Electrocardiographic pattern of apparently healthy African adolescent athletes in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Strategies to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) among young athletes have become topical worldwide and unrecognized cardiac pathology has been identified as a leading cause. Black ethnicity has been reported as an independent predictor of abnormal electrocardiography (ECG) findings among athletes and the frequency and significance of training-related ECG findings versus findings suggestive of an underlying pathology in the young African athletes is crucial. METHODS: This cross sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and distribution of ECG patterns in young athletes and controls. A total of 360 participants (180 athletes and 180 controls) were recruited from six secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria between November 2014 and July 2015. Evaluation included interviewer-administered questionnaires for relevant history, physical examination and resting 12 - lead ECG for each participant. RESULTS: Abnormal ECG patterns were found in 48.3% of athletes and 35.6% of controls. Training-related ECG findings occurred in 33.3% of athletes and 18.3% of controls. Athletes and controls had 7.7% prevalence of training un-related ECG patterns respectively. Left ventricular hypertrophy was the most common ECG finding among the athletes and male athletes had a higher prevalence of ECG abnormalities compared to females. CONCLUSION: Adolescent athletes in Nigeria have a high prevalence of training-related ECG patterns and athletes and non-athletes alike have similar proportions of ECG findings suggestive of underlying structural heart disease. Cardiovascular evaluation including ECG should be performed for young athletes prior to competition at any level and should also be considered as part of pre-school entry assessment for all children.

Effects of a 6-week aerobic exercise programme on the cardiovascular parameters, body composition, and quality of life of people living with human immune virus.

This study evaluated the effects of aerobic exercise program on the cardiovascular parameters, body composition, and quality of life (QoL) of people living with human immune virus (HIV). Patients were recruited from the HIV clinic in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Fish bowl method was used to randomize the patients to either experimental or control group. Experimental group received nutritional counseling and aerobic exercise program on a treadmill, 3 times a week for a period of 6 weeks, while the control group received only nutritional counseling. Cardiovascular parameters, aerobic fitness, body composition parameters, and QoL were evaluated at baseline and 6 weeks. Descriptive statistics was used to explore demographic data while the hypothesis was tested using inferential statistics of t-test. Alpha level was set at P<0.05. The result showed that there was an improvement in cardiovascular parameters in both groups, attaining significance in the experimental group (P=0.000). Aerobic fitness increased significantly in experimental group (P=0.000). Body composition decreased significantly while there was a significant difference in the muscle mass (%) between groups (P<0.05). All domains of QoL had a significant improvement in both groups (P<0.005). A 6-week aerobic exercise program in addition to nutritional counseling was able to significantly improve cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and QoL in people living with HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Nutritional counseling alone can bring about an improvement only in QoL parameters.

Efficacy of the FIFA 11+ Warm-Up Programme in Male Youth Football: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

The FIFA 11+ is a structured warm-up programme specially designed to prevent injuries among football players from age 14 years and above. However, studies to prove its efficacy are generally few and it is yet to be tested in male youth footballers and among African players. The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of the FIFA 11+ programme in reducing the risk of injuries among male youth football players of the Lagos Junior League. A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted. All the 20 teams (414 players aged 14 -19 years) in the Premier League division were block-randomised into either an intervention (INT) or a control (CON) group. The INT group performed the FIFA 11+ exercises as warm-up during training sessions and the CON group performed usual warm-up. Participating teams were prospectively followed through an entire league season of 6 months in which they were visited every week to assess injured players for time-loss injuries in both groups. The primary outcomes were any injury to the players, injuries by type of exposure and injuries specific to the lower extremities. The secondary outcomes were injuries reported by body location, aetiology, mechanism and severity. In total, 130 injuries were recorded affecting 104 (25%) of the 416 players. Team and player compliance with the INT was 60% and 74% respectively. Based on the primary outcome measures of the study, the FIFA 11+ programme significantly reduced the overall rate of injury in the INT group by 41% [RR = 0.59 (95% CI: 0.40 - 0.86; p = 0.006)] and all lower extremity injuries by 48% [RR = 0.52 (95% CI: 0.34 - 0.82; p = 0.004)]. However, the rate of injury reduction based on secondary outcomes mostly did not reach the level of statistical significance. The FIFA 11+ programme is effective in reducing the rates of injuries in male youth football players. Key pointsThe FIFA 11+ has only been tested in randomised controlled trials conducted on female youth football players; this study reports its efficacy in male youth football for the first timeThe FIFA 11+ programme significantly reduced the overall rate of injuries and lower extremity injuries in male youth football playersYouth football administrators in Africa and other parts of the world should pursue the implementation of the FIFA 11+ in order to minimize the incidence of injuries among players.

