Helen Purtill

• BSc, MSc, PhD
• Associate Professor at University of Limerick

Abstract Objectives To describe the incidence, characteristics and burden of tackle-event injuries in under-19 schoolboy Rugby Union in Ireland comparing the profile of tackler and ball-carrier injuries independently; and to examine the burden on school absenteeism. Design A four-season prospective cohort study (2018-19, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24...

Purpose A biopsychosocial assessment of a person with low back pain (LBP) should include the detection of psychological risk factors. Pragmatically, clinicians often use their clinical impression rather than questionnaires to screen for psychological risk factors. This scoping review explores how accurately depression, anxiety, and psychological di...

Background The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is increasing globally. An increase in PAD in an ageing population inevitably results in an increase in incidence of Chronic Limb Threatening Ischemia (CLTI). Loss of a limb is a life-changing event with immeasurable cost to the individual, while the potential financial benefit of savin...

Female Rugby Union players were affected by contact breast injuries (CBI) and exercise-induced breast pain (EIBP). Hundred and eighty-two female Rugby players from 25 different countries reported incurring a CBI or EIBP which affected sport performance. A higher percentage of 7s players (7s: 64.3%, 15s: 51.9%) reported at least one CBI over a 12-mo...

Summary Objective This study aimed to investigate the existing knowledge, awareness, and experience among female Rugby Union players of contact breast injuries (CBI) and exercise induced breast pain (EIBP) internationally. Methods A cross-sectional survey on CBI and EIBP, targeting active, adult female Rugby Union players, was developed and interna...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of exercise induced breast pain (EIBP) and impact related breast injury (IRBI) among adult female Rugby union players. Furthermore, we explored reporting patterns and provided treatment related to EIBP and IRBI and players’ existing knowledge of potential health implications. Methods:...

Background The aim was to ascertain the impact of irrigation technique on human intrarenal pressure during retrograde intrarenal surgery. Methods A parallel randomized trial recruited patients across three hospital sites. Patients undergoing retrograde intrarenal surgery for renal stone treatment with an 11/13-Fr ureteral access sheath were alloca...

Background Robust surveillance of injury aetiology and epidemiology is recognised as fundamental for effective injury reduction and management programmes. However, while sex-specific differences in injury type and nature are noted in the literature, it is unclear if these are reflected in surveillance practices, and how the athlete is affected. Ob...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a skin barrier ring with assisted flow in preventing peristomal skin complications (PSCs) in patients with an ileostomy and to evaluate the participants' perceptions of the device. DESIGN Single-group, prospective cohort study. SUBJECTS AND SETTING Both inpatients and outpatients with...

Background Pain is a prevalent, debilitating condition among older adults. Much evidence on this topic comes from cohort studies, which may be affected by attrition and measurement bias. Little is known about the impact of these biases on pain estimates for European older adults. Additionally, there is a lack of longitudinal research on pain and so...

Background Comprehensive multidisciplinary geriatric assessment (CGA) has been proven to improve outcomes in hospitalised older adults but there is limited evidence of its effectiveness in the Emergency Department (ED). We aim to assess the benefits of CGA in the ED for frail older adults. Methods Older adults over 75 who presented with medical co...

Background Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite the prevalence and associated burden of cognitive impairment post-stroke, there is uncertainty regarding optimal cognitive rehabilitation for people post-stroke. This study aimed to assess whether a multicomponent intervention, called OptiCogs, is feasible, acceptable,...

Background Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite the prevalence and associated burden of cognitive impairment post-stroke, there is uncertainty regarding optimal cognitive rehabilitation for people post-stroke. This study aimed to assess whether a multicomponent intervention, OptiCogs, is feasible, acceptable and safe...

PURPOSE: As a result of COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns in Ireland limited rugby training and matches occurred during the 2020/21 nine-month season (September to May). In October 2020 collective training and rugby matches were suspended for the season. This study aimed to assess the potential impact of this lack of training and playing on mat...

Purpose: Rugby Union is a high-intensity invasion game with risk of injury. Global and national governing bodies continue to prioritize the development of strategies aimed at reducing injuries, and research in this area is paramount. A warm-up intervention aimed at reducing injuries, tailored to a specific target cohort (Irish adult amateur) was de...

