Kaluga, Elzbieta; Rostovska Elzbieta - The effect of unique environmental factors on tactile perception in athletes

摘要

The aim of this study was to establish the threshold of tactile sensitivity in men depending on the sport discipline they perform. In total, 155 athletes engaged in water sports, team sports, martial arts and swimming took part in the study. The control group was 120 men who do not take part in competitive sport. The subjects’ ages ranged from 19 to 23 years. The Touch-Test? Sensory Evaluator aesthesiometer (Semmes-Weinstein Monofilaments) was used for the study. The threshold tactile sensitivity was measured in two points of hand: on the pulp of the little finger and on metacarpus on the palm side of the hand, between the thenar and the hypothenar. The participants who did water sports displayed the lowest tactile sensitivity, both on their metacarpus and their little finger, and swimmers displayed the highest tactile sensitivity in two measurement points. It was noted that the differences in the results of the study were determined by the specificity of environmental factors in a given sports discipline. Contact of hands with oars, a ball or water environment modifies tactile sensitivity.