Effectiveness of Exercise in Patients with Overweight or Obesity Suffering from Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The main purpose of this study was to review the evidence about the effectiveness of exercise in patients with overweight or obesity suffering from knee osteoarthritis. Methods: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) published between January 2002 and May 2022 were included. Results: A total of 64 articles were identified, of which six met the criteria for meta-analysis. The pain scale score was higher in the control group (mean difference 0.95; confidence interval 0.42–1.47; p < 0.001; I2 = 44%). The physical function scale (lower scores indicate lower levels of symptoms or physical disability) presented a higher score in the control group (mean difference 3.74; confidence interval 0.85–6.53; p < 0.05; I2 = 56%). Moreover, the intervention group achieved a greater distance (meters) walking in a 6 min interval (mean difference 38.18; confidence interval 20.01–56.35; p < 0.001; I2 = 0%). Conclusions: Exercise interventions seem effective in improving quality of life in people with overweight or obesity suffering from knee osteoarthritis, reducing pain and improving physical function

Protocolo para la vigilancia de la salud del profesorado con atención a la enfermedad profesional

Artículo original[ES] El docente es uno de los principales sectores laborales cuantitativa y cualitativamente, siendo esencial un nivel óptimo de salud laboral para realizar adecuadamente su tarea. Desde la entrada en vigor del Real Decreto 1299/2006, los "Nódulos de las cuerdas vocales a causa de los esfuerzos sostenidos de la voz por motivos profesionales" constituyen una enfermedad profesional en el pro fesorado, cuestión novedosa para este colectivo. El objetivo de este trabajo es la propuesta de un protocolo para la vigilancia de la salud del profesorado. Cuestión que surge tras realizar un estudio epidemiológico para conocer la forma de enfermar del profesorado de secundaria, a partir de una muestra representativa, considerando variables de salud laboral. Analizamos la patología más frecuente que aparece en la población encuestada,entre la que figura los trastornos de la voz, incluidos los nódulos de las cuerdas vocales. La impor tancia de diagnosticar esta enfermedad obliga a tenerla en cuenta en los reconocimientos médicos para la Vigilancia de la Salud realizados en el profesorado. De ahí que propongamos un protocolopara facilitar el examen de salud específico, así como una secuencia de actuación ante su posible diagnóstico.[EN] Teachering is one of the quantitatively and qualitatively main economical sectors, being essential an optimum level of occupational health to adequately perform their task. Since the entry into force of Real Decreto 1299/2006, "Nodules of the vocal cords because of the sustained efforts of the voice for professional reasons" constitute an occupational disease for teachers, a new issue for this group. The purpose of this paper is the proposal of a procedure for monitoring the health of the teaching staff. This is a matter that arises from an epidemiological research in order to find out how a representative sample of secondary education teaching staff could fall ill, considering variables of occupational health. We have analyzed the most frequent pathology appearing in the surveyed population, among which disorders of the voice are found including vocal cord nodules. The importance of diagnosing this disease requires it to be included in medical check-ups done to the teaching staff for the Health Surveillance. Hence, we propose a procedure to facilitate the specific health exam, as well as a following approach faced with its possible diagnosis.N

Envejecimiento progresivo de la población trabajadora en un hospital de referencia del sur de España

