Predictive role of physical activity on muscular strength in elderly

Objective: to study the relationship between body composition, knee isokinetic muscle strength, and physical activity over lifetime and during specific age periods in healthy elderly men and women aged 60 years and over. Methods: peak torque measurement of right and left knee extensors and flexors were realized using a Biodex dynamometer in 25 men (age: 70.3 ± 7.1 years) and 49 women (age: 70.0 ± 6.3 years). Physical activity was measured using QUANTAP, a computer-assisted questionnaire designed to quantify lifetime physical activity. Relationship between peak torque and physical activity was studied in multiple regression models including following variables: sex, age, height, weight, lean mass, and interaction between sex and age and sex and lean mass. Results: whatever the model considered, lean mass and age explain muscular performance. Past year, past 20 years and lifetime sport activity explain peak torque of the knee (R2 = 0.71, 0.69 and 0.68 respectively). Conclusion: Aging is associated with decreased muscle strength resulting in an increased risk of dependent living. These data suggests that physical activity over lifetime contribute to preserve muscular performance with advancing age.Objectif: étudier la relation entre la composition corporelle, la force musculaire isocinétique du genou et l'activité physique exercée au cours de la vie et au cours de périodes spécifiques. Méthodes: le moment maximal des extenseurs et fléchisseurs des genoux droit et gauche a été mesuré à l'aida d'un dynamomètre Biodex chez 25 hommes (âge : 70.3 ′ 7.1 ans) et 49 femmes (âge: 70.0 ′ 6.3 ans). L'activité physique a été évaluée à l'aide du logiciel QUANTAP conçut pour quantifier l'activité physique pratiquée au cours de la vie entière. La relation entre le moment maximal et l'activité physique a été étudiée par des modèles d'analyse de régression multiple incluant les variables suivantes: sexe, âge, taille, poids, masse maigre, interaction sexe*âge et sexe*masse maigre. Résultats: quelque soit le modèle considéré, la masse maigre et l'âge expliquent la performance musculaire. Le sport pratiqué au cours de l'année ou des 20 années précédant l'étude et le sport pratiqué au cours de la vie entière explique également cette performance (R = 0.71, 0.69 and 0.68 respectivement). Conclusion: le vieillissement est associé à une baisse de la performance musculaire qui accroît le risque de dépendance. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'activité sportive pratiquée tout au long de la vie permet de préserver la fonction musculaire avec l'avancée en âge

Avant-propos

À l’heure où notre collègue et ami Jean-Jacques Chardin s’apprête à prendre une retraite bien méritée et à transmettre le flambeau à de jeunes enseignantes-chercheuses et enseignants-chercheurs, les contributeurs et contributrices à ce volume souhaitent rendre hommage à ses talents de passeur par une réflexion autour des notions de transmission, de transposition et de transformation telles qu’elles s’appliquent à l’Angleterre de la première modernité. Faisant œuvre de pédagogue, Jean-Jacques..

Reliability and validity of the French version of the global physical activity questionnaire

AbstractBackgroundThe Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) has been used to measure physical activity (PA) and sedentary time in France, but no study has assessed its psychometric properties. This study aimed to compare the reliability as well as criterion and concurrent validity of the French version of the GPAQ with the French International PA Questionnaire long form (IPAQ-LF) and use of an accelerometer in a general adult population.MethodsWe included 92 participants (students or staff) from the Medicine Campus at the University of Lorraine, Nancy (north-eastern France). The French GPAQ was completed twice, 7 days apart, to study test-retest reliability. The IPAQ-LF was used to assess concurrent validity of the GPAQ, and participants wore an accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X+) for 7 days to study criterion validity. Reliability as well as concurrent and criterion validity of the GPAQ were tested by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Spearman correlation coefficient for quantitative variables, and Kappa and Phi coefficients for qualitative variables. Both concurrent and criterion validity of GPAQ were assessed by Bland-Altman plots.ResultsThe GPAQ showed poor to good reliability (ICC = 0.37–0.94; Kappa = 0.50–0.62) and concurrent validity (Spearman r = 0.41–0.86), but only poor criterion validity (Spearman r = 0.22–0.42). Limits of agreement for the GPAQ and accelerometer were wide, with differences between 286.5 min/day and 601.3 min/day.ConclusionThe French version of the GPAQ provides limited but acceptable reliability and validity for the measurement of PA and sedentary time. It may be used for assessing PA and sedentary time in a French adult population

The Erasmus+ EUMOVE project-a school-based promotion of healthy lifestyles to prevent obesity in European children and adolescents

The aim of this study was to describe the goals, activities, and methods of EUMOVE project in developing a set of resources targeting both primary and secondary schools that allow the entire educational community to promote healthy lifestyles (HL). The EUMOVE project is an Erasmus+ program based in the Creating Active Schools (CAS) framework. The project lasted 3 years and was developed by 14 academic and non-governmental institutions from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and the UK. EUMOVE was divided into three phases. In the first phase, several work packages were carried out aimed to ensure the coordination/management of the project activities. In the second phase, seven educational resources strengthened by rigorous scientific research were developed to promote HL from schools. During the last phase, all the resources were disseminated through scientific seminars, workshops with families and teachers, and the online promotion by the non-governmental institutions of each country. The EUMOVE project developed and promoted a smartphone APP, video/activity repository of physically active lessons, active break virtual platform, learning units, and parent/teachers/school-leaders' guidelines to promote physical activity, active commuting, active school playgrounds, healthy diet, and sleep habits. To our knowledge, EUMOVE is the first European project to provide a set of practical tools based on scientific evidence to help schools or future school-wide interventions implement a paradigm shift based on the CAS framework for the promotion of HL. Future research will need to investigate the implementation, effectiveness, and scalability of this proposal. [Abstract copyright: © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

