. Practical Applications: Sensory organization testing offers performance scientists valuable insights to detect subtle deficits in athletes' proprioception. Identifying these deficiencies could enable targeted interventions aimed at enhancing position sense and reducing injury risks. Acknowledgements: None