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. 2023 Jan 18;11(2):21.
doi: 10.3390/sports11020021.

Playing Disability Rugby League with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: A Case Study

Luke Manny  1 , Taylor Wileman  1 , Che Fornusek  1 , Daniel A Hackett  1
Affiliations

Playing Disability Rugby League with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: A Case Study

Luke Manny et al. Sports (Basel). .

Abstract

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a common inherited neurological disorder that causes damage to peripheral nerves. Reports of CMT patients participating in team-based sports such as disability rugby league are scarce. The objective of this case report was to evaluate the benefits of participation in disability rugby league in a 50-year-old male with CMT. Leg muscle mass and strength was worse for the case subject compared to two age-matched CMT participants with an exercise history; however, evidence of greater function in the case subject was observed through better 6-min walk test performance. Performance in a series of sport specific tests was noticeably worse for the case subject compared to a fellow rugby league player (age matched) with cerebral palsy. Inferior in-game performance was observed for the case subject compared to his fellow rugby league player in terms of distance covered, top running speed, and intensity. However, the case subject may have assumed a different role when playing as evident by the different behaviours he displayed during the games (i.e., less player contacts, tackles, or touches, but more passes of the ball). This case study provides information concerning disability rugby league as an adjunctive mode of treatment for CMT populations.

Keywords: exercise; neuromuscular disorder; physical function; sports.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Performance of CMT-RL and CP-RL during two games in the 2022 NSWPDRLA season. CMT-RL: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease rugby league player; CP-RL: cerebral palsy rugby league player. NSWPDRLA: NSW Physical Disability Rugby League Association.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Performance characteristics of CMT-RL and CP-RL during two games in the 2022 NSWPDRLA season. (a) Distance covered during games; (b) top running speed during games; and (c) distance covered per minute of game play. CMT-RL: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease rugby league player; CP-RL: cerebral palsy rugby league player. NSWPDRLA: NSW Physical Disability Rugby League Association.
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