How did COVID-19 pandemic impact on healthy behaviours among Polish professionally active physiotherapists aged 20-50?

BACKGROUND: Due to the introduction of a number of changes to the health care system and the work nature of medical staff, theCOVID-19 pandemic still pose a public health challenge. The objective of the study was to characterize the health behaviours of Polish professionally active physiotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The study included 104 Polish licensed and professionally active physiotherapists in whom health behaviours were assessed using an original questionnaire contained, among others, questions from the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), available via social media platforms. RESULTS: Among the physiotherapists, 34% worked directly with COVID-19 patients and 49% with those who had survived COVID-19. There were no statistically significant differences in most of the rates of physical activity undertaken by the physiotherapists surveyed (P > 0.05). Men were more likely to report taking up movement-related physical activity than women (P > 0.05). However, they spent more time sitting or lying down on a typical day (P > 0.05). The average time spent on the above-mentioned physical activities was also higher among the male participants than in the group of women (P > 0.05). There was an increase in the proportion of physiotherapists working over 40 h per week, from 29% before the pandemic to 38% during the pandemic. Statistically significant differences were observed for the products constituting the basison which of the diet of the examined physiotherapists was based (P < 0.05). The majority of the respondents reported no problems with falling asleep (p > 0.05). Stress related to the risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as concerns about the health of loved ones were more common and severe in the group of female subjects (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the health behaviours in some physiotherapists changed. Further studies are required to assess whether physiotherapists' health behaviours returned to baseline levels or slightly improved compared to the initial results. Also, it is necessary to introduce health-promoting initiatives that would focus on physiotherapists, support their positive health behaviours and provide special recommendations helping them to maintain health during a pandemic.

Health benefits and risks associated with element uptake from grilled fish and fish products.

BACKGROUND: The content of essential and toxic elements in grilled fish (Atlantic salmon, trout) and in 20 assortments of fish products was examined. The aim of this study was to assess the fulfilment of the demand for Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu based on recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) or adequate intakes (AIs) and to assess the health risk associated with the consumption of Al, Pb and Cd. The risk assessment was based on estimated weekly intake (EWI), hazard index (HI), target risk ratio (THQ) and percentage: provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for Al, tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for Cd and reference dose lower bound (BMDL) for Pb. RESULTS: Taking into account the health benefits, the best source of Fe, Cu and Mn was found to be fish products in cans and jars, 150 g of which covered the daily requirement: Fe 9.39%, Cu 2.91% and Mn 1.21%. Smoked fish covered the RDA for Zn to 5.69%. Moreover, the uptake of toxic elements was as follows: Al 0.45% PTWI: Pb 0.74% BMDL10 and Cd 2.20% TWI. The THQ values for Pb and Cd were significantly lower than 1, whereas for Al it reached as high as 4.0. CONCLUSION: The obtained results indicate that there is no risk related to the intake of Pb and Cd with the consumption of the tested fish products. Low consumption of fish by Poles, however, contributes to their small share in covering the demand for microelements, i.e. Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.