scholarly journals Effectiveness of lumbar support with built-in massager system on spinal angle profiles among high-powered traffic police motorcycle riders: A randomised controlled trial

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258796
Author(s):  
Nur Athirah Diyana Mohammad Yusof ◽  
Karmegam Karupiah ◽  
Shamsul Bahri Mohd Tamrin ◽  
Irniza Rasdi ◽  
Vivien How ◽  
...  

Traffic police riders are exposed to prolonged static postures causing significant angular deviation of the musculoskeletal, including the lumbar angle (L1-L5). This postural alteration contributes to awkward posture, musculoskeletal disorders and spinal injury, especially in the lower back area, as it is one of the most severe modern diseases nowadays. Thus, the study aimed to evaluate the effect of lumbar support with a built-in massager system on spinal angle profiles among traffic police riders. A randomised controlled trial (pre-testpost-test control design) was used to assess spinal angle pattern while riding the high-powered motorcycle for 20 minutes. Twenty-four traffic police riders were randomly selected to participate and 12 riders were assigned to the control group and 12 riders to the experimental group. The pre-test and post-test were conducted at a one-week interval. Each participant was required to wear a TruPosture Smart Shirt (to monitor spinal posture). The TruPosture Apps recorded the spinal angle pattern. The data indicated that the police riders using motorcycle seat with lumbar support and built-in massager system showed a huge improvement in maintaining posture which only involves slight spinal angle deviation changes from the spinal reference angle throughout the 20 minutes ride. The data collected then were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test and Wilcoxon signed-ranked test to verify a statistically significant difference between and within the control and experimental groups. There were significant differences in all sensors between the control group and experimental groups (p<0.05) and within the experimental group. According to the findings, it can be said that the ergonomic intervention prototype (lumbar support with built-in massager system) successfully helps to maintain and improve the natural curve of the spinal posture. This indirectly would reduce the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders and spinal injury among traffic police riders.

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. e000376
Author(s):  
Sivakami Janahiraman ◽  
Chan Yen Tay ◽  
Jie Min Lee ◽  
Wen Ling Lim ◽  
Chun Hoe Khiew ◽  
...  

ObjectivePreprocedural bowel preparation is necessary for optimal colonoscopy visualisation. However, it is challenging to achieve high-quality bowel preparation among patients scheduled for colonoscopy. This study aims to evaluate the impact of an intensive patient educational programme on the quality of bowel preparation.DesignAn accessor-blinded randomised controlled trial was carried out at the outpatient surgical clinic of a tertiary hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to the control group (received standard written and verbal instructions) or the experimental group (received an intensive and structured educational programme). All subjects completed a questionnaire before colonoscopy to assess their compliance, acceptability, and tolerability towards bowel preparation regime. Quality of bowel preparation was determined using the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS).ResultsA total of 300 subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited. The experimental group had a significantly higher proportion of good quality bowel preparation than the control group (98.7% vs 52.3%, p<0.001). The median total BBPS score was also significantly higher in the experimental group (8 vs 5, p<0.001). Factors associated with good quality of bowel preparation included educational programme (OR: 22.79, 95% CI: 4.23 to 122.85, p<0.001), compliance to bowel cleansing agent (OR: 24.98, 95% CI 3.12 to 199.71, p<0.001), very difficult acceptability of preparation (OR: 0.11, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.38, p<0.001), tolerability towards bowel preparation (OR: 4.98, 95% CI 1.44 to 17.20, p<0.011) and hypomotility drugs (OR: 3.03, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.91, p<0.05).ConclusionAn intensive patient educational programme can significantly improve the quality of bowel preparation for colonoscopy.