Aim: The aim of this study is to gather evidence on talent management practices for nurses and midwives in an Irish hospital group, to identify any shortcomings in the current practices and to develop an evidence-based talent management framework for the hospital group. Design: This paper details a protocol for a mixed methods research study tha...

Background frailty screening facilitates the stratification of older adults at most risk of adverse events for urgent assessment and subsequent intervention. We assessed the validity of the Identification of Seniors at Risk (ISAR), Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), Programme on Research for Integrating Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy seven ite...

PURPOSE: In many team sports the use of synthetic artificial pitch playing surfaces is common, especially when the playing season spans winter. In amateur community Rugby Union in Ireland there is a mix of both artificial and natural grass surfaces used for training and matches and a need to examine whether there may be injury trends unique to eith...

Purpose: To prospectively assess the ability of a novel transurethral catheterization safety valve (TUCSV) to prevent urethral catheter balloon injury (CBI) in a multi-institutional clinical setting. Materials and methods: A prospective, multi-institution study was conducted. The safety valve was introduced for urinary catheterization in 6 hospi...

This paper details a protocol for a systematic review that will be used to identify, critically appraise, and synthesize current academic evidence relating talent management practices for internationally trained nurses in healthcare organizations. Databases used in the search will include CINAHL with full text (EBSCOhost), PubMED, PsycINFO, Embase,...

Background Frailty screening facilitates the stratification of older adults at most risk of adverse events for urgent assessment and subsequent intervention in the acute or community setting. We assessed the validity of the ISAR (Identification of Seniors at Risk), Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), PRISMA-7 and InterRAI-ED at predicting advers...

Background The high incidence rate of peristomal skin complications (PSCs) indicates that current ostomy products are not meeting the needs of ostomates. Aims To assess how switching to a novel barrier ring affects the peristomal skin health of people with an ileostomy and the usability of the novel barrier ring. Methods Participants (aged ≥18 ye...

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite the prevalence and associated burden of cognitive impairment post-stroke, there is uncertainty regarding optimal cognitive rehabilitation for people post-stroke. This study aimed to assess whether a multicomponent intervention, called OptiCogs, is feasible, acceptable...

Background Concern has been raised over the injury risk to school Rugby union (Rugby) players and the potential long-term health consequences. Despite the increase in studies for this cohort, the influence of playing position on injury incidence and presentation is unclear. Purpose To describe the incidence, nature and severity of match injuries f...

Purpose: To investigate the impact of eastward travel across 7 time zones on sleep, jet lag, and recovery in elite soccer athletes. Methods: Twenty-one male and 20 female athletes (21.5 [1.7] y) traveled from Ireland to Taiwan to represent their national team at the World University Games 2017. Daily monitoring via actigraphy and subjective slee...

Background Rugby participation rates are rising, particularly in the female game where a 60% increase in player numbers was observed from 2013 to 2017. Despite the recent growth, the female amateur game is lacking comprehensive long-term injury surveillance. Objective To compare injuries in male and female amateur Rugby Union. Design Prospective...

Presented at the Virtual 2021 Congress of the European College of Sport Science.

Background The shoulder has been reported as a frequent location of injury in adult professional and amateur rugby, with match injury incidence rates ranging from 1.8 to 3 per 1000 player-hours (h). An increased understanding of the incidence and mechanism of shoulder injuries in school rugby players is vital to establish effective injury preventiv...

Training load (TL) is a modifiable risk factor that may provide practitioners with opportunities to mitigate injury risk and increase sports performance. A regular problem encountered by practitioners, however, is the issue of missing TL data. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of missing TL data in team sports and to offer a pract...

Background: Rugby union is a physically demanding sport that carries an inherent risk of injury. Despite being a popular and widely played team sport, little is known about injuries occurring across the male and female amateur game. Purpose: To establish and compare injury incidence, nature, and severity in male and female Irish amateur rugby un...

Background and Aims Atherosclerotic calcification is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular disease. This study aims to determine whether circulating levels of a local/systemic calcification inhibitor or a marker of bone formation correlate with measures of coronary or extracoronary calcification. Methods and Results Clinical computed tomography (...

Background While pain is very common in older adults, the associated impact on daily life, including usage of medication and healthcare, varies considerably and often pain remains inadequately treated. It is not clear what is associated with this variation. Methods Latent class analysis (LCA) is a model‐based approach to identifying underlying sub...

