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Pain Perception in Contact Sport Athletes: A Scoping Review

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Abstract

Contact sports athletes are regularly facing acute physical pain in part of their sport; however, the literature investigating pain perception in these athletes remains scarce. This scoping review aimed to explore the literature surrounding pain perception in contact sport athletes and to compile and understand how it is studied. The search strategy consisted of using index terms and keywords in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global search engines. Results from 11 studies revealed that a mix of team contact sports and combat sports are studied and are included under the umbrella of contact sports. These athletes are being compared with non-athletes as well as athletes from non-contact sports. The cold pressor test and the pain pressure test are the two predominant methods used to investigate physical pain. This review highlights the need to clearly define sports based on contact levels expected in play to better define the types of pain athletes are facing in their practice. Athletes’ level of play as well as years of experience should also be more rigorously reported. While contact sport athletes seem to have a higher level of pain tolerance than both active controls and non-contact athletes, the methods of pain testing are not always justified and appropriate in relation to the pain induced during contact sports. Future experimental studies should use pain testing methods relevant to the pain experienced during contact sports and to better justify the rationale for the choice of these methods.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions helped us to improve the paper, and especially the suggestion to add Sect. 4.3 on the definition of contact sports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. École de Kinésiologie et des Sciences de l’Activité Physique (EKSAP), Faculté de Médecine, Université́ de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Amanda O’Farrell, William Sauvé, Maxime Bergevin & Benjamin Pageaux

  2. Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), Montréal, QC, Canada

    Amanda O’Farrell, Maxime Bergevin, Pierre Rainville & Benjamin Pageaux

  3. Faculty of Sport, Applied Health and Performance Sciences (SAHPS), St Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK

    Giuseppe Cimadoro

  4. Bibliothèques des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Denis Arvisais

  5. Département de Stomatologie, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Pierre Rainville

  6. Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Cerveau et l’Apprentissage (CIRCA), Montréal, QC, Canada

    Benjamin Pageaux

Authors
  1. Amanda O’Farrell
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  2. William Sauvé
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  4. Giuseppe Cimadoro
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  5. Denis Arvisais
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  7. Benjamin Pageaux
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Contributions

AOF and BP designed the study. AOF and DA performed the literature search. AOF, BP, WS performed the study inclusion and exclusion decisions. AOF, BP, and WS performed the data extraction. AOF and BP created the figures and tables included in the manuscript. AOF wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin Pageaux.

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Funding

AOF was supported by internal scholarships from the Université de Montréal. MB was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s Frederick Banting and Charles Best grant, the ‘Formation de maîtrise’ scholarship from the Fond de recherche en santé du Québec, and an MSc scholarship from the Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM). BP’s research is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada—Discovery Grants Program.

Conflicts of interest

Amanda O’Farrell, William Sauvé, Maxime Bergevin, Giuseppe Cimadoro, Denis Arvisais, Pierre Rainville and Benjamin Pageaux declare they have no conflicts of interest.

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O’Farrell, A., Sauvé, W., Bergevin, M. et al. Pain Perception in Contact Sport Athletes: A Scoping Review. Sports Med 52, 2593–2604 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01721-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01721-z

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