Exploring mechanisms associated with the benefits of physical activity and the negatïve effects of sedentary behaviour

The benefits of physical activity on cardiovascular disease prevention are well established. Still, the impact of the distribution of physical activity over the week has been poorly explored, and the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. This work aimed to 1) characterize physical activity patterns during the week and 2) explore the associations between physical activity patterns and a series of established or potential cardiovascular risk factors. To achieve this, we conducted five studies in adults from the general population, where physical activity was objectively assessed using accelerometry and patterns defined according to its distribution over the week. The first study demonstrated that weekly physical activity patterns vary according to socio-economic status. The second study demonstrated that physically active adults have lower prevalence of established cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes. In the latter studies, physically active adults had also a higher sleep efficiency, a lower cortisol secretion, and a higher muscle mass and strength. Mainly, both physical activity distributed evenly over the week or concentrated on weekends seemed to be beneficial for cardiovascular risk profile. However, physical activity concentrated on weekends was less beneficial on muscle mass and strength. Finally, the association of physical activity with cardiovascular risk was replicated by two other studies using grip strength, a correlate of physical activity. Overall, this work demonstrated that physical activity favorably influences a large number of cardiovascular risk factors, and that the amount of physical activity is more important than the timing of its practice during the week. These results could help update recommendations on the distribution of physical activity over week. -- Les bénéfices de l'activité physique sur l'incidence des maladies cardiovasculaires sont bien établis. Cependant, l'impact de la distribution de l’activité physique sur la semaine ainsi que les mécanismes sous-jacents ne sont que partiellement compris. Ce travail a cherché à 1) mieux caractériser les comportements d’activité physique sur la semaine, et 2) explorer leurs associations avec les facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire. Pour ce faire, cinq études ont été menées parmi des adultes de la population générale dont l’activité physique a été évaluée par accélérométrie et les comportements définis selon sa distribution sur la semaine. La première étude a montré que les comportements d’activité physique sur la semaine dépendent du niveau socio-économique. La deuxième étude a montré que les adultes actifs présentent une plus faible prévalence de facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire tels que l'obésité, l'hypertension et le diabète. Dans les dernières études, les adultes actifs ont également une meilleure efficacité du sommeil, une sécrétion de cortisol plus basse, et une masse et force musculaire plus grandes. Généralement, autant l'activité physique distribuée régulièrement sur la semaine que concentrée les week-ends est bénéfique sur le profil de risque cardiovasculaire. Cependant, pour la masse et force musculaire, l’activité physique concentrée le weekend semble moins bénéfique. Enfin, l’association de l’activité physique avec le risque cardiovasculaire a été répliquée par deux études en utilisant la force de préhension, un marqueur d’activité physique. Globalement, ce travail montre que l’activité physique influence un très grand nombre de paramètres de santé et de facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire, et que c’est le niveau d’activité physique plutôt que sa distribution sur la semaine qui est important. Nous espérons que ces résultats serviront pour la mise à jour des recommandations de la distribution de l’activité physique sur la semaine

Trends of physical fitness related to weight status: An analysis including over 412,000 Swiss young male conscripts from 2007 to 2022.

OBJECTIVE The high prevalence of obesity among young adults in the civilian population pose challenges in recruiting physically fit soldiers. We assessed the trend of physical fitness related to weight status among Swiss male conscripts. METHODS Cross-sectional data of medical examination data during mandatory conscription for the Swiss Armed Forces, 2007-2022 (N = 412,186). The conscription physical test (CPT) assessed five aspects of physical fitness, each aspect scoring 0-25, one component being an endurance test (ET). CPT and ET categories were defined as per military guidelines: "Insufficient", "Sufficient", "Good", "Very Good" and "Excellent". Weight status was based on body mass index (BMI). RESULTS Conscripts with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI 25-29.99) had significantly (p < 0.001) lower CPT and ET scores compared to normal weight [multivariable-adjusted mean: 54.7 ± 0.1 and 66.5 ± 0.1, vs. 73.6 ± 0.1 for CPT; 8.8 ± 0.1 and 12.5 ± 0.1, vs. 15.3 ± 0.1 for ET] and a higher likelihood to be categorized as "Insufficient" [weighted relative-risk ratio and (95 %CI): 70.4 (63.7-77.7) and 2.35 (2.16-2.55) for CPT; 77.1 (71.0-83.7) and 3.05 (2.91-3.20) for ET] or "Sufficient" [7.67 (7.38-7.97) and 2.02 (1.99-2.06) for CPT; 8.93 (8.37-9.52) and 2.02 (1.98-2.06) for ET]. Compared to normal weight conscripts, the CPT and ET scores decreased over the conscription years for conscripts with obesity (multivariable-adjusted mean yearly change: -0.11 ± 0.02 for CPT; -0.032 ± 0.007 for ET) and overweight (-0.16 ± 0.01 for CPT and -0.044 ± 0.004 for ET). CONCLUSION Male Swiss conscripts with overweight and obesity have lower physical fitness than normal weight conscripts, and this condition tends to worsen over the conscription years

