The association between nap time, nighttime sleep and depression in Chinese older adults: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship among nap time, night sleep time, and depression among the elderly and to determine the recommended sleep time to provide a scientific and reasonable basis for the prevention and control of depression in residents. METHODS: Based on the 2020 China Health and Elderly Care Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) database, the demographic data and the health and lifestyle information of the study subjects were obtained. A total of 2,959 valid samples were included, and the relationship between sleep and depression was explored by logistic regression, restricted cubic spline, and isotemporal substitution model. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional analysis, no statistical relationship was observed between napping time and depression in the elderly. The optimal sleep interval for the elderly at night is 6-7.5 hours, and the health benefits are the largest. A sleep duration of < 6 hours at night (OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.90 to 2.65) was associated with a high likelihood of depression. The probability of depression in the elderly continues to decrease with the increase of time after the nighttime sleep duration reaches 6 hours and is at the lowest level of about 7.5 hours. Moreover, the probability of depression will increase after the sleep duration exceeds 9.5 hours. In the range of 6-7.5 hours of recommended sleep duration, the likelihood of depression in the elderly will be reduced by 0.311 for every 30-minute increase in nighttime sleep time instead of noon sleep time. CONCLUSION: The duration of nighttime sleep and the probability of depression have a U-shaped relationship. The likelihood of depression was lowest in the elderly who slept for 6-8 hours at night, and the likelihood of depression could be reduced by increasing the nighttime sleep time instead of napping time within the optimal nighttime sleep range.

Influences of altering footstrike pattern and cadence on lower extremity joint coordination and variability among runners with patellofemoral pain.

BACKGROUND: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a common overuse injury among runners. It is not only a hindrance to the runner's training, but also to the runner's quality of life. PFP runners may strategize different running strategies to reduce patellofemoral joint stress, release pain, and improve function. PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the changes in joint coordination and variability under combinations of foot strike pattern and cadence for runners with patellofemoral pain. METHODS: Twenty male runners with PFP performed six running strategies which were two strike patterns named forefoot (FFS) and rearfoot (RFS) accompanied by three running cadences named slow10%, normal, and fast10%. A modified vector coding technique and circular statistics were respectively used to identify the coordination pattern and variability between hip sagittal-knee frontal (HsKf), hip sagittal-knee sagittal (HsKs) and knee transverse-ankle frontal (KtAf) during stance phase. Coordination patterns which were conformed with anatomical motion pattern was classified as mechanically sound, and the distribution frequency of each coordination pattern was quantified. RESULTS: Switching to FFS, the HsKf couples (p < 0.001, ES = 1.34) and the HsKs couples (p = 0.001, ES = 0.82) displayed significantly greater frequency in mechanically unsound coordination pattern during the initial stance phase. The effect of increasing running cadence on RFS displayed significantly greater frequency in mechanically unsound hip dominancy (p = 0.042, ES = 0.65) and knee dominancy (p = 0.05, ES = 0.70) coordination patterns for HsKf couples as well as for HsKs couples (p = 0.023, ES = 0.86) during the initial stance phase. Combined with FFS and fast10% cadence, HsKs couples showed more hip-dominated mechanical sound coordination pattern (p = 0.002, ES = 1.25). Further, altering footstrike pattern and cadence failed to change the coordination variability. CONCLUSIONS: Changing running cadence (± 10%) combined with transfer strike pattern from RFS to FFS could not increase the distribution frequency in mechanically sound coordination patterns and change coordination variability for PFP runners.

Influence of the built environment of Nanjing's Urban Community on the leisure physical activity of the elderly: an empirical study.

BACKGROUND: Urbanization and aging are global phenomena that offer unique challenges in different countries. A supportive environment plays an important role in addressing the issues of health behavioral change and health promotion (e.g., prevent chronic illnesses, promote mental health) among older adults. With the development of the socio-ecological theoretical model, studies on the impact of supportive environments on physical activity have become popular in the public health field in the EU and US. Meanwhile, very few Chinese studies have examined the relationship between built environment features and older adults' physical activity at the ecological level. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the factors part of the built environment of Nanjing's communities also influence leisure time physical activity among the elderly. METHODS: Using a socio-ecological model as a theoretical framework, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 399 elderly people from 19 communities in Nanjing, China, using a one-on-one questionnaire to collect data, including participants' perceived built environment and self-reported physical activity. A multivariate linear regression method was used to analyze the factors influencing their recreational physical activity. RESULTS: This study found that compared to older people with low average monthly income, the recreational physical activity of the elderly with average monthly incomes between 1001 and 2000 ¥ (ß = 23.31, p < 0.001) and 2001 ¥ or more (ß = 21.15, p < 0.001) are significantly higher. After controlling for individual covariates, street connectivity (ß = 7.34, p = 0.030) and street pavement slope (ß = - 7.72, p = 0.020), we found that two out of ten built environment factors indicators influence their physical activity. The importance of each influencing factor ranked from highest to lowest are monthly average income, street pavement slope, and street connectivity. Other factors were not significantly related to recreational physical activity by the elderly. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with a high income were more likely to participate in recreational physical activity than those with a low income. In order to positively impact physical activity in older adults and ultimately improve health, policymakers and urban planners need to ensure that street connectivity and street pavement slope are factored into the design and development of the urban environment.