Soccer Sport May Boost Wellness After Limb Loss

Scientists wanted to know how adaptive soccer style rehab might help people who lost limbs.

The team studied a small group of players. These players had served in the military or worked as police. A blast or shrapnel injury caused their limb loss. The war in Ukraine was the setting. The time frame was 2022 through 2025. Twenty six people had lost a lower limb or foot. Six people had lost an upper limb. All were men. The group had 32 members in total.

The researchers gave the players football rehab sessions. They watched what happened. They checked well being and body status. They also checked the brain. A survey called the SF 36 gave some scores. Tests looked at attention. One test checked attention distribution and span. Another checked attention concentration and sustainability. The team then compared the results.

The team found real change. The players did better on physical and mental parts. Social function got the biggest boost. Vitality rose. Physical function rose too. The attention tests also showed gains. Attention distribution and span went up. Attention concentration and sustainability went up. Pain did not show a big change. That pain result was not statistically meaningful.

The team saw gains in social, mental, and physical areas. Pain stayed about the same. The researchers noted this pain change was not statistically strong.