10.5219/1298 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 458-464
Author(s):  
Irina Chernukha ◽  
Elena Kotenkova

Cardiovascular diseases remain one of the leading causes of death globally. A lot of dietary patterns for CVD prevention have been proposed, but special attention is paid to functional foods. Bioactive proteins and peptides from animal sources are also considered tools for the prevention of CVDs. Here, 40 overweight or obese adult men and women aged between 61 and 66 years, with a body-mass index between 28 and 61 kg.m-2, were enrolled into a randomised controlled trial of new meat products for specialised nutrition. Participants in the control group (n = 20) consumed a standard hyponatric low-calorie diet for 28-30 days (10 days inpatient and 18-20 days outpatient), and in the experimental group – a low-calorie diet and 100g developed meat product (ratio of the porcine aorta to hearts 1:3) per day. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, cholesterol low-density lipoprotein, and cholesterol high-density lipoprotein levels were measured in the serum; from this, the atherogenic index was calculated. The positive effect of developed meat products on the serum lipid profile of patients during the trial was mild but noticeable. A significant reduction in cholesterol levels was noticed in the experimental group, by 18.2% and 14.0% after 7 – 10 and 28 – 30 days, respectively, while the cholesterol level in the control group returned to its original level after 28 – 30 days of dieting. The difference between the control and experimental groups was not significant, while data in the percentiles were. Therefore, it is more preferable to use a developed product as a component in diet therapy for hyperlipidaemic humans for over 28 – 30 days. Pronounced effects of the product could be linked to the unique proteome and peptidome of heart and aorta tissues based on organ-specific gene expression and the presence of tissue-specific substances.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e033850 ◽  
Author(s):  
En Deng ◽  
Weili Shi ◽  
Yanfang Jiang ◽  
Qinwei Guo

IntroductionLarge cystic osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs) have been shown to have inferior clinical outcomes after reparative techniques such as bone marrow stimulation. Autologous osteochondral transplantation has been viewed as an alternative choice for treating these lesions, but donor-site morbidity has limited its application. Excellent clinical outcomes have been shown in repairing these types of lesions with autologous osteoperiosteal grafts, and these outcomes are achieved at a low cost and without donor-site morbidity in the normal knee joint. This will be the first randomised controlled trial to compare the two surgical techniques, and recommendations for the treatment of patients with large cystic OLTs will be provided.Methods and analysisA non-inferiority randomised controlled trial will be conducted. A total of 70 participants with clinically diagnosed large cystic OLTs will be randomly allocated to either the experimental group or the control group at a ratio of 1:1. The experimental group will be treated with autologous osteoperiosteal cylinder graft transplantation, while the control group will be treated with autologous osteochondral transplantation. The primary outcome measure will be the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot Score and the Short Form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire. Secondary outcome measures will include the secondary arthroscopy International Cartilage Repair Society score, the Magnetic Resonance Observation of Cartilage Repair Tissue score, the Tegner activity level score, the visual analogue scale, routine X-rays, CT and complications. These parameters will be evaluated preoperatively, as well as at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 60 months postoperatively. In this trial, we hypothesised that both procedures offer good results for the treatment of patients with large cystic OLTs, and occurrence of donor-site morbidity in autologous osteoperiosteal cylinder graft transplantation group is less than that in autologous osteochondral transplantation group.Ethics and disseminationThe current study was approved by the board of research ethics of Peking University Third Hospital Medical Science Research Ethics Committee. The results of this study will be presented at national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT03347877.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Sánchez Gómez ◽  
Eduardo José Fernández Rodríguez

Abstract Background Everyday cognition is the application of basic cognitive skills and knowledge of the specific cognitive domain for the resolution of problems that are integrated within the instrumental domains of functioning. The main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of a Training Programme in Everyday Cognition in order to improve the levels of everyday cognition and global cognitive performance in older adults. Methods A randomised controlled trial of two groups. The sample was composed of healthy older adults. The intervention of the experimental group consisted of an Everyday Cognition Training Programme, and the intervention of the control group consisted of a Conventional Cognitive Training Programme. The Rapid Assessment of Cognitive Functions test (ERFC) and the Everyday Cognition Battery test (ECB) were used to assess the intervention. Results Total sample (n = 237) composed of 44 men and 223 women, with a mean age of 73.45 years. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) were evidenced between the control group and the experimental group in both the ECB and ERFC; in the final evaluation of the study and in the follow-up. Conclusion The use of a Daily Cognition Training Programme presents greater benefits in terms of both global cognitive performance and everyday cognition than the use of a Conventional Cognitive Training Programme in elderly adults. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04041999. Retrospectively registered. Date of trial registration: 8th July 2019.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Sánchez Gómez ◽  
Eduardo José Fernández Rodríguez

