Prevalence of urinary incontinence in Brazilian para athletes.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in para athletes in Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study with Brazilian para athletes with physical impairments from all para sports. The data from 86 participants of both sexes (60 males and 26 females) were collected through an online survey that gathered sociodemographic data and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form, from March to July 2023. RESULTS: The prevalence of UI was 45.3% (n=39), with the average impact on quality of life scored at 6.1±3.5 on a scale of 0-10. Most para athletes reported moderate (43.5%) or severe (38.4%) symptoms. The most common type was mixed UI (46.1%), with an average of 3±1.9 episodes of urinary loss per athlete in the last 4 weeks. Adjusted Poisson regression (controlling for sex, age and level of competition) revealed that para athletes with orthopaedic impairments had a 58% lower prevalence of UI (prevalence ratio=0.42; 95% CI 0.24, 0.83) compared with those with neurological impairments. Furthermore, ordinal regression indicated that para athletes with neurological impairments were 147% more likely to experience a progression from 'severe' to 'very severe' UI (OR=2.47; 95% CI 1.59, 3.93). CONCLUSIONS: UI is highly prevalent among para athletes, particularly those with neurological impairments, underscoring the need for specialised genitourinary healthcare and the need for further treatment and monitoring of the condition. There is a critical need to raise awareness among coaches, healthcare providers and the athletes themselves about UI and its impact to foster the comprehensive well-being of these athletes.

Intra and Inter-Device Reliabilities of the Instrumented Timed-Up and Go Test Using Smartphones in Young Adult Population.

The Timed-Up and Go (TUG) test is widely utilized by healthcare professionals for assessing fall risk and mobility due to its practicality. Currently, test results are based solely on execution time, but integrating technological devices into the test can provide additional information to enhance result accuracy. This study aimed to assess the reliability of smartphone-based instrumented TUG (iTUG) parameters. We conducted evaluations of intra- and inter-device reliabilities, hypothesizing that iTUG parameters would be replicable across all experiments. A total of 30 individuals participated in Experiment A to assess intra-device reliability, while Experiment B involved 15 individuals to evaluate inter-device reliability. The smartphone was securely attached to participants' bodies at the lumbar spine level between the L3 and L5 vertebrae. In Experiment A, subjects performed the TUG test three times using the same device, with a 5 min interval between each trial. Experiment B required participants to perform three trials using different devices, with the same time interval between trials. Comparing stopwatch and smartphone measurements in Experiment A, no significant differences in test duration were found between the two devices. A perfect correlation and Bland-Altman analysis indicated good agreement between devices. Intra-device reliability analysis in Experiment A revealed significant reliability in nine out of eleven variables, with four variables showing excellent reliability and five showing moderate to high reliability. In Experiment B, inter-device reliability was observed among different smartphone devices, with nine out of eleven variables demonstrating significant reliability. Notable differences were found in angular velocity peak at the first and second turns between specific devices, emphasizing the importance of considering device variations in inertial measurements. Hence, smartphone inertial sensors present a valid, applicable, and feasible alternative for TUG assessment.

Smartphone-based evaluation of static balance and mobility in long-lasting COVID-19 patients.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to a variety of persistent sequelae, collectively known as long COVID-19. Deficits in postural balance have been reported in patients several months after COVID-19 infection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the static balance and balance of individuals with long COVID-19 using inertial sensors in smartphones. Methods: A total of 73 participants were included in this study, of which 41 had long COVID-19 and 32 served as controls. All participants in the long COVID-19 group reported physical complaints for at least 7 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants were evaluated using a built-in inertial sensor of a smartphone attached to the low back, which recorded inertial signals during a static balance and mobility task (timed up and go test). The parameters of static balance and mobility obtained from both groups were compared. Results: The groups were matched for age and BMI. Of the 41 participants in the long COVID-19 group, 22 reported balance impairment and 33 had impaired balance in the Sharpened Romberg test. Static balance assessment revealed that the long COVID-19 group had greater postural instability with both eyes open and closed than the control group. In the TUG test, the long COVID-19 group showed greater acceleration during the sit-to-stand transition compared to the control group. Conclusion: The smartphone was feasible to identify losses in the balance motor control and mobility of patients with long-lasting symptomatic COVID-19 even after several months or years. Attention to the balance impairment experienced by these patients could help prevent falls and improve their quality of life, and the use of the smartphone can expand this monitoring for a broader population.

The role of sex and handedness in the performance of the smartphone-based Finger-Tapping Test.

