Six min Walk Test as a Criterion for going to the Hospital in Suspected COVID-19 Patients; Is it Practical, Safe and Scientifically Justified?

The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread worldwide, which greatly endangers the global health and economy. Due to vast limitations in hospital resources, some countries have encountered serious problems for fair access to hospital beds. An interesting letter in this journal recommended 6-minute walk test (6MWT) as a proper clinical test to determine the necessity for going to the hospital in patients with suspected COVID-19. 6MWT is a field exercise test in which, patient should walk for 6 minutes as far as possible. It is usually used to compare pre- and post-treatment conditions in many pulmonary and cardiac disorders or to estimate functional status of individuals with some pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. This test may be applied as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Although the idea of finding an applicable and feasible clinical test to do at home is valuable by itself, but in our opinion, there are great concerns to use 6MWT for this purpose. Here, we will discuss about some serious concerns about the practical, judicious and scientifically justified use of this test in patients with suspected COVID-19

Six min Walk Test as a Criterion for going to the Hospital in Suspected COVID-19 Patients; Is it Practical, Safe and Scientifically Justified?

The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread worldwide, which greatly endangers the global health and economy. Due to vast limitations in hospital resources, some countries have encountered serious problems for fair access to hospital beds. An interesting letter in this journal recommended 6-minute walk test (6MWT) as a proper clinical test to determine the necessity for going to the hospital in patients with suspected COVID-19. 6MWT is a field exercise test in which, patient should walk for 6 minutes as far as possible. It is usually used to compare pre- and post-treatment conditions in many pulmonary and cardiac disorders or to estimate functional status of individuals with some pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. This test may be applied as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Although the idea of finding an applicable and feasible clinical test to do at home is valuable by itself, but in our opinion, there are great concerns to use 6MWT for this purpose. Here, we will discuss about some serious concerns about the practical, judicious and scientifically justified use of this test in patients with suspected COVID-19

Reliability and Recalibration of the Persian Version of Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool Cut-off Score in Athletes with Functional Ankle Instability

Introduction: The Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) is a valid instrument for determining the presence and severity of functional ankle instability. This questionnaire was recently cross-culturally adapted into Persian; however, the reliability of the Persian version has not been examined in athletes. CAIT has also been used with various independently-selected cut-off scores to determine instability. Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of CAIT and to determine its optimal cut-off score in athletic populations. Method: One-hundred and sixteen athletes (volleyball, basketball and track and field players) over 18 years old both with and without ankle instability completed the Persian version of the CAIT. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability and discriminative ability of the tool were assessed. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to confirm the cut-off point of the Persian version of CAIT using the Youden index. Results: The average CAIT score was 25.14±4.98 for the right and 25.76±4.94 for the left ankle. The Persian version of CAIT had a good internal consistency (Cronbach's α of 0.78 for the right ankle and 0.79 for the left ankle) and substantial reliability (ICC2, 1 = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.86 – 0.90) in athletes. No ceiling or floor effects were observed. The optimal cut-off score for discriminating between athletes with and without FAI was 24. Conclusion: The Persian version of CAIT was shown to be a reliable tool for assessing functional ankle instability among Iranian athletes

Reliability and Recalibration of the Persian Version of Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool Cut-off Score in Athletes with Functional Ankle Instability

Introduction: The Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) is a valid instrument for determining the presence and severity of functional ankle instability. This questionnaire was recently cross-culturally adapted into Persian; however, the reliability of the Persian version has not been examined in athletes. CAIT has also been used with various independently-selected cut-off scores to determine instability. Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of CAIT and to determine its optimal cut-off score in athletic populations. Method: One-hundred and sixteen athletes (volleyball, basketball and track and field players) over 18 years old both with and without ankle instability completed the Persian version of the CAIT. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability and discriminative ability of the tool were assessed. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to confirm the cut-off point of the Persian version of CAIT using the Youden index. Results: The average CAIT score was 25.14±4.98 for the right and 25.76±4.94 for the left ankle. The Persian version of CAIT had a good internal consistency (Cronbach's α of 0.78 for the right ankle and 0.79 for the left ankle) and substantial reliability (ICC2, 1 = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.86 – 0.90) in athletes. No ceiling or floor effects were observed. The optimal cut-off score for discriminating between athletes with and without FAI was 24. Conclusion: The Persian version of CAIT was shown to be a reliable tool for assessing functional ankle instability among Iranian athletes