Colistin resistance in Parisian inpatient faecal Escherichia coli as the result of two distinct evolutionary pathways

Beyond plasmid-encoded resistance (mcr genes) prevalence in strain collections, large epidemiological studies to estimate the human burden of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli gut carriage are lacking.Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of colistin-resistant E. coli carriage in inpatients and decipher the molecular support of resistance and the genetic background of the strains.Methods: During a 3 month period in 2017, we prospectively screened patients in six Parisian hospitals for rectal carriage of colistin-resistant E. coli using a selective medium, a biochemical confirmatory test and MIC determination. WGS of the resistant strains and their corresponding plasmids was performed.Results: Among the 1217 screened patients, 153 colistin-resistant E. coli strains were isolated from 152 patients (12.5%). The mcr- 1 gene was identified in only seven isolates (4.6%) on different plasmid scaffolds. The genetic background of these MCR-1 producers argued for an animal origin. Conversely, the remaining 146 colistin-resistant E. coli exhibited a phylogenetic distribution corresponding to human gut commensal/clinical population structure (B2 and D phylogroup predominance); 72.6% of those isolates harboured convergent mutations in the PmrA and PmrB proteins, constituting a two-component system shown to be associated with colistin resistance.Conclusions: We showed that the occurrence at a high rate of colistin resistance in human faecal E. coli is the result of two distinct evolutionary pathways, i.e. the occurrence of chromosomal mutations in an endogenous E. coli population and the rare acquisition of exogenous mcr-1- bearing strains probably of animal origin. The involved selective pressures need to be identified in order to develop preventative strategies

Variation in population levels of physical activity in European adults according to cross-European studies: a systematic literature review within DEDIPAC

peer-reviewedBackground: Physical inactivity is a well-known public health risk that should be monitored at the population level. Physical activity levels are often surveyed across Europe. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of all existing cross-European studies that assess physical activity in European adults, describe the variation in population levels according to these studies, and discuss the impact of the assessment methods. Methods: Six literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and OpenGrey) were searched, supplemented with backward- and forward tracking and searching authors’ and experts’ literature databases. Articles were included if they reported on observational studies measuring total physical activity and/or physical activity in leisure time in the general population in two or more European countries. Each record was reviewed, extracted and assessed by two independent researchers and disagreements were resolved by a third researcher. The review protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42014010334. Results: Of the 9,756 unique identified articles, twenty-five were included in this review, reporting on sixteen different studies, including 2 to 35 countries and 321 to 274,740 participants. All but two of the studies used questionnaires to assess physical activity, with the majority of studies using the IPAQ-short questionnaire. The remaining studies used accelerometers. The percentage of participants who either were or were not meeting the physical activity recommendations was the most commonly reported outcome variable, with the percentage of participants meeting the recommendations ranging from 7 % to 96 % across studies and countries. Conclusions: The included studies showed substantial variation in the assessment methods, reported outcome variables and, consequently, the presented physical activity levels. Because of this, absolute population levels of physical activity in European adults are currently unknown. However, when ranking countries, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain generally appear to be among the less active countries. Objective data of adults across Europe is currently limited. These findings highlight the need for standardisation of the measurement methods, as well as cross-European monitoring of physical activity levels

Health promoting sports federations: theoretical foundations and guidelines

BackgroundResearchers and policy-makers have highlighted that the potential for organized sports to promote health has been underexploited. Sports clubs have limited capacity to promote health due to their voluntary nature and have called for support from their national sports federations. The present article provides guidelines, based on the theoretical principles of health promoting sports clubs and an analysis of practical tools and proven strategies, to support national sports federations to invest in health promotion (HP).MethodsA qualitative iterative study was undertaken, based on five 2-h meetings of a group of 15 international researchers in HP in sports clubs. Notes and minutes from meetings, as well as shared outputs were analyzed based on the health promoting sports club framework.ResultsGuidelines developed for national sports federations to promote health includes a definition of a health promoting sports federation (HPSF), a description of how the settings-based approach to HP adapts to national sports federations, as well as practical applications of health promoting sports club’s intervention strategies. The analysis of existing tools also demonstrated that most tools are centered on a single dimension of health (social, mental, physical, spiritual or community), and often on a specific health topic. Furthermore, they do not cover HP as a continuous long-lasting process, but are generally short-term programs. The HPSF clarifies theoretical concepts, their practical implementation via case studies and outlines intervention components and tools useful for sports federations in their implementation of HP.ConclusionThe guidelines developed in this study are intended to facilitate national sports federations to acknowledge/understand, reinforce/underpin and foster current and further investment in HP