Objectives: Limited research has been conducted on sleep problems in elite athletes at international competition, and how this relates to their general health and well-being. Methods: Sixty-five elite international athletes (37 males, 28 females, 21.8 ± 2.1 years) from different sports completed validated sleep (Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnair...

ForewordComprehensive injury surveillance systems in amateur Rugby Union are needed to enhance player welfare and this innovative project to date has involved the research, design and implementation of an online injury recording platform. Collection has now been completed of a third season’s data and this 2019/20 season report documents our collabo...

ForewordComprehensive injury surveillance systems in underage Rugby Union are needed to enhance player welfare and this innovative project to date has involved the research, design and implementation of an online injury recording platform. Collection has now been completed of the season’s data and this second schools’ 2019/20 season report document...

Purpose Despite widespread use, the impact of manual handling (MH) training on low back pain (LBP) beliefs is unclear, with some data suggesting MH instructors hold outdated beliefs about LBP. This study aimed to examine the effect of MH training on a range of LBP beliefs. Materials and methods Ethics committee approval (University of Limerick) wa...

Background and aims Examining factors that may explain disparities in fitness levels among youth is a critical step in youth fitness promotion. The purpose of this study was twofold; 1) to examine the influence of school-level characteristics on fitness test performance; 2) to compare Irish adolescents’ physical fitness to European norms. Methods...

Background: Cognitive Functional Therapy (CFT) is a physiotherapist-led individualized intervention for people with people with non-specific chronic low back pain (CLBP), involving biopsychosocial pain education, graded movement exposure and lifestyle coaching. Methods: A multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT), including 206 participants...

The rupture of atherosclerotic plaques is the prerequisite for adverse cardiovascular events. Calcification morphology plays a critical role in plaque stability, therefore accurate calcification classification is essential for favourable patient management. Blood biomarkers may be a worthwhile approach to stratify patients based on calcification ph...

Objectives To ascertain the extent of injury surveillance and prevention practices currently in operation and the availability of medical personnel across Rugby playing schools in the Republic of Ireland. Design Cross-sectional survey design. Setting Rugby playing schools across Ireland. Participants The Rugby games master, head Rugby coach or t...

Background: Pain is common in older adults, and associated with increased morbidity and reduced quality of life. Recent research has highlighted different classes of older adults with pain, each with differing impacts on their life. It has not yet been investigated if, and how, such classes change over time and what influences individuals to prosp...

Background One-size-fits-all interventions reduce chronic low back pain (CLBP) a small amount. An individualised intervention called cognitive functional therapy (CFT) was superior for CLBP compared with manual therapy and exercise in one randomised controlled trial (RCT). However, systematic reviews show group interventions are as effective as one...

The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) project involves research stemming from ongoing sports performance, injury prevention and psychological preparation work by University of Limerick academics across a range of sports, as well as our specific expertise in Rugby Union. It has effectively brought together academics with expert practitioner exp...

The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) project involves research stemming from ongoing sports performance, injury prevention and psychological preparation work by University of Limerick academics across a range of sports, as well as our specific expertise in Rugby Union. It has effectively brought together academics with expert practitioner exp...

Background: Persistent strength deficits secondary to Achilles tendinopathy (AT) have been postulated to account for difficulty engaging in tendon-loading movements, such as running and jumping, and may contribute to the increased risk of recurrence. To date, little consensus exists on the presence of strength deficits in AT. Consequently, researc...

Background: The Agatston Calcium Score is a predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events but it is unable to identify high-risk lesions. Recent research suggests that examining calcification phenotype could be more indicative of plaque stability. Objective: To examine the Agatston score's ability to determine atherosclerotic calcification ph...

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of clinically relevant sleep problems in elite multi-sport athletes and their associations with sleep hygiene, general health, mood, chronotype, and injury. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: During the competitive season in athletes' home environment. Participants: Elite multi-sport Irish athle...

Studies have shown associations between reduced vitamin K status and poor cognitive function. However, despite this apparent link, direct studies measuring cognitive function, vitamin K status and inflammation are lacking. In the current study, The ELDERMET cohort was investigated to identify associations between cognition, vitamin K status and inf...

