Short-term insomnia symptoms are associated with level and not type of physical activity in a sample of Indian college students.

OBJECTIVE: There is diverse results on the association between physical activity and sleep. So this study investigated association of level and type of physical activity with short term insomnia among college students. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among college students in India. The sample was 662 students with 359 males and 303 females. The predictor variables were type and level of physical activity and predicted variables were sleep complaints.Physical activity components were aseesesed through international physical activity questionnaire and sleep complaints using Pitsburg sleep questionnaire. The binary logistic regression models were used for data analysis. Level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05 for all the analysis. RESULTS: The age (mean + SD) of the participants were 23.2 ± 3.5 years. The self reported symptoms of short trem insomnia such as global sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio(AOR) = 15.58), subjective sleep quality (AOR = 6.01), sleep latency (AOR = 5.09), sleep duration (AOR = 0.13), sleep disturbances (AOR = 4.88), day time sleep dysfunction (AOR = 5.59) had shown association with level of physical activity. There was no association of type of physical activity with any other predicted variables. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study supports that level of physical activity is a key predictor of short term insomnia symptoms among college students. There should be Interventions to maintain and improve the level of physical activity among students.

Effect of sensorimotor training on spatiotemporal parameters of gait among middle and older age adults with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of sensorimotor training on spatiotemporal parameters of gait among middle-aged and older adults with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). METHODS: A randomised controlled study with four parallel arms (two intervention groups and two control groups) was conducted. Thirty-seven DPN patients were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of these, 16 middle-aged and 21 older adults were randomly allocated to the intervention and control groups. Participants in the intervention group were administered eight weeks (three days/week) of sensorimotor training along with diabetes and foot care education whereas participants in the control group received only diabetes and foot care education. Outcome measures involved spatiotemporal parameters of gait at self-paced and maximal-paced, measured before and after eight weeks. RESULTS: Age difference was found to be significant in velocity (p ≤ 0.013) and stride length (p ≤ 0.017) at self-paced and maximal-paced walking. After the intervention, velocity was found to be a significant group effect and time × group interaction at self-paced (p = 0.003) and maximal-paced (p = 0.003) walking. Stride length (p = 0.006) was found to be a significant group effect and time × group interaction at self-paced only. Cadence (p = 0.041) and gait cycle (p = 0.05) were found to be significant time × group interaction only at maximal-paced walking. Stance (p ≤ 0.047) and double limb support (p ≤ 0.02) were found to be significant group effect and time × group interaction at self-paced and maximal-paced walking. CONCLUSION: Sensorimotor training improves spatiotemporal parameters of gait after eight weeks in similar fashion in middle-aged and older age DPN patients, regardless of age.

Physical activity and sleep quality in relation to mental health among college students.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations and interactive effects of physical activity and sleep quality on mental health among Indian college students. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted among Indian college students. The sociodemographic data and body mass index were obtained from a convenience sample of 617 college students, age range from 18 to 30 years, including both genders (314 men, 51%). All participants completed three questionnaires: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Questionnaires were evaluated to ascertain the subjects' mental health level, physical activity level, and sleep quality. Analyses were conducted with binary logistic regression models. RESULT: The mean (± S.D.) anxiety and depression scores were 9.3 ± 4.4 and 7.4 ± 2.5 respectively, with anxiety and depression scores ranging from 0 to 20 and 0-17, respectively. The prevalence of anxiety (30%) was more than that of depression (18%). Out of the total participants, 51% reported having low physical activity levels, and 51% had poor sleep quality. Odds ratio calculations indicated that the participants physical activity levels (moderate and high) were significantly and inversely associated with scores for anxiety (OR = 0.16 and 0.96; p = 0.001) and for depression (OR = 0.11 and 0.96; p = 0.001).The poor sleep quality was significantly positively associated with anxiety (OR = 1.38) and depression OR = 1.58 (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Mental health problems are common among both male and female college students. Significant associations were found between physical activity levels and sleep quality with mental health.

Hindi translation and evaluation of psychometric properties of Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors instrument in spinal cord injury subjects.

INTRODUCTION: The Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors instrument (CHIEF) is one of the few tools to assess the environmental barriers. The purpose of this study was to translate long and short CHIEF into Hindi language, and to determine its validity and reliability. DESIGN AND SETTING: The study design was observational case series with repeated measures. It was carried out at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre New Delhi, a specialized center for rehabilitation for spinal cord injury. METHODS: The CHIEF instrument was translated from English to Hindi based on the Beaton guidelines for the cross-cultural adaptation of health status measures. The Hindi version of the CHIEF instrument was then administered on a convenience sample of 30 spinal cord injured subjects. Its content validity, internal consistency, test-rest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] 2,1), standard error of measurement (SEM), and minimum detectable change (MDC) were determined for both the longer and shorter version. RESULTS: The mean ± SD of total of Hindi-CHIEF instrument, longer version was 1.44 ± 0.82 and total score of the shorter version was 1.07 ± 0.66. The content validity determined by the content validity ratio was found to be 1 for all the items except item number 5, 11, and 12. The content validity index was 0.97 for the longer version and for the shorter version it was 0.98. Internal consistency, Cronbach's α value was found to be 0.92 and test-retest value (ICC 2,1) was 0.80 (P < 0.001). The MDC was found to be 0.99 and SEM was 0.36 for the longer version. The Cronbach's α was 0.731, ICC 2,1 was 0.63 (P < 0.001), SEM was 0.24, and MDC was 0.66 for the shorter version. CONCLUSION: The Hindi translated version of the CHIEF scale has acceptable content validity and reliability. It can be used to assess environmental barriers perceived by spinal cord injury patients.

Effect of ice massage on lower extremity functional performance and weight discrimination ability in collegiate footballers.

BACKGROUND: Cryotherapy, in the form of ice massge is used to reduce inflammation after acute musculoskeletal injury or trauma. The potential negative effects of ice massage on proprioception are unknown, despite equivocal evidence supporting its effectiveness. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to test the influence of cooling on weight discrimination ability and hence the performance in footballers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was of same subject experimental design (pretest-posttest design). Thirty male collegiate football players, whose mean age was 21.07 years, participated in the study. The participants were assessed for two functional performance tests, single leg hop test and crossed over hop test and weight discrimination ability before and after ice massage for 5 minutes on hamstrings muscle tendon. RESULTS: Pre cooling scores of Single Leg Hop Test of the dominant leg in the subjects was 166.65 (± 10.16) cm and post cooling scores of the dominant leg was 167.25 (± 11.77) cm. Pre cooling scores of Crossed Over Hop Test of the dominant leg in the subjects was 174.14 (± 8.60) cm and post cooling scores of the dominant leg was 174.45 (± 9.28) cm. Pre cooling scores of Weight Discrimination Differential Threshold of the dominant leg in the subjects was 1.625 ± 1.179 kg compared with post cooling scores of the dominant leg 1.85 (± 1.91) kg. Pre cooling scores of single leg hop and crossed over hop test of the dominant leg in the subjects compared with post cooling scores of the dominant leg showed no significant differences and it was also noted that the weight discrimination ability (weight discrimination differential threshold) didn't show any significant difference. All the values are reported as mean ± SD. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides additional evidence that proprioceptive acuity in the hamstring muscles (biceps femoris) remains largely unaffected after ice application to the hamstrings tendon (biceps femoris).