The Finger Tapping Test (FTT) is a classical neuropsychological test that assesses motor functioning, and recently it has been employed using smartphones. For classical protocols, it has been observed that sex and handedness influence the performance during the test. By assessing the influence of sex and handedness on the test, it is possible to adjust the performance measurements to ensure the validity of test results and avoid sex- and handedness-related bias. The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of sex and handedness on smartphone-based FTT performance. We developed an Android application for the FTT and recruited 40 males and 40 females to carry out three spatial designs on it (protocols I, II, and III). Participants' performance was measured using the global, temporal, and spatial parameters of the FTT. We observed that for the performance in protocol I, handedness had a significant influence on global and temporal variables, while the interaction between handedness and sex had a greater influence on spatial variables. For protocols II and III, we observed that handedness had a significant influence on global, temporal, and spatial variables compared to the other factors. We concluded that the smartphone-based test is partly influenced by handedness and sex, and in clinical implications, these factors should be considered during the evaluation of the smartphone-based FTT.

Atividade física e saúde mental em atletas brasileiros de basquetebol em cadeira de rodas durante o isolamento social na pandemia de Covid-19 / Physical activity and mental health levels in brazilian wheelchair basketball athletes during isolation social in the covid-19 pandemic / Actividad física y salud mental en deportistas brasileños de baloncesto en silla de ruedas durante el aislamiento social durante la pandemia de Covid-19

Introdução: Desde o início da Pandemia Covid-19 vários países adotaram o isolamento social (lockdown) como medida de contenção para diminuir a propagação do vírus e reduzir o risco de sobrecarga no sistema de saúde. A prática regular do exercício físico ao longo da pandemia poderia atenuar os prejuízos do isolamento e manter a saúde mental e bem-estar dos atletas. Objetivo: Avaliara associação entre os níveis de exercício físico e os níveis de saúde mental em atletas de basquete em cadeira de rodas durante o isolamento social. Métodos: Utilizamos um questionário online dividido em duas seções: avaliação da saúde mental e do nível de exercício físico. Resultados e Discussão: Pontuações mais baixas no questionário Short Form 36(SF-36)foram observadas nos domínios "vitalidade" com uma pontuação de 16, "limitação por aspectos emocionais" com pontuação de 55, "limitação por aspectos físicos" com pontuação de 62,5 seguido por "estado geral de saúde" com pontuação de 63.O questionário Physical Activity Scale for Individuals With Physical Disabilities (PASIPD) mostrou uma percepção baixa em relação ao nível de atividade física nas pessoas com deficiência. Conclusão: Os domínios de saúde geral com menor pontuações no lockdown foi "vitalidade" (16) e "aspectos emocionais" (55) e não foi observado associação forte entre os diferentes domínios da escala SF-36 e o nível de atividade física através da Escala PASIPD (p>0,005).

Introduction: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, several countries have adopted social isolation (lockdown) as a containment measure to reduce the spread of the virus and the risk of overloading the health system. Regular physical exercise during the pandemic could mitigate the damage of isolation and maintain the mental health and well-being of wheelchair basketball athletes. Objective: To evaluate the association between physical exercise levels and mental health levels in wheelchair basketball athletes during social isolation. Methods: We used an online questionnaire divided into two sections: mental health assessment and physical exercise level assessment. Results and discussion: Lower scores on the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire were observed in the domains "vitality" with a score of 16, "limitation by emotional aspects" with a score of 55, "limitation by physical aspects" with a score of 62.5 followed by "general health status" with a score of 63. The Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD) showed a low perception of physical activity level in people with disabilities. Conclusion: The general health domains with lower scores in lockdown were "vitality" (16) and "emotional aspects" (55) and no strong association was observed between the different domains of the SF-36 scale and the level of physical activity through the PASIPD Scale (p>0.005).

Introducción: Desde el inicio de la pandemia de Covid-19, varios países han adoptado el aislamiento social (confinamiento) como medida de contención para reducir la propagación del virus y el riesgo de sobrecargar el sistema de salud. El ejercicio físico regular durante la pandemia podría mitigar el daño del aislamiento y mantener la salud mental y el bien estar de los atletas de baloncesto en silla de ruedas. Objetivo: Evaluar la asociación entre los niveles de ejercicio físico y los niveles de salud mental en los atletas de baloncesto en silla de ruedas durante el aislamiento social. Métodos: Utilizamos um cuestionario en línea dividido en dos secciones: evaluación de la salud mental y evaluación del nivel de ejercicio físico. Resultados y discusión: Se observaron puntuaciones más bajas en el cuestionario Short Form 36 (SF-36) en los dominios "vitalidad" con una puntuación de 16, "limitación por aspectos emocionales" con una puntuación de 55, "limitación por aspectos físicos" con una puntuación de 62,5 seguido de "estado general de salud" con una puntuación de 63. La Escala de Actividad Física para Personas com Discapacidad Física (PASIPD) mostró una baja percepción del nivel de actividad física en las personas com discapacidad. Conclusión: Los domínios generales de salud com puntuaciones más bajas en el confinamento fueron "vitalidad" (16) y "aspectos emocionales" (55) y no se observó una Asociación fuerte entre los diferentes dominios de la escala SF-36 y el nivel de actividad física a través de la Escala PASIPD (p>0,005).

Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis and body composition in cervical spinal cord injury: A pilot study.

Introduction: Body composition assessment in cervical spinal cord injury (c-SCI) individuals is important to monitor the fat free-mass (FFM) loss, due to immobilization, or gain, due to exercise practice. Single frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (SF-BIA) is low in cost, simple and easy. Objectives: The aims of this study are: to evaluate the concordance between the FFM values obtained using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and the three SF-BIA previous predictive equations; and to test the applicability of the bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA). Methods: Twenty-three c-SCI males were divided into two groups: Physically active (PA; n = 13; at least 150 min/week) and non-active individuals (NPA) and were assessed by DXA and SF-BIA simultaneously. Results: FFM values were similar between groups PA and NPA. Considering all participants, FFM values obtained by Kocina and Heyward (>11%) and Sun (<15.4%) predictive equations were different when compared to DXA (p < 0.01). However, Buchholz's et al. predictive equation showed FFM values similar to DXA, but presented poor concordance (<7%, p = 0.99; concordance coefficient = 0.85). BIVA showed consistency in ellipse distribution using FFM obtained using Buchholz et al. predictive equation. Conclusions: The use of non-specific BIA equations can lead to misinterpretation in FFM values in male c-SCI individuals. Predictive equations for this group need to be developed.

Hand Resting Tremor Assessment of Healthy and Patients With Parkinson's Disease: An Exploratory Machine Learning Study.

The aim of this study is comparing the accuracies of machine learning algorithms to classify data concerning healthy subjects and patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), toward different time window lengths and a number of features. Thirty-two healthy subjects and eighteen patients with PD took part on this study. The study obtained inertial recordings by using an accelerometer and a gyroscope assessing both hands of the subjects during hand resting state. We extracted time and temporal frequency domain features to feed seven machine learning algorithms: k-nearest-neighbors (kNN); logistic regression; support vector classifier (SVC); linear discriminant analysis; random forest; decision tree; and gaussian Naïve Bayes. The accuracy of the classifiers was compared using different numbers of extracted features (i.e., 272, 190, 136, 82, and 27) from different time window lengths (i.e., 1, 5, 10, and 15 s). The inertial recordings were characterized by oscillatory waveforms that, especially in patients with PD, peaked in a frequency range between 3 and 8 Hz. Outcomes showed that the most important features were the mean frequency, linear prediction coefficients, power ratio, power density skew, and kurtosis. We observed that accuracies calculated in the testing phase were higher than in the training phase. Comparing the testing accuracies, we found significant interactions among time window length and the type of classifier (p < 0.05). The study found significant effects on estimated accuracies, according to their type of algorithm, time window length, and their interaction. kNN presented the highest accuracy, while SVC showed the worst results. kNN feeding by features extracted from 1 and 5 s were the combination with more frequently highest accuracies. Classification using few features led to similar decision of the algorithms. Moreover, performance increased significantly according to the number of features used, reaching a plateau around 136. Finally, the results of this study suggested that kNN was the best algorithm to classify hand resting tremor in patients with PD.

Comparison of Post-Exercise Hypotension Responses in Paralympic Powerlifting Athletes after Completing Two Bench Press Training Intensities.

Background and objective: Post-exercise hypotension, the reduction of blood pressure after a bout of exercise, is of great clinical relevance. Resistance exercise training is considered an important contribution to exercise training programs for hypertensive individuals and athletes. In this context, post-exercise hypotension could be clinically relevant because it would maintain blood pressure of hypertensive individuals transiently at lower levels during day-time intervals, when blood pressure is typically at its highest levels. The aim of this study was to compare the post-exercise cardiovascular effects on Paralympic powerlifting athletes of two typical high-intensity resistance-training sessions, using either five sets of five bench press repetitions at 90% 1 repetition maximum (1RM) or five sets of three bench press repetitions at 95% 1RM. Materials and Methods: Ten national-level Paralympic weightlifting athletes (age: 26.1 ± 6.9 years; body mass: 76.8 ± 17.4 kg) completed the two resistance-training sessions, one week apart, in a random order. Results: Compared with baseline values, a reduction of 5-9% in systolic blood pressure was observed after 90% and 95% of 1RM at 20-50 min post-exercise. Furthermore, myocardial oxygen volume and double product were only significantly increased immediately after and 5 min post-exercise, while the heart rate was significantly elevated after the resistance training but decreased to baseline level by 50 min after training for both training conditions. Conclusions: A hypotensive response can be expected in elite Paralympic powerlifting athletes after typical high-intensity type resistance-training sessions.

