Effects of Compression Garments on Skeletal Muscle Physiology, Performance and Recovery in Young Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Compression garments (CG) are highly popular sports apparel amongst athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The manufacturers claim numerous benefits of CGs for both performance and recovery from exercise. However, the overall body of evidence remains equivocal on the effects of CGs on skeletal muscle physiology and related athletic performance outcomes. Methods: This systematic review, based on the Centre for Cognitive Ageing, Cognitive Epidemiology definition and PRISMA-P terminology aimed to identify and evaluate the current literature on the effects of CGs on skeletal muscle physiology, performance, and recovery in young healthy adults. A search of PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus databases was done for relevant studies from February 2008 to February 2018 that used randomized controlled trials (RCTs), randomized repeated measures (RRMs) and randomized counter-balanced measures (RCMs) study designs. Results: Seven hundred eighty four published papers were identified on initial database and cross-referencing search, of which eight papers met the eligibility criteria. The risk of bias and the quality of evidence for the eligible studies was evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) Scale. None of the studies showed significant effects of CGs on performance or recovery-related outcomes compared to the control group. Conclusion: This review concludes that CGs have minimal and unclear effects on muscle physiology, performance and recovery in young healthy adults. However, they can be worn for the sense of individual comfort and belief, as there are apparently no adverse effects of CGs on performance.

Electrical Stimulation and Muscle Strength Gains in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review

“…using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) Scale. This tool is of appropriate construct to evaluate the quality of RCTs (41), generates acceptable interrater reliability (38), and has been used to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews on interventions in healthy populations (39). The PEDro Scale is a checklist of Yes/No questions used to examine particular aspects of research methodology, including key aspects of internal validity.…”