Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Mar 18, 2023; 14(3): 146-154
Published online Mar 18, 2023. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v14.i3.146
Identifying sex-specific injury predictors as a key factor in maintaining optimal physical activity levels
Maria V Sankova, Vladimir N Nikolenko, Marine V Oganesyan, Andjela D Vovkogon, Aida N Gadzhiakhmedova, Tatyana S Zharikova, Yury O Zharikov
Maria V Sankova, Vladimir N Nikolenko, Marine V Oganesyan, Andjela D Vovkogon, Tatyana S Zharikova, Yury O Zharikov, Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow 125009, Russia
Vladimir N Nikolenko, Marine V Oganesyan, Tatyana S Zharikova, Department of Normal and Topographic Anatomy, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
Andjela D Vovkogon, European Osteopathic Clinical Center of the Moscow Branch of the “Medical Academy of Osteopathic Education”, Saint Petersburg 199106, Russia
Aida N Gadzhiakhmedova, Institute of Clinical Medicine, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow 119991, Russia
Author contributions: Sankova MV, Oganesyan MV, and Vovkogon AD involved in the conceptualization of the manuscript; Sankova MV, Nikolenko VN, Oganesyan MV, Vovkogon AD, and Zharikov YO contributed to the methodology of this article; Sankova MV, Oganesyan MV, Vovkogon AD, and Gadzhiakhmedova AN participated to the resources; Sankova MV analysed data; Sankova MV and Oganesyan MV wrote the original draft preparation; Sankova MV, Oganesyan MV, Zharikova TS and Zharikov YO wrote the review and editing; Nikolenko VN, Oganesyan MV, Vovkogon AD and Zharikov YO involved in the project administration; and all authors have read and agreed to the published manuscript version.
Institutional review board statement: The current research study was approved by the Ethics Committee of I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) under protocol No. 08-19 on 05.06.2019.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from the participants included in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yury O Zharikov, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Surgeon, Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Mokhovaya Street, 11s10, Moscow 125009, Russia. dr_zharikov@mail.ru
Received: October 17, 2022
Peer-review started: October 17, 2022
First decision: January 3, 2023
Revised: January 11, 2023
Accepted: February 27, 2023
Article in press: February 27, 2023
Published online: March 18, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Optimal physical activity is known to reduce cardiovascular, respiratory and endocrine system diseases and, as a consequence, improve quality of life. An important risk factor for reinjuries during normal exercise is the initial connective tissue pathology. The variety of clinical dysplastic manifestations significantly complicate the timely diagnosis of this comorbidity.

AIM

To establish pathognomonic sex-specific dysplasia phenotypes that indicate a particular sensitivity to physical exertion.

METHODS

The study involved 117 participants with recurrent musculoskeletal injuries that occurred during normal exercise. There were 67 women (57.26%) and 50 men (42.74%), which made it possible to compare the presence of the identified signs between sexes. A validated questionnaire was used to screen their connective tissue status.

RESULTS

Ranking the most commonly revealed dysplasia signs depending on their clinical significance made it possible to establish pathognomonic sex-specific phenotypes that indicated a particular susceptibility to injuries. Individualized programs of optimal physical activity are necessary for men with chest deformities, flat-valgus feet, dolichostenomelia, arachnodactylia, hemorrhoids, abdominal muscle diastasis and recurrent hernias. In women, special sensitivity to physical exertion was associated with a combination of signs such as asthenic body, joint hypermobility, overly soft auricles, thin hyperelastic skin, atrophic striae, telangiectasias and varicose veins. Of particular importance were universal signs such as gothic palate, scoliosis, kyphosis, leg deformities, temporomandibular joint crunching, and moderate to high myopia.

CONCLUSION

Participants’ connective tissue condition should be considered when designing optimal physical activity programs. Identifying the established sex-specific dysplasia phenotypes will allow timely optimization of training loads, thus reducing the risk of injury.

Keywords: Injury risk, Physical activity, Connective tissue condition, Sex-specific dysplasia phenotypes, Clinical dysplastic manifestations

Core Tip: Ranking the most commonly revealed dysplasia signs depending on their clinical significance made it possible to establish pathognomonic sex-specific phenotypes that indicate a particular susceptibility to injuries. Individualized programs of optimal physical activity are necessary for men with chest deformities, flat-valgus feet, dolichostenomelia, arachnodactylia, hemorrhoids, abdominal muscle diastasis and recurrent hernias. In women, special sensitivity to physical exertion was associated with a combination of signs such as asthenic body, joint hypermobility, overly soft auricles, thin hyperelastic skin, atrophic striae, telangiectasias and varicose veins. Identifying the established sex-specific dysplasia phenotypes will allow timely optimization of training loads and prescription of therapeutic measures aimed at connective tissue strengthening that will reduce the injury risk during physical activity and improve public health.