The Effect on Performance of Detraining During Covid-19 Pandemic Period in Amateur Soccer Players

Background and aim: Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically affected football, one of the most popular sports in the world, and significantly changed the competitive football sphere. This study was conducted to examine the effects of the suspensions and isolation process applied in leagues due to Covid-19 on the performance levels of amateur football players. Methods: Twenty male amateur football players (19.05 +/- 1.3 years) participated in the study as volunteers. Certain physical tests were applied to examine participants' performance levels. The detraining period was 80 days. Pre-testing started in March 2020 when the restrictions first introduced in Turkey as the post-test process was initialized in the first week of June after normalization signals. Results: Results showed that there are statistically significant variances in the parameters of body weight, body mass index, sit-and-reach, hand grip strength, medicine ball throw, 30-m speed, Illinois agility, 30-sec sit-ups, 30-sec push-ups, counter movement jump, peak power, Yo-yo IR-Level 1 and V-O2max (p<0.05). Conclusions: It was concluded that the performance levels of amateur football players deteriorated significantly during the detraining period due to the pandemic.

Qtc interval and electrocardiographic findings of covid-19 patients

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using the QTc interval and electrocardiographic (ECG) findings to predict 28-day all-cause mortality in patients with COVID-19. Material and Methods: Patients aged 18 or older who visited ED with complaints of fever, cough and shortness of breath were tested using real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, were imaged with CCT, underwent ECG, and consequently, diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in this study. Results: A total of 276 patients were included in the study. When at least one comorbid disease, reduced oxygen saturation, ECG findings of prolonged QTc interval, ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, left bundle branch block and ST segment elevation/depression or severe lung involvement (four or five lobes) on CCT scans were detected, patients had a higher 28-day all-cause mortality rate. Compared to surviving individuals, deceased patients had approximately 4.5-fold increased D-dimer levels, and approximately 5-fold increased C-reactive protein and troponin T levels. Among the deceased patients, 40% had sinus tachycardia. Discussion: Usage of comorbidities, ECG, laboratory tests and CCT together is useful for predicting 28-day all-cause mortality rate in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.