Modeling Adoption, Security, and Privacy of COVID-19 Apps: Findings and Recommendations From an Empirical Study Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Background: The global health crisis caused by COVID-19 has drastically changed human society in a relatively short time. However, this crisis has offered insights into the different roles that such a worldwide virus plays in the lives of people and how those have been affected, as well as eventually proposing new solutions. From the beginning of the pandemic, technology solutions have featured prominently in virus control and in the frame of reference for international travel, especially contact tracing and passenger locator applications. Objective: The objective of this paper is to study specific areas of technology acceptance and adoption following a unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) research model. Methods: We presented a research model based on UTAUT constructs to study the determinants for adoption of COVID-19–related apps using a questionnaire. We tested the model via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) using travelers’ data from an insular tourist region. Results: Our model explained 90.3% of the intention to use (N=9555) and showed an increased understanding of the vital role of safety, security, privacy, and trust in the usage intention of safety apps. Results also showed how the impact of COVID-19 is not a strong predictor of adoption, while age, education level, and social capital are essential moderators of behavioral intention. Conclusions: In terms of scientific impact, the results described here provide important insights and contributions not only for researchers but also for policy and decision makers by explaining the reasons behind the adoption and usage of apps designed for COVID-19.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Muscle strength and balance as mediators in the association between physical activity and health-related quality of life in community-dwelling older adults

Lower extremity muscle strength (LEMS) and body balance (BB) are essential for older adults to maintain an upright posture and autonomously perform their basic activities of daily living. This study aimed to examine whether LEMS and BB mediate the relationship between physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a large sample of community-dwelling older adults. This is a cross-sectional study carried out with 802 individuals, 401 males and 401 females (69.8 ± 5.6 years), residents of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal. PA and HRQoL were assessed by the Baecke Questionnaire and e SF-36, respectively. LEMS was assessed by the Senior Fitness Test and BB by the Fullerton Advance Balance (FAB). The serial mediation pathway model pointed out that LEMS and BB partially mediated the association between PA and HRQoL in approximately 39.6% and 47%, respectively. The total variance in HRQoL explained by the entire model was 98%. Our findings may indicate the role that LEMS and BB play in the relationship between PA and HRQoL in the older population.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exercise Aging and Health: A Proposal Course for Healthcare Professionals and Physical Activity Instructors

To live a long and healthy life is now considered the main challenge of geriatric medicine worldwide. Exercise, aging, and health are key research topics to maintain functional ability that has been considered one of the strongest predictors of independence in old age. Functional ability comprises the interaction between physical and mental capacities in a particular environment. Increasing physical activity is considered a key recommendation in sustainable policies and action programs for healthy aging. Evidence shows that physical activity impacts functional and cognitive abilities and social activities. The contents of training courses related to Exercise Aging and Health are responsible for ensuring an intervention focused on the needs of older people. Healthcare professionals, physical activity instructors, or other health professionals who work directly with older people may need to understand deeply demography, theories, and current policies on aging, physical, and functional changes associated with aging, physical-psychosocial relationships, contextual determinants of physical activity, and exercise prescription in the older population

Correlações da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em pessoas Idosas da Região Autónoma da Madeira

