Academic Journal
Neck cooling, with or without menthol mouth rinse, improves repeated-shuttle sprint performance and perceived thermal strain in hijab-wearing female futsal players in hot-dry indoor conditions.
| Τίτλος: | Neck cooling, with or without menthol mouth rinse, improves repeated-shuttle sprint performance and perceived thermal strain in hijab-wearing female futsal players in hot-dry indoor conditions. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Jafari A; Department of Sport Sciences, Shk.C, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran. Jafari.akm@gmail.com., Borujeni AH; Department of Sport Sciences, Shk.C, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran. |
| Πηγή: | European journal of applied physiology [Eur J Appl Physiol] 2026 Oct; Vol. 126 (10), pp. 5485-5497. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 29. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Springer-Verlag Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 100954790 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1439-6327 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14396319 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Eur J Appl Physiol Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Berlin ; New York : Springer-Verlag, c2000- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Menthol*/administration & dosage , Menthol*/pharmacology , Menthol*/therapeutic use , Athletic Performance*/physiology , Mouthwashes*/administration & dosage , Mouthwashes*/pharmacology , Running*/physiology , Neck*/physiology , Cryotherapy*/methods, Hot Temperature/adverse effects ; Humans ; Female ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Body Temperature Regulation ; Thermosensing ; Cross-Over Studies |
| Περίληψη: | Purpose: Female athletes wearing a sports hijab may experience greater heat strain during high-intensity intermittent exercise. This study examined the effects of menthol mouth rinse (MEN), neck cooling (NEC), and their combination (NEC + MEN) on repeated-shuttle sprint performance, physiological responses, and perceptual outcomes in hijab-wearing female futsal players exercising in hot-dry indoor conditions. Methods: Twenty-five female players completed four randomized crossover trials conducted in a hot-dry environment (34 ± 1 °C, 20-30% RH; WBGT ≈ 31 °C). Each trial involved a 10 × 30-m out-and-back repeated-sprint test every 30 s. Outcomes were mean/best sprint time, fatigue index, whole-body thermal sensation/comfort, RPE, and post-test HR, sweat loss, and pre-trial rectal temperature. Results: Mean sprint time was faster in NEC and MEN + NEC than PLA (p < 0.001 for both) and modestly faster in MEN than PLA (p = 0.045). Best sprint time was faster in NEC and MEN + NEC than PLA (p < 0.001), whereas MEN did not differ from PLA (p = 1.000). Fatigue index was lower in MEN, NEC, and MEN + NEC than PLA (all p ≤ 0.002). Post-RSA heart rate and rectal temperature did not differ between conditions (p ≥ 0.553). Sweat loss was lower in MEN + NEC and NEC than PLA (p ≤ 0.049). Thermal sensation/comfort and RPE increased over time (p < 0.001) but were lower in NEC and MEN + NEC than PLA (condition effects, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Neck cooling enhances repeated-shuttle sprint performance and reduces perceived thermal strain in hijab-wearing female futsal players in hot-dry indoor heat. Menthol provides smaller performance benefits, and MEN + NEC is broadly comparable to NEC alone for primary performance outcomes. Trial Registration: IRCT87477. (© 2026. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work reported in this manuscript. Consent to participate: Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study prior to participation. Consent to publish: All participants provided written informed consent for publication of anonymized data. The manuscript does not contain any identifying information. Ethics approval: All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord Branch (Approval No. IR.IAU.SHK.REC.1404.321). AI statement: The authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI, GPT-5.3) as an AI-assisted language editing tool to improve clarity, grammar, and academic phrasing. No data analysis, interpretation, or scientific content generation was delegated to the AI system. All outputs were critically reviewed, revised, and approved by the authors. No confidential or unpublished data were shared with the AI system. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Athletic performance; Cryotherapy; Futsal; Heat stress; Menthol |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 1490-04-6 (Menthol) 0 (Mouthwashes) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260629 Date Completed: 20261003 Latest Revision: 20261008 |
| Update Code: | 20261008 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00421-026-06328-0 |
| PMID: | 42371080 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1439-6327 |
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| DOI: | 10.1007/s00421-026-06328-0 |