A influência do uso de protetores bucais no desempenho esportivo : uma revisão sistemática e metanálise

Abstract

With the advancement of evidence pointing to an adequate protective efficacy of the use of mouthguards (PBs) for sports practice, uncertainty remains whether there is any interference of the use of this type of equipment in sports performance. Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis on the influence of different types of mouthguards in athletic performance. Methods: The inclusion criteria used for the selection of articles addressed the items of the PICOS acronym, where the population of the studies was composed of athletes and practitioners of the analyzed performance tests; the intervention comprised the use of PBs in their most varied models made and available, compared with each other and with a control group performing the tests without using any PB; possible outcomes included the results of the measured performance variables; and the designs integrated prospective, intervention, crossover and randomized trials. In addition to the manual and gray literature searches, the following databases were accessed up to November of 2021: Pubmed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, LILACS, Embase and Scopus. The registration was carried out in the international database PROSPERO; and for quality assessment, the Cochrane risk of bias tool was used. Results: Totaling a sample of 1111 participants, 54 studies were selected. High heterogeneity and high risk of bias were found in these studies. The four most cited performance variables and with methodological uniformity of the physical tests applied to the athletes were selected for the meta-analysis: height of the vertical jump with countermovement (SVCM); flexibility in the Sit and Reach Test (Flex); maximum volume of oxygen (VO2Max) and maximum minute ventilation (VEMax). The use of individualized PB (PBI) did not affect the values of any measured performance variables, and an ergonomic effect was observed in the vertical jump with countermovement (SVCM). The use of PB boil-and-bite (PBFM) did not generate statistical difference. Discussion: The lack of standardization among the studies, where different types of PBs were tested in athletes practitioners of different sports, and multiple anaerobic and aerobic variables were analyzed, point to the need to choose the variables and methodological standardization for future research with BPs. Conclusion: The use of PBI should be encouraged for the practice of sports where there is a considerable prevalence of dentofacial trauma.