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar o papel dos preditores da qualidade de vida relacionada com a saúde (QVRS) em pessoas idosas, e analisar se essas relações diferem em função da componente da QVRS (física vs. mental) e/ou intervalo etário (jovem-idoso vs. idoso-idoso). Este estudo incluiu 802 idosos com idade entre 60 e os 79 anos. A QVRS foi avaliada através do questionário SF-36. A aptidão funcional foi avaliada usando a bateria de testes Senior Fitness Test. A atividade física, as informações demográficas e de saúde foram obtidas via questionário. Uma análise de regressão múltipla mostrou que o índice de massa corporal (β=−0,15, p=0,001), a força muscular (β=0,21, p<0,001), a resistência aeróbia (β=0,29, p<0,001), a atividade física (β=0,11, p=0,007), os sintomas depressivos (β=−0,19, p<0,001), as quedas (β=−0,19, p<0,001) e viver sozinho (β=−0,16, p<0,001) foram preditores significativos do score total do SF-36. Verificou-se ainda uma relação positiva entre a componente física com a resistência aeróbia, e uma relação negativa entre o viver sozinho componente mental da QVRS. A relação positiva entre a atividade física e a QVRS foi verificada apenas nos idosos-idosos. Estes dados sugerem que a composição corporal, a aptidão funcional, os fatores psicossociais e as quedas são preditores importantes da QVRS. Existem diferenças nas relações entre as componentes da QVRS e os preditores em função do intervalo etário, o que sugere a necessidade de planear estratégias específicas no nível da comunidade para promover a QVRS em pessoas idosas mais velhas.This study aimed to examine the role of predictors of HRQoL in a sample of older adults, and to investigate whether the relationships between HRQoL and predictors differ as a function of HRQoL component (physical vs. mental) and/or age cohort (young-old vs. old–old). This study included 802 older adults aged 60–79 years old. HRQoL was assessed using the SF-36 questionnaire. Functional fitness was assessed using the Senior Fitness Test. Physical activity and demographic information and health features were obtained through questionnaires. A multiple regression analysis showed that BMI (β = −0,15, p = 0,001), body strength (β = 0,21, p < 0,001), aerobic endurance (β = 0,29, p < 0,001), physical activity (β = 0,11, p = 0,007), depressive symptoms (β = −0,19, p < 0,001), falls (β = −0,19, p < 0,001), and living alone (β = −0,16, p < 0,001) were all significantly related to HRQoL-SF-36 total score. The positive relation with aerobic endurance was significantly higher for the physical component of HRQoL, while the negative relation with living alone was significantly higher for the mental component. The positive relation of HRQoL with physical activity was significantly higher in old–old compared to young-old adults. This data suggests that body composition, functional fitness, psycho-social factors, and falls are important predictors of HRQoL in old age. There are HRQoL-component and age-cohort differences regarding these predictors, underlying the need for specific strategies at the community level to promote HRQoL in older adults.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Virtual reality gaming in rehabilitation after musculoskeletal injur: user experience pilot study

The purposes of this study were twofold: (1) to describe a new technological solution for the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries based on virtual reality (VR) gaming, and (2) to analyze the variation in rated perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) of the participants when undergoing a rehabilitation session based on different VR games. Thirty-seven participants aged 23.7 ± 7.0 years tested during five customized VR games to provide a complete rehabilitation session after a musculoskeletal injury. The results of the Friedman test indicated a statistically significant difference in RPE scale and HR across the five VR games throughout a complete rehabilitation session (χ2 (4, n = 35) = 75.59; p < 0.001 and χ2 (4, n = 35) = 27.75, p < 0.001, respectively). RPE and HR increased significantly from Game 1 to Game 2 (z = –5.16, p < 0.001), from Game 1 to Game 3 (z = – 5.05, p < 0.001), from Game 1 to Game 4 (z = –4.87, p < 0.001), and from Game 1 to Game 5 (z = –3.61, p < 0.001). Moreover, the results showed a high perceived usability of the system, greater intrinsic motivation to perform the rehabilitation exercises, a high level of immersion, and a good experience in the VR gaming environment. Our study stimulates extended intervention programs following up on this immersive virtual reality rehabilitation system to support soccer players recovering from musculoskeletal injuries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cognitive reserve moderates the predictive role of memory complaints for subsequent decline in executive functioning

Aims: We investigated whether the longitudinal relation between memory complaints and subsequent decline in executive functioning over 6 years differed by leisure activity engagement as major contributor to cognitive reserve in old age. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data from 897 older adults (M = 74.33 years) tested on the Trail Making Test (TMT) in two waves 6 years apart. Participants reported information on memory complaints and leisure activity engagement. Results: There was a significant interaction of memory complaints with leisure activity engagement on latent change in executive functioning. Specifically, only for individuals with less (but not those with greater) leisure activity engagement, memory complaints significantly predicted a steeper subsequent decline in executive functioning across 6 years (i.e., increases in TMT completion time). Conclusion: The role of memory complaints as an early predictor of decline in executive functioning seems to vary by individuals' cognitive reserve

The Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL): A Brief, Reliable, and Valid Tool for Capturing Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Functioning in Epidemiological and Aging Studies

Aims: The present study set out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) in 2 different samples of older adults. Methods: We assessed COGTEL in 116 older adults, with retest after 7 days to evaluate the test-retest reliability. Moreover, we assessed COGTEL in 868 older adults to evaluate convergent validity to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: Test-retest reliability of the COGTEL total score was good at 0.85 (p &#x3c; 0.001). Latent variable analyses revealed that COGTEL and MMSE correlated by 0.93 (p &#x3c; 0.001), indicating convergent validity of the COGTEL. Conclusion: The present analyses suggest COGTEL as a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for capturing interindividual differences in cognitive functioning in epidemiological and aging studies, with the advantage of covering more cognitive domains than traditional screening tools such as the MMSE, as well as differentiating between individual performance levels, in healthy older adults