Trends of physical fitness related to weight status: An analysis including over 412,000 Swiss young male conscripts from 2007 to 2022

Objective: The high prevalence of obesity among young adults in the civilian population pose challenges in recruiting physically fit soldiers. We assessed the trend of physical fitness related to weight status among Swiss male conscripts. Methods: Cross-sectional data of medical examination data during mandatory conscription for the Swiss Armed Forces, 2007–2022 (N = 412,186). The conscription physical test (CPT) assessed five aspects of physical fitness, each aspect scoring 0–25, one component being an endurance test (ET). CPT and ET categories were defined as per military guidelines: “Insufficient”, “Sufficient”, “Good”, “Very Good” and “Excellent”. Weight status was based on body mass index (BMI). Results: Conscripts with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI 25–29.99) had significantly (p < 0.001) lower CPT and ET scores compared to normal weight [multivariable-adjusted mean: 54.7 ± 0.1 and 66.5 ± 0.1, vs. 73.6 ± 0.1 for CPT; 8.8 ± 0.1 and 12.5 ± 0.1, vs. 15.3 ± 0.1 for ET] and a higher likelihood to be categorized as “Insufficient” [weighted relative-risk ratio and (95 %CI): 70.4 (63.7–77.7) and 2.35 (2.16–2.55) for CPT; 77.1 (71.0–83.7) and 3.05 (2.91–3.20) for ET] or “Sufficient” [7.67 (7.38–7.97) and 2.02 (1.99–2.06) for CPT; 8.93 (8.37–9.52) and 2.02 (1.98–2.06) for ET]. Compared to normal weight conscripts, the CPT and ET scores decreased over the conscription years for conscripts with obesity (multivariable-adjusted mean yearly change: −0.11 ± 0.02 for CPT; −0.032 ± 0.007 for ET) and overweight (−0.16 ± 0.01 for CPT and −0.044 ± 0.004 for ET). Conclusion: Male Swiss conscripts with overweight and obesity have lower physical fitness than normal weight conscripts, and this condition tends to worsen over the conscription years

Physical activity is associated with higher sleep efficiency in the general population: the CoLaus study

Abstract Study Objectives To evaluate the association of objective physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with sleep duration and quality. Methods Cross-sectional study including 2649 adults (53.5% women, 45-86 years) from the general population. Proportions of time spent in PA and SB were measured using 14 day accelerometry. Low PA and high SB statuses were defined as the lowest and highest tertile of each behavior. "Inactive,” "Weekend warrior,” and "Regularly active” weekly patterns were also defined. Sleep parameters were derived from the accelerometer and validated questionnaires. Results High PA, relative to low PA, was associated with higher sleep efficiency (76.6 vs. 73.8%, p < 0.01) and lower likelihood of evening chronotype [relative-risk ratio (RR) and 95% CI: 0.71 (0.52; 0.97)]. Similar associations were found for low SB relative to high SB. "Weekend warriors” relative to "Inactives,” had higher sleep efficiency [76.4 vs. 73.9%, p < 0.01] and lower likelihood of evening chronotype [RR: 0.63 (0.43; 0.93)]. "Regularly actives,” relative to "Inactives,” had higher sleep efficiency [76.7 vs. 73.9%, p < 0.01] and tended to have less frequently an evening chronotype [RR: 0.75 (0.54; 1.04), p = 0.09]. No associations were found for PA and SB with sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and risk of sleep apnea (after adjustment for body mass index). Conclusions High PA and low SB individuals, even if they do not sleep longer, have higher sleep efficiency and have less frequently an evening chronotype

Comparison of the Physical Activity Frequency Questionnaire (PAFQ) with accelerometry in a middle-aged and elderly population: The CoLaus study.

