Transforming waiting pauses into opportunity for physical activity: the "Activate your Wait" pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Physical activity is recognized as a major health determinant. However, the prevalence of inactivity can be as high as 80% in some adult subpopulations. From the urgent need to implement strategies to fight sedentary behaviour, considering that physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure, the pilot study "Activate your Wait" was born. The project aim is to transform waiting pauses during everyday life into opportunities to perform simple stretching and active mobilization exercises. METHODS: The pilot study was carried out in 2019 at Terme S. Egidio (Italy). It was divided in three phases: in the pre-intervention a questionnaire was used to evaluate the interest in the project (96 responders); during the intervention, examples of simple exercises that people can do by themselves were illustrated and undertaken by about 120 participants; in the post-intervention an evaluation questionnaire was administered (71 responders). RESULTS: The intervention aroused enthusiastic participation and high approval and resulted in an increase both in willingness to perform exercises during daily waiting pauses (68% vs 94%) and belief in positive results of physical activity on health (74% vs 96%). CONCLUSIONS: In a context where the opportunities for physical activity are decreasing and a sedentary lifestyle has reached a high level, this project represents a contribution to the increase in the awareness of the importance of physical activity and the promotion of the culture of movement in the entire population, with an opportunity of easy accessibility in different contexts of life, at all ages.

Virological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in an Italian northern area: comparison of Real Time RT PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values in three epidemic periods.

Aim of the study was to investigate the differences in Ct values in nasopharingeal swabs collected in three SARS-CoV-2 epidemic periods: first one from February 23 to March 25 (14 days from lockdown started on March 11); the second one from  March  26 to May 18 (14 days  from the end of strict lockdown on May 4) and the third one from May 19 until June 15. Viral RNA was detected in nasopharyngeal swabs obtained both from inpatients and outpatients. COVID-19 infection was confirmed according to the Ct values for N1 and N2 genes ascertained by Real-Time RT-PCR assay as described by the CDC. We calculated the prevalence of nasopharyngeal swabs tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the mean and median of the Cts and the percentage of samples equal or below the Ct value of 25 in the 3 periods considered. The average value of Ct increased, going from 24.80 in the first epidemic period to 26.64 in the second period to 28.50 in the third period (p <0.001). The percentage of samples with Ct lower than or equal to 25 also decreased sharply from 54.7% to 20.0%. These findings need to be integrated with epidemiological and clinical data.

["Activate your Wait" project : pilot study carried out at a thermal centre]

Physical activity is recognised as a major health determinant, with positive effects on health, environmental sustainability and economy. National surveillance data show that one out of three Italians - adult and elderly alike - declares to be sedentary, with a progressively increasing trend. From the urgent need to implement strategies to promote physical activity the "Activate your Wait" ("Attiva l'Attesa") project was born, aimed at transforming the waiting pauses during day to day life into opportunities to perform simple stretching and active mobilization exercises. The pilot study was carried out at the Terme S. Egidio, Suio Terme Castelforte (Latina). The results of the questionnaire distributed in the pre-intervention phase, aimed at assessing the users' interest in the project and physical activity in general, are reported. The questionnaire was administrated in the waiting rooms in September 2018 and September 2019. A total of 129 subjects responded to the questionnaire: 43% declared themselves sedentary, 73% reported willingness to perform simple physical exercises while waiting, and 76% believed that physical activity during waiting moments could have a positive impact on health. The project's subsequent goal is to identify suitable exercises to be proposed during the intervention period, which can be easily reproduced independently by users in their everyday life.