Visual, Vestibular, and Somatosensory Function in Female Rugby League Athletes

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Human Physiology
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Female rugby league performance relies on integrated sensory and physiological systems.
• Understanding variations in these systems across playing levels and positions is crucial but currently unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in visual, vestibular, somatosensory, and autonomic performance in female rugby league athletes.
• To compare these functions between elite and sub-elite players and across different positional groups (adjustables, backs, forwards).

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Active Movement Extent Discrimination Assessment for lower-limb proprioception.
• Employed a virtual reality eye-tracking system for visual-vestibular and autonomic assessments.
• Applied Bayesian hierarchical models to analyze playing level, position, and their interaction effects.

Main Results:

• Few consistent differences were found between elite and sub-elite athletes across sensory and autonomic measures.
• Some level-by-position effects were suggested for ankle proprioception, vestibulo-oculomotor function, and autonomic dilation velocity, but lacked consistency.
• Significant within-group variability was observed across all assessments.

Conclusions:

• Sensory and autonomic performance do not reliably distinguish between elite and sub-elite female rugby league players in a cross-sectional manner.
• These measures hold potential for longitudinal monitoring of athletes when combined with workload, recovery, and performance data.