Abstract
[Objective] We report on the usage of a conditioning room to treat patients with acupuncture, moxibustion, and massage, which was installed at the wheelchair basketball, table tennis, sound table tennis, and ground softball games of the 17th National Sports Festival for People with Disabilities held in Ehime.
[Method] The subjects were athletes, managers and coaches who visited the conditioning room. The period of use was four days, including during official practice. We asked subjects about their "Injury site," the "condition" of their injury and "symptoms." The data was analyzed by Chi-squared test using SPSS Ver. 26 (IBM Inc.). The significance level was 5%.
[Results] The number of patients reached 225 (52 wheelchair basketball players, 128 table tennis players, 31 sound table tennis players, 14 ground softball players). Single use was made by 84 players (59.6%) and multiple use by 57 players (40.4%). The most common site of injury was the shoulder joint (128 players (56.9%)). Responses on the purpose of their visit was "to treat injury" made by 146 players (64.9%), "Recovery from fatigue" made by 91 players (40.4%) and, "Improving performance" made by 24 players (10.7%). The most common symptom was "pain" in 111 players (49.3%). And, "tiredness/lethargy" was experienced by 100 players (44.4%), and "stiffness" was experienced by 78 players (34.7%). The content of the treatments included 200 massages (88.9%), 55 acupuncture treatments (24.4%), and 53 stretch exercises (23.6%). There was no moxibustion treatment given. Wheelchair basket players had the highest usage of acupuncture treatment (15 players, 28.8%). Acupuncture users had statistically significant symptoms of "pain" and "numbness."
[Discussion and Conclusion] Many players used the conditioning room and multiple-time users reached about 40%. This means that the medical support system for sports for people with disabilities is insufficient. There were few users of acupuncture and moxibustion, which was the same as 10 years ago. In order for acupuncture and moxibustion to contribute to sports, it is necessary to further promote and build dissemination activities and evidence.
