University Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Neurology, NL-9700 RB Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen / Faculty Campus Fryslân, Wirdumerdijk 34, 8911 CE Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.
University of Groningen / Faculty Campus Fryslân, Wirdumerdijk 34, 8911 CE Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.
J Psychosom Res. 2023 Oct;173:111440. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111440. Epub 2023 Jul 24.
Skater's cramp is a debilitating disorder in expert speedskaters and recent evidence from muscle and movement studies nominate it is a task-specific dystonia (TSD). Building on these studies we investigated clinical features and personality in skater's cramp, hypothesizing that similar to other TSDs, trait emotionality would be higher in affected skaters.
In a cross-sectional study we employed the HEXACO inventory to examine the personality of a cohort of skaters with skater's cramp (n = 26) compared to age, sex, and experience-matched controls (n = 28). Affected skaters were selected based on relevant clinical features important to the diagnosis of TSD.
Sentimentality (a sub-factor of emotionality) was higher in affected skaters, but only in the male population. Extraversion was lower in skaters with skater's cramp. Clinical findings resembled other forms of TSD.
Higher sentimentality is in line with previous studies in TSD. Lower Extraversion in affected skaters was an unexpected finding that may be a new feature of skater's cramp and TSD. Due to our small sample size and cross-sectional design, these findings are preliminary, but offer tentative evidence of personality differences in skater's cramp in line with TSD.
速滑运动员痉挛是优秀速滑运动员中一种使人虚弱的疾病，肌肉和运动研究的最新证据将其命名为特定任务的肌张力障碍（TSD）。基于这些研究，我们调查了速滑运动员痉挛的临床特征和人格，假设与其他 TSD 一样，受影响的速滑运动员的特质情绪性会更高。
在一项横断面研究中，我们使用 HEXACO 量表调查了一组患有速滑运动员痉挛的运动员（n=26）的人格，与年龄、性别和经验匹配的对照组（n=28）进行了比较。根据对 TSD 诊断很重要的相关临床特征选择受影响的速滑运动员。
情绪性（情感的一个亚因素）在受影响的速滑运动员中更高，但仅在男性中。外向性在患有速滑运动员痉挛的运动员中较低。临床发现与其他形式的 TSD 相似。
更高的情感性与 TSD 的先前研究一致。受影响的速滑运动员的外向性较低是一个意外的发现，这可能是速滑运动员痉挛和 TSD 的一个新特征。由于我们的样本量小和横断面设计，这些发现是初步的，但提供了与 TSD 一致的速滑运动员痉挛人格差异的初步证据。
