METHOD: This study employed a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) design. It involved 54 male basketball players aged 18 to 24 from three universities. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control group (CG), mental fatigue group (MFG), and mental fatigue-mindfulness group (MF-MG). Players in the MFG and MF-MG underwent a 30-minute Stroop task to induce MF. Subsequently, players in the MF-MG engaged in a 30-minute audio mindfulness intervention. Basketball tactical performance was assessed in the small side games (SSG).
RESULTS: There were no significant differences in total tactics observed across groups and over time. However, when examining specific tactical sub-variables, significant differences were found in ball reversal, dribble penetration into the key area, and off-ball screen between the CG and MFG in the post-test. Furthermore, significant differences were noted in ball reversal, dribble penetration into the key area, on-ball screen, and off-ball screen between the MFG and MF-MG in the post-test.
CONCLUSION: The basketball tactical performances, particularly in areas such as ball reversal, dribble penetration into the key area, on-ball screen, and off-ball screen, were negatively impacted by MF. Notably, the brief mindfulness intervention effectively restored these performance aspects. This suggests that coaches and trainers should place increased emphasis on players' mental well-being and consider incorporating brief mindfulness interventions into their training programs. More studies that investigate mindfulness intervention on the comprehensive aspects of basketball performance should be focused on in the future.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to report a comprehensive systematic review investigating the carryover effects of mental fatigue on skilled performance among athletes.
METHODS: A thorough search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost (CENTRAL, SPORTDicus), and Scopus to select relevant literature, as well as on Google Scholar and sources of reference for grey literature. The selected literatures are centred on a mental fatigue protocol in which cognitive tasks are performed prior to athletic tasks. Only studies that used an experimental design to test two conditions, namely mental fatigue and non-mental fatigue, were selected.
RESULTS: Eleven articles were chosen based on the selection criteria. Mental fatigue affects skilled performance in three sports: soccer, basketball, and table tennis. A decline in skilled performance (decreased accuracy, increased performing time etc) is relevant to impaired executive functions. Seven studies focus on offensive skills, whereas only two studies are associated with defensive skills.
CONCLUSION: Mental fatigue has a negative effect on various sports skills of high-level athletes, including their technical and decision-making skills; however, the impact is greater on offensive skills than that of defensive skills in terms of the role of athletes. Impaired executive functions may be responsible for the negative effects of mental fatigue on skilled performance.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the review was to evaluate the impact of mental fatigue on soccer players' overall technical skills.
METHODS: Drawing on Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCOhost (CENTRAL and SPORTDicus), an in-depth search was conducted. PICOS established the eligibility criteria to select the studies as follows: (i) population-healthy soccer players; (ii) intervention-involving any mental-fatigue-prompted protocol; (iii) comparison-control conditions (active or passive without inducing mental fatigue); (iv) outcomes-technical performance (offensive and defensive skill); and (v) study design-randomized controlled trials.
RESULTS: A total of eight studies were qualified for inclusion in the systematic literature review. Overall, the results indicate that mental fatigue had significant effects on technical skills, including offensive and defensive skills. Specifically, there were significant effects on errors (ES = 0.977; p < 0.001), number of tackles (ES = -0.739; p = 0.005), and the percentage of successful tackles (ES = -0.628; p = 0.022), while there were no significant effects on the number of passes (ES = 0.240; p = 0.328), the percentage of accurate passing (ES = -0.008; p = 0.985), and the number of successful passes (ES = -0.322; p = 0.217).
CONCLUSION: Overall, a significant effect of mental fatigue on the technical performance (e.g., tackles and errors) of soccer players was detected, while no significant effects on passing skills were detected. Future studies may consider investigating technical performance together with other important results (e.g., decision-making skills or internal load).
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-2-0008/, Inplasy protocol 202220008.
METHODS: Postmenopausal breast cancer patients on endocrine therapy were recruited at three hospitals in Malaysia. Presence and severity of menopausal symptoms were determined using the Menopause Rating Scale. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from medical records.
RESULTS: A total of 192 patients participated in this study. Commonly reported symptoms were musculoskeletal pain (59.9%), physical and mental exhaustion (59.4%), and hot flushes (41.1%). Multivariate analyses indicated that increasing number of years after menopause until the start of endocrine therapy was significantly associated with less likelihood of reporting menopausal symptoms and musculoskeletal pain. Patients with primary or secondary education levels reported significantly less menopausal urogenital symptoms compared to patients with a tertiary education level. Patients using aromatase inhibitors were twice as likely to experience musculoskeletal pain compared to patients using tamoxifen (odds ratio, 2.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-4.50; p