Factors associated with malnutrition in long-term care versus community dwelling older Irish adults - Volume 77 Issue OCE3 - M. Kelly, H. Purtill, M. Grace, S. Leahy, P.W. O'Toole, E. O'Herlihy, E.M. O'Connor

Pain significantly restricts the quality of life and well-being of older adults. With our increasingly ageing population, it is important to examine whether differing classes of biopsychosocial risk factors can predict the development of pain in older adults. Latent class analysis (LCA) provides a model-based approach to identifying underlying subg...

Background: Many patients reporting musculoskeletal pain present to Primary Care Physiotherapy with costly comorbid overlapping complaints that remain medically unexplained. These subjective health complaints (SHC) incorporate coexisting multi-site musculoskeletal pain and varied non-musculoskeletal complaints (e.g. anxiety, tiredness). The role o...

Objectives: Persistent poor sleep is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. Sleep is considered the main method of recovery in athletes; however, studies report that a significant number of athletes are getting insufficient sleep. The purpose of this study was to assess the sleep profiles of elite Gaelic athletes and to compare wellbei...

Study design: A case series was carried out. Introduction: There is a lack of evidence exploring the effectiveness of group exercise classes for people with nonspecific shoulder pain (NSSP). Also, there is a lack of research that measures potential reductions in thoracic kyphosis after exercise interventions in people with NSSP. Purpose of the...

Background/aim Exercise imparts a load on tendon tissue that leads to changes in tendon properties. Studies suggest that loading immediately reduces tendon thickness, with a loss of this response in symptomatic tendinopathy. No studies investigating the response of tendon dimensions to load for the rotator cuff tendons exist. This study aimed to ex...

ABSTRACT Objectives: Persistent poor sleep is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. Sleep is considered the main method of recovery in athletes; however, studies report that a significant number of athletes are getting insufficient sleep. The purpose of this study was to assess the sleep profiles of elite Gaelic athletes and to compar...

The aim of this study was to identify bundles of flexible working arrangements (FWAs) from data provided by 1,064 organizations in seven EU countries, and to relate bundle membership to demographic variables and human resource (HR) and organizational performance outcomes. Using Ward's hierarchical clustering algorithm we identified four distinct bu...

Background: Foot and ankle pain/injury (FAPI) is the most common musculoskeletal problem suffered in Irish dancing. A prospective examination of risk factors for FAPI in this cohort has never been performed. Study design: Prospective study over 1-year. Methods: 85 elite adult Irish dancers were screened at baseline for biopsychosocial factors...

Dynamic sitting approaches have been advocated to increase seated energy expenditure with the view of lessening the sedentary nature of the task. This study compared energy expenditure and overall body discomfort on a novel dynamic chair with a standard office chair. Fifteen pain- free participants completed a DVD viewing task on both chairs in a r...

Background: Achilles tendinopathy (AT) is associated with persistent pain leading to a significant physical and psychological burden. Psychosocial factors are considered to be important mediators following exercise interventions. Despite the recognition of the importance of psychosocial variables in persistent MSK disorders, there is a distinct la...

Background Ultrasound [US] imaging is commonly used to visualise tendon structure. It is not clear whether the presence of structural abnormalities in asymptomatic tendons predicts the development of future tendon symptoms in the Achilles or patellar tendon. This led to considerable uncertainty in the management of sporting populations with a high...

Objectives: This study aims to determine the minimum number of days of monitoring required to reliably predict sitting/lying time, standing time, light intensity physical activity (LIPA), moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and steps in adolescent females. Methods: 195 adolescent females (mean age=15.7 years; SD=0.9) particip...

Background: There is a growing body of evidence that physical activity (PA) improves symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite the benefits of PA, people with MS (pwMS) are relatively inactive compared to their healthy counterparts. This study investigated associations between social cognitive theory (SCT) constructs and energy expenditure (EE)...

Background: Balance deficits are common in people with multiple sclerosis, and accurate measurement of balance using clinical measures is important. This study investigates the inter-rater reliability of the mini Balance Evaluation System test (mini-BESTest) in ambulatory people with multiple sclerosis. Methods: People with multiple sclerosis atte...

Background: Diagnostic ultrasound (US) is a commonly used imaging modality for visualising tendon pathology and morphology. In comparison to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnostic US is perceived to have a higher risk of error when evaluating tendon size. Aim: To systematically assess the evidence regarding the Intra rater and Inter rater...

Background Ultrasound (US) imaging is commonly used to visualise tendon structure. It is not clear whether the presence of structural abnormalities in asymptomatic tendons predicts the development of future tendon symptoms in the Achilles or patellar tendon. Aim To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the ability of US imagi...