Abstract Background: Everyday cognition is the application of basic cognitive skills and knowledge of the specific cognitive domain for the resolution of problems that are integrated within the instrumental domains of functioning. The main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of a Training Programme in Everyday Cognition in order to improve the levels of everyday cognition and global cognitive performance in older adults.Methods: A randomised controlled trial of two groups. The sample was composed of healthy older adults. The intervention of the experimental group consisted of an Everyday Cognition Training Programme, and the intervention of the control group consisted of a Conventional Cognitive Training Programme. The Rapid Assessment of Cognitive Functions test (ERFC) and the Everyday Cognition Battery test (ECB) were used to assess the intervention.Results: Total sample (n=237) composed of 44 men and 223 women, with a mean age of 73.45 years. Statistically significant differences (p <0.001) were evidenced between the control group and the experimental group in both the ECB and ERFC; in the final evaluation of the study and in the follow-up.Conclusion: The use of a Daily Cognition Training Programme presents greater benefits in terms of both global cognitive performance and everyday cognition than the use of a Conventional Cognitive Training Programme in elderly adults.Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04041999 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04041999)Retrospectively registered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariane Sampson ◽  
Huw G Jeremiah ◽  
Manoharan Andiappan ◽  
J Tim Newton

Introduction: The objective of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) is to investigate the effect of a social networking site (SNS) on body dissatisfaction, facial and smile dissatisfaction, and face-related discrepancy, and whether these effects differ from the use of appearance-neutral Instagram images. We also aimed to investigate whether there are trends in increased self-reported use of social media and increased body dissatisfaction, facial and smile dissatisfaction, and face-related discrepancy. Methods: Undergraduate students were randomly allocated to an experimental group with idealised smile images or to a control group with neutral nature images. They completed pre-exposure questionnaires, then perused for 5 min their allocated images on individual Apple iPads via the Instagram application. Participants then completed the post-exposure surveys. The main outcome was facial dissatisfaction. Body dissatisfaction and total facial and body dissatisfaction were secondary outcomes. Simple randomisation was achieved with a computerised random number generator. Data were analysed using repeated measures ANOVA and multivariate regression analyses. Results: A total of 132 participants (mean age = 20.50 ± 2.21 years) were randomised to either the experimental group with idealised smile images (n=71) or the control group with neutral nature images (n=61). Baseline characteristics were similar between groups and no participants were lost. Exposure to ‘ideal’ facial images on social media decreases facial satisfaction (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.85–1.05; P < 0.0001). Individuals with high baseline self-discrepancy scores are less satisfied with their facial features and body appearance (95% CI = 0.04–1.16; P = 0.036). Conclusion: This study shows that viewing SNSs with high visual media reduces satisfaction with facial appearance in the short term in men and women. This effect is greater in those with high self-discrepancy scores. Increased media usage was not correlated with increased dissatisfaction. Wearing braces or having had braces was shown not to influence post-exposure dissatisfaction.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Sánchez Gómez ◽  
Eduardo José Fernández Rodríguez

