Greater Number of Weekly Stairs Climbed is Associated With Lower Low Back Pain Prevalence Among Female but not Male Physical Therapists

INTRODUCTION: Certain cardiovascular health benefits of stair climbing are now widely accepted, but no prior studies have as yet been found linking the quantity of stairs climbed to low back pain (LBP) morbidity. Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal impairment, and research has begun to show an association between LBP and gluteus maximus (GM) weakness. With stair climbing being the activity which most activates GM, the aim of the present research was to assess the relationship between stair ambulation and LBP prevalence. The hypothesis of this cross-sectional study was that individuals with LBP would report a significantly lower numbers of stair flights climbed compared with individuals without LBP. METHODS: A survey tool was developed and distributed via email to a convenience sample of orthopedic physical therapists. Survey items included information regarding medical history, physical activity, workplace, and LBP factors, using a one-year prevalence period. RESULTS: A total of 363 respondents took the survey and, after application of exclusion criteria, 248 records remained in our final sample. When analyzing all genders together, non LBP (NLBP) respondents reported a mean of 51.62 flights climbed per week; and LBP respondents reported 37.82 flights climbed per week, with P = 0.077. When males and females were analyzed separately, a statistically significant difference in mean number of flights of stairs climbed was found among female respondents (61.51 flights climbed for NLBP and 35.61 flights climbed for LBP females; P = 0.031). When analyzed based on chronicity of LBP, an even stronger association between stairs climbed and LBP prevalence was found for female respondents with acute LBP (P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: More weekly stairs climbed was associated with a lower LBP prevalence among females, especially with respect to acute LBP. Randomized, longitudinal research is, however, required to confirm a relationship between stair climbing and LBP

Evaluation of individual and ensemble probabilistic forecasts of COVID-19 mortality in the United States

Short-term probabilistic forecasts of the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States have served as a visible and important communication channel between the scientific modeling community and both the general public and decision-makers. Forecasting models provide specific, quantitative, and evaluable predictions that inform short-term decisions such as healthcare staffing needs, school closures, and allocation of medical supplies. Starting in April 2020, the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org/) collected, disseminated, and synthesized tens of millions of specific predictions from more than 90 different academic, industry, and independent research groups. A multimodel ensemble forecast that combined predictions from dozens of groups every week provided the most consistently accurate probabilistic forecasts of incident deaths due to COVID-19 at the state and national level from April 2020 through October 2021. The performance of 27 individual models that submitted complete forecasts of COVID-19 deaths consistently throughout this year showed high variability in forecast skill across time, geospatial units, and forecast horizons. Two-thirds of the models evaluated showed better accuracy than a naïve baseline model. Forecast accuracy degraded as models made predictions further into the future, with probabilistic error at a 20-wk horizon three to five times larger than when predicting at a 1-wk horizon. This project underscores the role that collaboration and active coordination between governmental public-health agencies, academic modeling teams, and industry partners can play in developing modern modeling capabilities to support local, state, and federal response to outbreaks

The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages

Greater number of weekly stairs climbed is associated with lower low back pain prevalence among female but not male physical therapists.

IntroductionCertain cardiovascular health benefits of stair climbing are now widely accepted, but no prior studies have as yet been found linking the quantity of stairs climbed to low back pain (LBP) morbidity. Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal impairment, and research has begun to show an association between LBP and gluteus maximus (GM) weakness. With stair climbing being the activity which most activates GM, the aim of the present research was to assess the relationship between stair ambulation and LBP prevalence. The hypothesis of this cross-sectional study was that individuals with LBP would report a significantly lower numbers of stair flights climbed compared with individuals without LBP.MethodsA survey tool was developed and distributed via email to a convenience sample of orthopedic physical therapists. Survey items included information regarding medical history, physical activity, workplace, and LBP factors, using a one-year prevalence period.ResultsA total of 363 respondents took the survey and, after application of exclusion criteria, 248 records remained in our final sample. When analyzing all genders together, non LBP (NLBP) respondents reported a mean of 51.62 flights climbed per week; and LBP respondents reported 37.82 flights climbed per week, with P = 0.077. When males and females were analyzed separately, a statistically significant difference in mean number of flights of stairs climbed was found among female respondents (61.51 flights climbed for NLBP and 35.61 flights climbed for LBP females; P = 0.031). When analyzed based on chronicity of LBP, an even stronger association between stairs climbed and LBP prevalence was found for female respondents with acute LBP (P = 0.009).ConclusionsMore weekly stairs climbed was associated with a lower LBP prevalence among females, especially with respect to acute LBP. Randomized, longitudinal research is, however, required to confirm a relationship between stair climbing and LBP

Between group differences in depression, anxiety and sleep quality.

Between group differences in depression, anxiety and sleep quality.</p

Between group differences in ranking of weekly exercise and physical activity intensity.

Between group differences in ranking of weekly exercise and physical activity intensity.</p

Independent sample t-test results for weekly stair flights climbed for all types LBP and acute LBP by gender.

Independent sample t-test results for weekly stair flights climbed for all types LBP and acute LBP by gender.</p

Between group differences in weekly stairs climbed with stratification for chronicity.

Between group differences in weekly stairs climbed with stratification for chronicity.</p

STROBE statement—checklist of items that should be included in reports of observational studies.

STROBE statement—checklist of items that should be included in reports of observational studies.</p

Low back pain & stair climbing survey questions.

IntroductionCertain cardiovascular health benefits of stair climbing are now widely accepted, but no prior studies have as yet been found linking the quantity of stairs climbed to low back pain (LBP) morbidity. Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal impairment, and research has begun to show an association between LBP and gluteus maximus (GM) weakness. With stair climbing being the activity which most activates GM, the aim of the present research was to assess the relationship between stair ambulation and LBP prevalence. The hypothesis of this cross-sectional study was that individuals with LBP would report a significantly lower numbers of stair flights climbed compared with individuals without LBP.MethodsA survey tool was developed and distributed via email to a convenience sample of orthopedic physical therapists. Survey items included information regarding medical history, physical activity, workplace, and LBP factors, using a one-year prevalence period.ResultsA total of 363 respondents took the survey and, after application of exclusion criteria, 248 records remained in our final sample. When analyzing all genders together, non LBP (NLBP) respondents reported a mean of 51.62 flights climbed per week; and LBP respondents reported 37.82 flights climbed per week, with P = 0.077. When males and females were analyzed separately, a statistically significant difference in mean number of flights of stairs climbed was found among female respondents (61.51 flights climbed for NLBP and 35.61 flights climbed for LBP females; P = 0.031). When analyzed based on chronicity of LBP, an even stronger association between stairs climbed and LBP prevalence was found for female respondents with acute LBP (P = 0.009).ConclusionsMore weekly stairs climbed was associated with a lower LBP prevalence among females, especially with respect to acute LBP. Randomized, longitudinal research is, however, required to confirm a relationship between stair climbing and LBP.</div