Purpose: Profiling activity behaviours in young children is important to understand changes in weight status over time. The purpose of this study is to identify activity profiles from self- and parental-reported Physical Activity (PA) and Sedentary Behaviour (SB) variables by gender, and determine if the identified profiles are predictive of weigh...

Background while a range of variables are related to the impact of pain, most population studies of older persons have simply examined the presence or intensity of pain. Objective to develop novel pain profiles based on a range of pain variables, and compare demographic and health variables across profiles. Methods baseline data from The Irish Lo...

Background while polypharmacy and multimorbidity predict healthcare utilisation among older people, the influence of differing pain profiles on healthcare utilisation is unclear. Objective to compare healthcare utilisation between people with different pain profiles. Methods baseline data from The Irish LongituDinal study on Ageing (TILDA), a pop...

iii) Background: Clinicians and patients have commonly reported that the clinician-patient interaction is an important factor in the outcome of musculoskeletal pain. Clinician-patient interaction incorporates factors such as clinician empathy and listening, patient-clinician communication, shared goals, confidence and trust in clinicians, non-verba...

Background Musculoskeletal pain is common and its treatment costly. Both group and individual physiotherapy interventions which incorporate exercise aim to reduce pain and disability. Do the additional time and costs of individual physiotherapy result in superior outcomes? Objective To compare the effectiveness of group and individual physiotherapy...

The aims of this study were to cluster preadolescents into distinct activity profiles based on self- and parental-reported physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) variables by gender, and determine if the identified profiles were predictive of weight change from age 9 to age 13. The findings highlighted 1) distinct activity profiles bas...

Background: Sensory disturbances are a major problem for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and up to 80% of people with MS present with various sensory deficits. To date, only one study has investigated the reliability of sensory measures in people with MS. We sought to determine the interrater reliability of the verbal analogue scale (VAS), th...

Background: The Berg Balance scale (BBS) is a commonly used balance measure for people with MS (pwMS). The MiniBESTest (MBT) is an alternative based on balance systems. Objective: To compare the BBS and MBT in ambulatory pwMS for sensitivity to change, likelihood ratio for walking aid use and falls and associations with clinical variables. Desi...

Nonspecific chronic spinal pain (NSCSP) is highly disabling. Current conservative rehabilitation commonly includes physical and behavioral interventions, or a combination of these approaches. Physical interventions aim to enhance physical capacity by using methods such as exercise, manual therapy, and ergonomics. Behavioral/psychologically informed...

Background: Accurate measurement of physical activity and sedentary behavior is an important consideration for health care professionals. The activPAL activity monitor has not been validated against a criterion measure for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the criterion validity of the...

Objectives To examine the relationship between maternal self-reported and measured height and weight, maternal perceived weight status and measured body mass index (BMI), and maternal perceived child weight status and measured child BMI. Setting and design Population-representative National Longitudinal Study of Children Growing Up in Ireland. Meth...

This study aims to 1) use the objective activPAL activity monitor to assess physical activity behaviours, including sitting/lying, standing and both light (LIPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), 2) to develop distinct activity profiles based on time spent in each behaviour in a sample of adolescent females and 3) examine whether l...

Objectives This study aimed firstly to investigate the feasibility of the study protocol and outcome measures, secondly to obtain data in order to inform the power calculations for a larger randomised controlled trial, and finally to investigate if whole-body vibration (WBV) is more effective than the same duration and intensity of standard exercis...

Previous research in Irish dancing (ID) has recorded high levels of pain/injury. Screening protocols in other genres have been developed to identify at-risk dancers. The aims of the study were to examine the factors that relate to absence from dancing because of musculo-skeletal pain/injury in ID, and to inform guidelines for the development of an...

Objective evidence suggests that sedentary behaviours (SB) increase throughout adolescence at the expense of light intensity physical activity (LIPA), particularly in females (Mitchell et al., 2012). The vast majority of studies that have objectively measured physical activity (PA) have relied on thresholds to estimate SB rather than directly exami...

Non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) is a very common and costly musculoskeletal disorder associated with a complex interplay of biopsychosocial factors. Cognitive functional therapy (CFT) represents a novel, patient-centred intervention which directly challenges pain-related behaviours in a cognitively integrated, functionally specific and...