Perspectives and Experiences of Dance-Related Injuries: A Qualitative Survey of Adolescent Pre-Professional Ballet Dancers in Australia.

Objective: To explore perspectives and experiences of adolescent ballet dancers in Australia in relation to dance-related injuries and their impact, injury risk factors, prevention, and treatment. Design: Adolescent ballet dancers aged from 12 to 19 years in Australia were invited to participate in an online qualitative survey. Methods: Responses to open-ended questions were analyzed thematically using grounded theory while quantitative information was summarized with descriptive statistics and triangulated with qualitative data. Results: Nineteen adolescent dancers reported experiencing pain and multiple injuries but hiding or ignoring injuries due to fear. Dancers recognized the significant physical and psycho-social impact of dance-related injuries on themselves and others. Several risks and injury prevention strategies were identified by dancers. Dancers perceived that treatments were not always informed or effective. Conclusion: Findings suggest that adolescent ballet dancers experience multiple dance-related injuries but require support to disclose injuries, participate in injury prevention, and access treatment. Health professionals may improve quality of care by increasing their understanding of ballet and providing specific management advice. Dance teachers may benefit from further education to support their students. Clinical trials are required to confirm or negate the validity of proposed injury risks and the effectiveness of injury prevention strategies and treatments.

Study protocol for a 9-month randomised controlled trial assessing the effects of almonds versus carbohydrate-rich snack foods on weight loss and weight maintenance.

INTRODUCTION: Epidemiological studies indicate an inverse association between nut consumption and body mass index (BMI). However, clinical trials evaluating the effects of nut consumption compared with a nut-free diet on adiposity have reported mixed findings with some studies reporting greater weight loss and others reporting no weight change. This paper describes the rationale and detailed protocol for a randomised controlled trial assessing whether the inclusion of almonds or carbohydrate-rich snacks in an otherwise nut-free energy-restricted diet will promote weight loss during 3 months of energy restriction and limit weight regain during 6 months of weight maintenance. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: One hundred and thirty-four adults aged 25-65 years with a BMI of 27.5-34.9 kg/m2 will be recruited and randomly allocated to either the almond-enriched diet (AED) (15% energy from almonds) or a nut-free control diet (NFD) (15% energy from carbohydrate-rich snack foods). Study snack foods will be provided. Weight loss will be achieved through a 30% energy restriction over 3 months, and weight maintenance will be encouraged for 6 months by increasing overall energy intake by ~120-180 kcal/day (~500-750kJ/day) as required. Food will be self-selected, based on recommendations from the study dietitian. Body composition, resting energy expenditure, total daily energy expenditure (via doubly labelled water), physical activity, appetite regulation, cardiometabolic health, gut microbiome, liver health, inflammatory factors, eating behaviours, mood and personality, functional mobility and pain, quality of life and sleep patterns will be measured throughout the 9-month trial. The effects of intervention on the outcome measures over time will be analysed using random effects mixed models, with treatment (AED or NFD) and time (baseline, 3 months and 9 months) being the between and within factors, respectively in the analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained from the University of South Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (201436). Results from this trial will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals, national and international presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12618001861246).

The effects of road traffic and aircraft noise exposure on children's episodic memory: the RANCH project.

Previous studies have found that chronic exposure to aircraft noise has a negative effect on children's performance on tests of episodic memory. The present study extended the design of earlier studies in three ways: firstly, by examining the effects of two noise sources, aircraft and road traffic, secondly, by examining exposure-effect relationships, and thirdly, by carrying out parallel field studies in three European countries, allowing cross-country comparisons to be made. A total of 2844 children aged between 8 years 10 months and 12 years 10 months (mean age 10 years 6 months) completed classroom-based tests of cued recall, recognition memory and prospective memory. Questionnaires were also completed by the children and their parents in order to provide information about socioeconomic context. Multilevel modeling analysis revealed aircraft noise to be associated with an impairment of recognition memory in a linear exposure-effect relationship. The analysis also found road traffic noise to be associated with improved performance on cued recall in a linear exposure-effect relationship. No significant association was found between exposure to aircraft noise and cued recall or prospective memory. Likewise, no significant association was found between road traffic noise and recognition or prospective memory. Taken together, these findings indicate that exposure to aircraft noise and road traffic noise can impact on certain aspects of children's episodic memory.

Exposure-effect relations between aircraft and road traffic noise exposure at school and reading comprehension: the RANCH project.

Transport noise is an increasingly prominent feature of the urban environment, making noise pollution an important environmental public health issue. This paper reports on the 2001-2003 RANCH project, the first cross-national epidemiologic study known to examine exposure-effect relations between aircraft and road traffic noise exposure and reading comprehension. Participants were 2,010 children aged 9-10 years from 89 schools around Amsterdam Schiphol, Madrid Barajas, and London Heathrow airports. Data from The Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom were pooled and analyzed using multilevel modeling. Aircraft noise exposure at school was linearly associated with impaired reading comprehension; the association was maintained after adjustment for socioeconomic variables (beta = -0.008, p = 0.012), aircraft noise annoyance, and other cognitive abilities (episodic memory, working memory, and sustained attention). Aircraft noise exposure at home was highly correlated with aircraft noise exposure at school and demonstrated a similar linear association with impaired reading comprehension. Road traffic noise exposure at school was not associated with reading comprehension in either the absence or the presence of aircraft noise (beta = 0.003, p = 0.509; beta = 0.002, p = 0.540, respectively). Findings were consistent across the three countries, which varied with respect to a range of socioeconomic and environmental variables, thus offering robust evidence of a direct exposure-effect relation between aircraft noise and reading comprehension.

Noise pollution: non-auditory effects on health.

Noise is a prominent feature of the environment including noise from transport, industry and neighbours. Exposure to transport noise disturbs sleep in the laboratory, but not generally in field studies where adaptation occurs. Noise interferes in complex task performance, modifies social behaviour and causes annoyance. Studies of occupational and environmental noise exposure suggest an association with hypertension, whereas community studies show only weak relationships between noise and cardiovascular disease. Aircraft and road traffic noise exposure are associated with psychological symptoms but not with clinically defined psychiatric disorder. In both industrial studies and community studies, noise exposure is related to raised catecholamine secretion. In children, chronic aircraft noise exposure impairs reading comprehension and long-term memory and may be associated with raised blood pressure. Further research is needed examining coping strategies and the possible health consequences of adaptation to noise.