Abstract Background: Everyday cognition is the application of basic cognitive skills and knowledge of the specific cognitive domain for the resolution of problems that are integrated within the instrumental domains of functioning. The main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of a Training Programme in Everyday Cognition in order to improve the levels of everyday cognition and global cognitive performance in older adults.Methods: A randomised controlled trial of two groups. The sample was composed of healthy older adults. The intervention of the experimental group consisted of an Everyday Cognition Training Programme, and the intervention of the control group consisted of a Conventional Cognitive Training Programme. The Rapid Assessment of Cognitive Functions test (ERFC) and the Everyday Cognition Battery test (ECB) were used to assess the intervention.Results: Total sample (n=237) composed of 44 men and 223 women, with a mean age of 73.45 years. Statistically significant differences (p <0.001) were evidenced between the control group and the experimental group in both the ECB and ERFC; in the final evaluation of the study and in the follow-up.Conclusion: The use of a Daily Cognition Training Programme presents greater benefits in terms of both global cognitive performance and everyday cognition than the use of a Conventional Cognitive Training Programme in elderly adults.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04041999 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04041999)Retrospectively registered. Date of trial registration: 8th July 2019.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 179-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Demaret ◽  
Etienne Quertemont ◽  
Géraldine Litran ◽  
Cécile Magoga ◽  
Clémence Deblire ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) can improve the condition of heroin addicts still using street heroin after a methadone treatment. In Belgium, a new trial compared the efficacy of a HAT to existing methadone maintenance treatment. Methods: In this randomised controlled trial, HAT was limited to 12 months. Participants were assessed every 3 months. They were responders if they showed improvement on the level of street heroin use, health or criminal involvement. Results: 74 participants were randomised in the trial. The experimental group (n = 36) counted 30% of responders more than the control group (n = 38) at each assessment point (p < 0.05), except at 12 months where the difference (11%) was no longer significant (p = 0.35). Still, after 12 months, participants in the experimental group reported significantly greater improvements (p < 0.05) than the control group on the level of street heroin use and on the level of physical and mental health. Both groups reported significantly less criminal acts after 12 months (p < 0.001), but with no significant difference between the groups. Conclusions: This trial confirms the short-term efficacy of HAT for severe heroin addicts, who already failed methadone treatment.


Author(s):  
Ruth E. Ashton ◽  
Jonathan J. Aning ◽  
Garry A. Tew ◽  
Wendy A Robson ◽  
John M Saxton

Abstract Purpose To investigate the effects of a supported home-based progressive resistance exercise training (RET) programme on indices of cardiovascular health, muscular strength and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients after treatment with robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Methods This study was a single-site, two-arm randomised controlled trial, with 40 participants randomised to either the intervention or control group over a 10-month period. In addition to receiving usual care, the intervention group completed three weekly RET sessions using resistance bands for 6 months. Participants performed 3 sets of 12–15 repetitions for each exercise, targeting each major muscle group. The control group received usual care only. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was the primary outcome and assessed at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Secondary outcomes included body weight, body fat, aerobic fitness, strength and blood-borne biomarkers associated with cardiometabolic risk. Results There was no significant difference between the groups in FMD at 3 or 6 months. However, there were improvements in aerobic exercise capacity (P < 0.01) and upper- (P < 0.01) and lower-limb (P = 0.01) strength in favour of the RET group at 6 months, accompanied by greater weight loss (P = 0.04) and a reduction in body fat (P = 0.02). Improvements in HRQoL were evident in the RET group at 3 and 6 months via the PCa-specific component of the FACT-P questionnaire (both P < 0.01). Five adverse events and one serious adverse event were reported throughout the trial duration. Conclusion This study demonstrates that home-based RET is an effective and safe mode of exercise that elicits beneficial effects on aerobic exercise capacity, muscular strength and HR-QoL in men who have undergone RARP. Trial registration ISRCTN10490647.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Lotta Irewall ◽  
Anders Ulvenstam ◽  
Anna Graipe ◽  
Joachim Ögren ◽  
Thomas Mooe

AbstractEnhanced follow-up is needed to improve the results of secondary preventive care in patients with established cardiovascular disease. We examined the effect of long-term, nurse-based, secondary preventive follow-up by telephone on the recurrence of cardiovascular events. Open, randomised, controlled trial with two parallel groups. Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014, consecutive patients (n = 1890) admitted to hospital due to stroke, transient ischaemic attack (TIA), or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were included. Participants were randomised (1:1) to nurse-based telephone follow-up (intervention, n = 944) or usual care (control, n = 946) and followed until 31 December 2017. The primary endpoint was a composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, cardiac revascularisation, and cardiovascular death. The individual components of the primary endpoint, TIA, and all-cause mortality were analysed as secondary endpoints. The assessment of outcome events was blinded to study group assignment. After a mean follow-up of 4.5 years, 22.7% (n = 214) of patients in the intervention group and 27.1% (n = 256) in the control group reached the primary composite endpoint (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.68–0.97; ARR 4.4%, 95% CI 0.5–8.3). Secondary endpoints did not differ significantly between groups. Nurse-based secondary preventive follow-up by telephone reduced the recurrence of cardiovascular events during long-term follow-up.


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