Background: Preseason performance on the lower extremity functional test (LEFT), a timed series of agility drills, has been previously reported to be associated with future risk of lower quadrant (LQ = low back and lower extremities) injury in Division III (D III) athletes. Validation studies are warranted to confirm or refute initial findings. Hypothesis/Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to examine the ability of the LEFT to discriminate injury occurrence in D III athletes, in order to validate or refute prior findings. It was hypothesized that female and male D III athletes slower at completion of the LEFT would be at a greater risk for a non-contact time-loss injury during sport. Secondary purposes of this study are to report other potential risk factors based on athlete demographics and to present normative LEFT data based on sport participation. Methods: Two hundred and six (females = 104; males = 102) D III collegiate athletes formed a validation sample. Athletes in the validation sample completed a demographic questionnaire and performed the LEFT at the start of their sports preseason. Athletic trainers tracked non-contact time-loss LQ injuries during the season. A secondary analysis of risk based on preseason LEFT performance was conducted for a sample (n = 395) that consisted of subjects in the validation sample (n = 206) as well as athletes from a prior LEFT related study (n = 189). Study Design: Prospective cohort Results: Male athletes in the validation sample completed the LEFT [98.6 (± 8.1) seconds] significantly faster than female athletes [113.1 (± 10.4) seconds]. Male athletes, by sport, also completed the LEFT significantly faster than their female counterparts who participated in the same sport. There was no association between preseason LEFT performance and subsequent injury, by sex, in either the validation sample or the combined sample. Females who reported starting primary sport participation by age 10 were two times (OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.9; p = 0.01) more likely to experience a non-contact time-loss LQ injury than female athletes who started their primary sport at age 11 or older. Males who reported greater than three hours per week of plyometric training during the six-week period prior to the start of the preseason were four times more likely (OR = 4.0, 95% CI: 1.1, 14.0; p = 0.03) to experience a foot or ankle injury than male athletes who performed three or less hours per week. Conclusions: The LEFT could not be validated as a preseason performance measure to predict future sports injury risk. The data presented in this study may aid rehabilitation professionals when evaluating an injured athlete's ability to return to sport by comparing their LEFT score to population norms.

BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the HTT gene. It is diagnosed following a standardized examination of motor control and often presents with cognitive decline and psychiatric symptoms. Recent studies have detected genetic loci modifying the age at onset of motor symptoms in HD, but genetic factors influencing cognitive and psychiatric presentations are unknown. METHODS: We tested the hypothesis that psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in HD are influenced by the same common genetic variation as in the general population by 1) constructing polygenic risk scores from large genomewide association studies of psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and of intelligence and 2) testing for correlation with the presence of psychiatric and cognitive symptoms in a large sample (n = 5160) of patients with HD. RESULTS: Polygenic risk score for major depression was associated specifically with increased risk of depression in HD, as was schizophrenia risk score with psychosis and irritability. Cognitive impairment and apathy were associated with reduced polygenic risk score for intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: Polygenic risk scores for psychiatric disorders, particularly depression and schizophrenia, are associated with increased risk of the corresponding psychiatric symptoms in HD, suggesting a common genetic liability. However, the genetic liability to cognitive impairment and apathy appears to be distinct from other psychiatric symptoms in HD. No associations were observed between HD symptoms and risk scores for other neurodegenerative disorders. These data provide a rationale for treatments effective in depression and schizophrenia to be used to treat depression and psychotic symptoms in HD.

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To report normative data for two functional performance tests (FPTs) (the standing long jump [SLJ] and the single-leg hop [SLH]) in a population of male collegiate basketball players and to identify differences in measures between athletes based on level of competition, starter status, and position. Methods: Eighty-six male collegiate basketball players from six teams were recruited for this study. Each athlete performed three SLJs and three SLHs (bilaterally). Results: Mean (± SD) FPT measures (normalized to height) for all basketball players were: SLJ = 1.0 ± 0.1, right SLH = 0.84 ± 0.1, and left SLH = 0.85 ± 0.1. Significant differences in FPT measures were observed both within and between groups based on: level of competition, by player position, and by starter status. Conclusions: The data presented in this study can be used by coaches and athletic trainers to assess aspects of athletic readiness in male collegiate basketball players. A thletic trainers, strength coaches, and other sports medicine professionals routinely evaluate performance measures in athletes prior to the start of the sport season. 1-10 These measures may be collected using "high-tech" tests (eg, maximal oxygen uptake or isokinetic testing) or "low-tech" tests (eg, functional performance tests [FPTs]). Advantages associated with the use of FPTs are that they are generally quick to perform, are inexpensive, and require minimal use of equipment. Functional performance testing has been used to collect measures associated with athletic readiness (eg, strength and agility), 1-10 illustrate relationships between FPT measures and sportspecific tasks, 10-13 identify athletes at risk for injury, 14-20 and guide discharge from rehabilitation after an injury. 21 However, only a few studies have reported preseason FPT measures and their relationships with performance variables or player position in male basketball players. McGill et al. 13 tested torso endurance, hip range of motion, strength, speed, agility, movement competency, and basketball skills of one male collegiate basketball team (n = 14; mean age = 20.4 ± 1.6 years; level of competition (["major American university"] not provided) and presented correlations with game variables based on these fitness measures. They reported positive correlations between lower extremity power (as measured by the standing long jump [SLJ] test) and minutes played, rebounds per game, and blocks per game. 13 In addition, increasing torso stiffness, greater hip range of motion, and bench press performance also correlated with better performance measures. 13 One characteristic, grip strength in the left hand, correlated negatively with performance measures. 13 Ben Abdelkrim et al. 1 assessed measures of lower extremity power, anthropometric measures, speed, and agility in male Tunisian national basketball team members (n = 45; 3 teams assessed: U-18, U-20, and Senior levels). Point guards were significantly faster in short distance runs and had better agility. Power forwards and centers had shorter vertical jump h...