The aim of this study was to describe the work population evolution of a southern Spain hospital along a decade (2006-2016), focusing in the predominant staff. Methodology. A descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological study was undertaken to build up a population pyramid. The cut-off point was January 2017. The scope was the work force of a regional hospital with 5450 members, 1408 of which were nurses. One index was calculated to relate youth with the older population; and another one to look at femininity. The results revealed an inverted pyramid-shaped, narrow-based and feminized asymmetric, demographic structure, and a progressive ageing after a decade. The femininity index was even higher for the nursing population. The working population over 50 years was greater than that below this age. There was a striking narrowing in the 51-55 age stretch, but only in female nurses. We conclude that there is an ageing working population and a predominance of women in almost all age groups, especially in nurses. There is an imbalance that makes it necessary to plan health monitoring. In such a way that demographic studies would facilitate collective health monitoring by prioritising actions according to age and sex variables. The low percentages of young nurses, together with the fact the age of the retirement in the studied population is lower than the legal one, are facts which must draw the attention of Spanish managers to put in place realistic and efficient measures that promote the “active ageing” so often spoken of as well as others that facilitate the entry into the labour market of young workers.El objetivo del estudio fue describir la evolución de la población laboral en un hospital de referencia del sur de España durante una década (2006-2016,) centrándose en la categoría laboral predominante: las enfermeras. Para ello se realizó un estudio epidemiológico descriptivo de tipo trasversal, en forma de pirámide poblacional, cuyo punto de corte fue enero de 2017. El ámbito de estudio fue la población laboral de un hospital regional del sur de España con 5450 profesionales, de las que 1408 eran enfermeras. Se calcularon índices, uno para relacionar la población joven con la madura y otro de feminidad, comparándose con un informe previo de 2006. Los resultados mostraron una estructura demográfica en forma de pirámide invertida, de base estrecha, y asimétrica. Con una población laboral envejecida y feminizada en casi todos los tramos de edad, siendo el índice de feminidad aún mayor para la población de enfermeras. La población laboral mayor de 50 años, superaba a la menor de dicha edad. Existía un estrechamiento llamativo en el tramo de 51 a 55 años, solo en las mujeres enfermeras, que interrumpía el incremento progresivo de la población laboral que le antecedía. Concluimos que la población laboral estudiada ha envejecido progresivamente, con un predominio femenino mayoritario, especialmente en las enfermeras, apreciándose desajustes que obligan a analizar las causas y a planificar actuaciones. Los estudios demográficos pueden facilitar la vigilancia de la salud colectiva priorizando actuaciones según las variables edad y sexo. El escaso porcentaje de la fuerza laboral joven y el hecho de que la edad de la jubilación real del personal estudiado sea inferior a la legal debería llamar la atención de los gestores para aplicar medidas eficientes que promuevan el “envejecimiento activo”, así como otras medidas que faciliten la entrada de los jóvenes en el mercado de trabajo

Prevalence of tobacco consumption among young physicians at a regional university hospital in southern Spain: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction The aim of the study is to analyse the prevalence of smoking among resident physicians at a regional university hospital. In addition, we examined the trends in the smoking behaviour of physicians in relation to results obtained in other studies carried out previously at this hospital, as well as those published nationally and internationally Method A cross-sectional observational study evaluating tobacco consumption in young physicians was carried out at the level of secondary healthcare in a regional university hospital in Cordoba, Spain. All the study subjects were resident physicians who underwent a mandatory preliminary occupational health examination between 2012 and 2016. There was no sampling selection as anyone who took this examination was considered to be within the target population. We calculated the proportions of smokers, former smokers and non-smokers, with 95% CIs. Univariate and multivariate analyses (binary logistic regression) were used to analyse the results (P<0.05). Results The response rate was 99.4%, with a sample size of 324 out of a possible 326 physicians. The average age was 28.6±3.7—DT—(95% CI 28.2 to 29.0), and 62.3% (202/324; 95% CI 57.3 to 67.2) were women. Smoking prevalence was 6.5% (21/324; 95% CI 3.5 to 9.3) with a further 5.2% (17/324; 95% CI 2.7 to 7.8) being ex-smokers. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of tobacco consumption according to age (P=0.266), sex (9.0% for men and 5.0% for women; P=0.128), medical specialty (P=0.651) or year of residency (P=0.975). A 52.7% decline in the number of young physician smokers was noted between 1986 and 2016 (95% CI −44.0 to −63.5), together with a 64.4% increase in non-smokers (95% CI 55.2 to 77.3). Conclusions We observed a significantly low prevalence of tobacco use among trainee physicians in the cohort, an effect of new antismoking laws, with positive role model implications for new physicians and medical students.post-print285 K

Impact of a Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Program at a Regional University Hospital and Predictive Variables of Being a Smoker among Hospital Workers