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids and Prohibited Substances Misuse among Iranian Recreational Female Bodybuilders and its Associated Psycho-socio-demographic Factors

Background: The growing tendency to anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) and prohibited substances misuse by female athletes is a new public health concern. Epidemiological studies in this field are necessary to introduce an effective preventive drug control program in gyms. This study directed to evaluate the prevalence of AAS and other banned substances use and assess its association with some psycho-social and also demographic parameters among Iranian female recreational bodybuilders. Methods:This study was done from January to March 2017 and 289 recreational female bodybuilders from 41 randomly-selected fitness and sports clubs in different geographic parts of Tehran, Iran, were included. Age, education level, months of sport involvement, frequency of sport participation in a week (hour), body image assessed by Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), and history of AAS and substances intake as the psycho-socio-demographic parameters were recorded by interviews using questionnaires. Findings: Subjects were all recreational female bodybuilders [mean and standard deviation (SD) of age: 26.3 ± 6.3, range: 15–52 years]. Self-report of AAS abuse was recorded in 70 bodybuilders (24.2%). Among prohibited substances, the use of stimulants (amphetamine or methamphetamine) and other illicit drugs was recorded in 10(3.5%) and 95(32.9%) athletes, respectively. 112 (38.8%)participants reported somatotropin use. Cigarette smoking, hookah use, and alcohol intake were reported by 42 (14.5%), 162 (56.1%), and 49 (17.0%) female bodybuilders, respectively. Among different evaluated parameters, merely the frequency of sport participation in a week and sport experience was inversely associated with AAS consumption. Conclusion: Based on the subjects’ self–statement, AAS and substance misuse was surprisingly common in recreational female bodybuilders. Some factors including weekly frequency of sport participation and the duration of sport involvement may influence the prevalence of AAS abuse

Association between physical activity and risk of COVID-19 infection or clinical outcomes of the patients with COVID-19; A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective:  Nowadays, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious consequences for global health and economy. The important question is whether the level of physical activity might influence the risk of COVID-19 incidence or clinical outcomes, including the severity or mortality of infected patients. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the association between sufficient physical activity and incidence, hospitalization, severity, recovery, and mortality of COVID-19. Methods: A systematic search of Web of Sciences, PubMed, and Scopus between December 2019 and November 2021 in English language was conducted. Studies were screened based on the inclusion criteria, i.e. observational studies (case-control, prospective or retrospective longitudinal designs, and cross-sectional studies) which have determined the association of physical activity, exercise, sports participation, or sedentary behavior with COVID-19 incidence or outcomes, including mortality, severity, recovery and hospitalization in healthy population or population with any specific comorbidity. Results: Based on eligibility criteria, 27 articles were finally included in the qualitative synthesis. The meta-analysis of five studies evaluating association of physical activity and COVID-19 mortality showed weighted OR of OR of 0.61 (CI 95%: 0.50- 0.75) with heterogeneity (I2= 45.8%, P<0.001) and in seven studies regarding physical activity and COVID-19 hospitalization, weighted OR was 0.541 (CI 95% :0.491 -0.595) with heterogeneity (I2=81.7%, P<0.001). Conclusion: Participating in sufficient physical activity might decrease COVID-19 related hospitalization and mortality. Developing programs to increase physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic might be an appropriate health strategy

Effects of kinesiotaping on knee osteoarthritis: A literature review

The purpose of this review was to determine the current evidence-base for the efficacy of kinesiotaping in patients with osteoarthritis. Search-ing was undertaken using MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) from 2007 to 2018. The target terms included within our search criteria were "kinesiotape," "osteoar-thrites," "knee pain," "adults," and "geriatric." Current findings indicate that kinesiotaping can be considered a useful method for decreasing pain without any side effects in patients with osteoarthritis. The search yielded 1,062 articles and finally seven studies met inclusion criteria. However, there are a limited number of appropriately powered, robustly designed studies. Further research is required to fully understand the short- and longer-term impact of kinesotaping in patients with osteoar-thritis