Psychological impact of cerebral palsy on families: The African perspective.

BACKGROUND: Psychological stress associated with cerebral palsy (CP) is known to be one of the most depressing conditions of families. In the traditional African society, some peculiar factors may contribute to the stress. AIMS: The aims of this study were to identify and describe, from the African perspective, the psychological impact of CP on families and determine the strategies adopted by families in coping with it. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey conducted in the Physiotherapy Department of a tertiary hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants were 52 parents of children with CP. They completed a questionnaire designed to determine the degree of psychological stress on the families and strategies adopted to cope with the stress. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics were used to show responses in graphical formats. RESULTS: Respondents agreed that having adequate knowledge of CP would help them cope well with the demands of taking care of children with CP. 38.5% of respondents said that people in the society accused them of some wrongdoing that has made their children to have CP. Personal problems experienced include loss of job, lack of concentration at work, loss of family joy, and derangement of financial affairs of the family. 26 (50%) of them resort to religious/spiritual intervention as an alternative or complementary mode of treatment for their children while 28% resort to dependence on the extended family system for support. CONCLUSION: Families caring for children with CP generally have a positive attitude towards their children. However, there is need to educate the public on the causes of CP and treatment options available to families.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of physiotherapists towards promotion of physically active lifestyles in patient management.

BACKGROUND: Physiotherapists as primary health care practitioners are well placed in promoting physically active lifestyles, but their role and practice towards its promotion among patients in Nigeria has not been fully investigated. This study was therefore aimed at determining the knowledge, attitude and practice of Nigerian physiotherapists towards promotion of non-treatment physical activity among patients. METHODS: Three hundred and eight practicing physiotherapists from various public and private hospitals in 14 states of Nigeria completed an adopted 20-item questionnaire, which collected information on physical activity promotion in physiotherapy practice. RESULT: Respondents with good knowledge and attitude towards physical activity promotion in patient management were 196(63.6%) and 292(94.8%) respectively. Only 111 (36%) of the respondents counselled more than 10 patients in the past one month on the benefits of adopting a more physically active lifestyle. Chi-square analysis showed a significant association between low practice of physical activity promotion in patient management with inadequate consultation time (ℵ2=3.36, p=0.043), years of working experience of physiotherapists (ℵ2=11.37, p=0.023) and relative physical activity levels of physiotherapists (ℵ2=11.82, p=0.037). The need for Physical activity recommendation guideline was supported by 287 (97%) respondents. CONCLUSION: Nigerian physiotherapists have good knowledge and attitude towards promotion of physically active lifestyle in their patients but do not counsel many of them, due to insufficient consultation time. Integrating brief counselling into usual treatment sessions is perceived as the most feasible form of physical activity promotion in patient management.

Effects of wobble board training on weight distribution on the lower extremities of sedentary subjects.

Inequality of weight distribution on the lower extremities affects the posture and gait performance of an individual. The effect of wobble board training on weight distribution on the lower extremities is presently unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a six week wobble board exercise training program on the weight distribution in the lower extremities. Subjects (n = 16) in the wobble board group were trained three times a week for the period of six weeks. The subjects in the control group (n = 13) did not receive any training. Weight distribution symmetry scores improved by 9% and 2% in the wobble board and control groups, respectively, no significant difference was found between the two groups' pre-training weight distribution on the lower extremities. The two-ways repeated analysis of variance revealed a significant F ratio between the two groups (P < 0.001). LSD post hoc analysis showed significant improvements in the symmetry of the weight distribution at the 4th and 6th week of training compared to pre-training value within the wobble board group, while no significant improvement was recorded within the control group. Our findings implied that the wobble board exercise program could be used to improve the symmetry of weight distribution on the lower extremities in sedentary subjects.