O "rugby" em cadeira de rodas no âmbito da universidade: relato de experiência da Universidade Estadual de Campinas / Wheelchair rugby at university: an experience report of State University of Campinas

O "Rugby" em Cadeira de Rodas (RCR) é uma modalidade paralímpica praticada por pessoas com deficiência física e a participação das universidades é importante para seu crescimento. Este estudo descreveu o desenvolvimento do RCR na extensão universitária, através do estudo de caso no projeto de extensão da Faculdade de Educação Física da UNICAMP. O RCR relaciona-se com o ensino, pesquisa e extensão; através do contato com a modalidade nas disciplinas; realização de estudos; oportunidade de prática e contato com a comunidade. A extensão universitária é um espaço importante para a vivência prática de alunos de Educação Física e contato com a comunidade. Através da aproximação da ciência com a prática, o RCR é trabalhado de forma consistente, alcançando bons resultados esportivos

The wheelchair rugby (WR) is a paralympic Sport played by people with physical disabilities and its growth is related to university participation. This study described the WR development at university, through a case study at Physical Education College of Unicamp. The WR is related to learning, researching and extension; due the contact with the sport, conducting research; practical experience and approach to community. The university extension is a important opportunity to practical experience and approach to community of Physical Education students. Due the approaching to science, the work with WR is consistent, reaching good sports results

Validação da bateria "Beck" de testes de habilidades para atletas brasileiros de "rugby" em cadeira de rodas / Validation of beck battery of skills tests to Brazilian players of wheelchair rugby

O "Rugby" em Cadeira de Rodas é uma modalidade praticada por sujeitos com tetraplegia ou tetra-equivalência, desde 2005 no Brasil, onde existem aproximadamente 10 equipes em atividade. A avaliação motora é um dos meios de controle do treinamento que possibilita conquistar avanços no planejamento. A bateria "Beck" de testes de habilidades (manejo de bola, precisão de passes, bloqueio, velocidade e passes de longa distância) para atletas da modalidade foi desenvolvida nos EUA por Yilla e Sherrill (1998). O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os critérios de autenticidade científica da bateria para a população de atletas brasileiros. Os resultados de duas avaliações com a bateria (teste e re-teste) realizadas com 11 atletas (média de idade 27,59 ± 5,37 anos, tempo de lesão 8,19 ± 3,83 anos), foram registrados por três avaliadores, o que possibilitou a análise de objetividade, fidedignidade e consistência interna. Foram utilizadas as ferramentas ANOVA para análise de objetividade e, coeficiente de correlação intraclasse e teste t para análise de fidedignidade e consistência. Não foram encontradas diferenças entre os resultados dos diferentes avaliadores (valores de p variando de 0,45 a 1,00) e os valores de correlação intraclasse encontrados (variação de r de 0,78 a 0,99) permitem concluir que a bateria é consistente e fidedigna. Os resultados encontrados neste estudo são evidências de que os critérios de autenticidade científica para a bateria são satisfeitos e a bateria pode ser considerada um instrumento válido para avaliação motora de atletas brasileiros de "rugby" em cadeira de rodas.

The Wheelchair Rugby is a sport practiced by subjects with tetraplegia or tetra-equivalence, since 2005 in Brazil, where there are approximately 10 teams in business. The motricity evaluation is a means of training control that allows achieve real progress in planning. The BECK battery of skills tests (ball handling, precision passing, blocking, speed and long distance passing) to wheelchair rugby athletes was developed in the U.S.A. by Yilla & Sherrill (1998).The aim of this study was to examine the criteria of scientific authenticity of the battery to the Brazilian athletes population. The results of two assessments with the battery (test and retest) with 11 athletes (mean age 27.59 ± 5.37 years, length of lesion 8.19 ± 3.83 years), were recorded by three assessors , which allowed the analysis of objectivity, reliability and internal consistency. We used ANOVA for analysis of objectivity and linear correlation and t test for analysis of reliability and consistency. No differences were found between results from different raters (p values ranging from 0.45 to 1.00) and the values of intraclass correlation coefficient found (range r 0.78 to 0.99 p < 0.00) indicate that the battery is consistent and reliable. The results of this study indicate that the criteria of scientific authenticity to the battery are satisfied and battery can be considered a valid tool for motricity evaluation of wheelchair rugby brazilian players.