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive anti-smoking health program conducted over twelve years at a regional university hospital in southern Spain. Prevalence of tobacco was compared retrospectively using data collected during occupational health assessments (n = 4291). Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate tobacco consumption differences according to age, sex, professional category, and workplace building. The results show a reduction in the active smoking rate among hospital staff evaluated (from 22.8% to 19.8%) with significant differences between non-health and health workers. Accumulated smoking consumption fell to 13.45 ± 14.60 packs/year with men presenting a higher consumption (p < 0.001). The predictive variables of tobacco use were sex (greater consumption among men, p = 0.021), number of cigarettes (greater consumption among professionals who smoked less than 1 pack/day, p < 0.001), and time smoking (greater use among professionals with more than 10 years smoking, p < 0.001). There was a higher rate of staff smokers at the hospital building with a majority of mental health inpatients. This study provides a practical example of making the optimum use of digital medical records in the evaluation of a comprehensive anti-smoking health program

Morning versus Evening Intake of Creatine in Elite Female Handball Players

A great deal of evidence has been gathered on the use of creatine as an ergogenic supplement. Recent studies show greater benefits when creatine ingestion is performed close in time to training, but few studies tackle the way that circadian rhythms could influence creatine consumption. The aim of this study was therefore to observe the influence circadian rhythms exert on sports performance after creatine supplementation. Our method involved randomly assigning fourteen women players of a handball team into two groups in a single-blind study: one that consumed the supplement in the morning and one that consumed it in the evening, with both groups following a specific training program. After twelve weeks, the participants exhibited a decreased fat percentage, increased body weight and body water, and improved performance, with these results being very similar in the two groups. It is therefore concluded that, although circadian rhythms may influence performance, these appear not to affect creatine supplementation, as creatine is stored intramuscularly and is available for those moments of high energy demand, regardless of the time of day

Influence of Tunneled Hemodialysis-Catheters on Inflammation and Mortality in Dialyzed Patients

Older age and comorbidities in hemodialysis patients determines the use of tunneled catheters as vascular access despite their reported clinical and mortality disadvantages. This prospective matched study analyzes the impact of permanent catheters on inflammation and mortality in hemodialysis patients; We studied 108 patients, 54 with AV-fistula (AVF) and 54 with indwelling hemodialysis catheters (HDC) matched by sex, age, diabetes and time under renal-replacement therapy comparing dialysis efficacy, inflammation and micro-inflammation parameters as well as mortality. Cox-regression analysis was applied to determine predictors of mortality, HDC patients presented higher C-reactive-protein (CRP) blood levels and percentage of pro-inflammatory lymphocytes CD14+/CD16+ with worse dialysis-efficacy parameters. Thirty-six-months mortality appeared higher in the HDC group although statistical significance was not reached. Age with a Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.06, hypoalbuminemia (HR = 0.43), hypophosphatemia (HR = 0.75) and the increase in CD14+/CD16+ monocyte count (HR = 1.02) were predictors of mortality; elder patients dialyzing through HDC show increased inflammation parameters as compared with nAVF bearing patients, although they do not present a significant increase in mortality when matched by covariates. Increasing age and percentage of pro-inflammatory monocytes as well as decreased phosphate and serum-albumin were predictors of mortality and indicate the main conclusions or interpretations

Acute Effects of Beetroot Juice Supplements on Resistance Training: A Randomized Double-Blind Crossover

The ingestion of beetroot juice (BJ) has been associated with improvements in physical performance in endurance sports, however the literature on resistance training (RT) is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of BJ compared to a placebo (PLA) on muscular endurance and movement concentric velocity during RT. Twelve healthy men performed an incremental RT test (back squat and bench press) with three sets, at 60%, 70%, and 80% of their repetition maximum (1-RM). Movement velocity variables, total number of repetitions performed until concentric failure, blood lactate, and ratings of perceived effort post-training were measured. A higher number of repetitions were recorded with BJ compared to those with PLA (13.8 ± 14.4; p 0.05). Acute supplementation of BJ improved muscular endurance performance in RT