OBJECTIVE The Physical Activity Frequency Questionnaire (PAFQ) has been used in several studies, but its validation dates from 1998. We compared the PAFQ with accelerometry data for measuring levels of physical activity (PA) in a middle-aged and elderly population. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis was conducted with a sample of 1752 adults from the general population (50.7% female, age range 45.2-87.1 years) living in Switzerland. Participants completed the PAFQ and wore a wrist-worn accelerometer for 14 consecutive days. Spearman correlation, Lin's concordance coefficient and Bland-Altman plots were performed to compare PAFQ and accelerometry data. RESULTS Compared with the accelerometer, the PAFQ overestimated total, light, moderate and vigorous activity by a median [interquartile range] of 143 [34.5; 249], 72 [12; 141], 23 [-46; 100] and 13 [-1; 41] minutes/day, respectively, and underestimated sedentary behaviour by 123 [14; 238] minutes/day. Spearman's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.171 for vigorous PA and 0.387 for total PA and sedentary behaviour. Lin's concordance coefficients ranged from 0.044 for vigorous PA and 0.254 for moderate to vigorous PA. The difference between PAFQ and accelerometer results increased with increasing time spent at each activity level. CONCLUSION There is limited agreement between estimates of activity obtained by PAFQ and those obtained from accelerometers, suggesting that these tools measure activity differently. Although there is some degree of comparability, they should be considered as complementary tools to obtain comprehensive information on both individual and population activity levels

Comparison of different software for processing physical activity measurements with accelerometry.

Several raw-data processing software for accelerometer-measured physical activity (PA) exist, but whether results agree has not been assessed. We examined the agreement between three different software for raw accelerometer data, and associated their results with cardiovascular risk. A cross-sectional analysis conducted between 2014 and 2017 in 2693 adults (53.4% female, 45-86 years) living in Lausanne, Switzerland was used. Participants wore the wrist-worn GENEActive accelerometer for 14 days. Data was processed with the GENEActiv manufacturer software, the Pampro package in Python and the GGIR package in R. For the latter, two sets of thresholds "White" and "MRC" defining levels of PA and two versions (1.5-9 and 1.11-1) for the "MRC" threshold were used. Cardiovascular risk was assessed using the SCORE risk score. Time spent (mins/day) in stationary, light, moderate and vigorous PA ranged from 633 (GGIR-MRC) to 1147 (Pampro); 93 (GGIR-White) to 196 (GGIR-MRC); 19 (GGIR-White) to 161 (GENEActiv) and 1 (GENEActiv) to 26 (Pampro), respectively. Spearman correlations between results ranged between 0.317 and 0.995, while concordance coefficients ranged between 0.035 and 0.968. With some exceptions, the line of perfect agreement was not in the 95% confidence interval of the Bland-Altman plots. Compliance to PA guidelines varied considerably: 99.8%, 98.7%, 76.3%, 72.6% and 50.2% for Pampro, GENEActiv, GGIR-MRC v.1.11-1, GGIR-MRC v.1.4-9 and GGIR-White, respectively. Cardiovascular risk decreased with increasing time spent in PA across most software packages. We found large differences in PA estimation between software and thresholds used, which makes comparability between studies challenging

Derechos de los discapacitados ante las administraciones públicas: la accesibilidad universal

Constituyendo la accesibilidad universal uno de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad, a la vez que su ausencia, uno de los problemas que estas personas encuentran en su día a día, he elegido este tema como objeto del presente trabajo de fin de grado. En el mismo, se analizará la accesibilidad desde una perspectiva jurídica, trabajando para ello aspectos conceptuales y teóricos, su marco normativo relativo a distintos ámbitos territoriales y los diferentes mecanismos jurídicos de defensa ante su vulneración, de modo que ello nos ayudará a justificar la existencia del derecho a la accesibilidad universal y a determinar cómo pueden reaccionar las personas que vean vulnerado el mismo.Being accessibility one of persons´ with disability rights, as well as it absence, one of the problems these people could find in their daily life, I have chosen this topic as the aim of this work of end of degree. The accessibility will be analyzed from a legal perspective, working on conceptual and theoretical aspects, its regulatory framework of the different territorial areas where we can appreciate it and different legal mechanisms to be able to ward against its violation. In this way, it will help us to justify the existence of the universal accessibility right and to determine the way these people can react.Graduado o Graduada en Derecho por la Universidad Pública de NavarraZuzenbidean Graduatua Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa

Total number of deaths, seasonal variation (peak-nadir) in the ratio of observed to expected deaths, and percentage of variance explained (R²) by the cosinor function for overall and cause-specific mortality.

<p>Countries are ordered according to mean latitude. CVD: Cardiovascular disease.</p><p>* Seasonal variation statistically significant at 5% level;</p><p>** Seasonal variation statistically significant at 1% level;</p><p>*** Seasonal variation statistically significant at <1% level.</p><p>Total number of deaths, seasonal variation (peak-nadir) in the ratio of observed to expected deaths, and percentage of variance explained (R²) by the cosinor function for overall and cause-specific mortality.</p

Seasonal variation of the ratio of observed to expected deaths for overall, cardiovascular, cancer and non-CVD/non-cancer.

<p>Countries located in the Southern Hemisphere.</p