scholarly journals Changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular health in the workplace: a case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Georgia Torres ◽  
Philippe Gradidge ◽  
Demitri Constantinou

Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) and all-cause mortality, contributing a higher proportion of CV risk compared to other traditionally recognised risk factors. However, CRF is not included in usual workplace wellness protocols and, as such, employers are not aware of the importance of this factor. Aim: The aim of this case study was to explore the effect of a 12-week exercise intervention programme on CRF, CV health and medical health claims in a male participant who was employed by a corporate company with existing chronic diseases. Findings: Health outcome measures improved after the 12-week exercise intervention programme. CRF showed the greatest improvement and medical health claims were lowered during the three-month post-intervention period. Implications: CRF should be included as a health outcome measure in worksite wellness programmes and monitored.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 12055-12055
Author(s):  
Anne Maria May ◽  
Jonna van Vulpen ◽  
Anouk E Hiensch ◽  
Jelle P. Ruurda ◽  
Grard Nieuwenhuijzen ◽  
...  

12055 Background: Patients with potentially curable esophageal cancer are often treated with chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery. This treatment might have a negative impact on physical fitness, fatigue and quality of life (QoL). In patients with other types of cancer, evidence suggests that physical exercise reduces treatment related side effects. We investigated whether a supervised exercise program also beneficially affects QoL, fatigue and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in patients after treatment for esophageal cancer. Methods: The multicenter PERFECT study randomly assigned patients in the first year after esophagectomy to an exercise intervention (EX) or usual care (UC) group. EX patients participated in a 12-week moderate to high intensity aerobic and resistance exercise program supervised by a physiotherapist. UC patients were advised to maintain their physical activity levels. Attendance and compliance with the exercise intervention protocol were retrieved from exercise logs. QoL (primary outcome, EORTC-QLQ-30, range 0-100), fatigue (MFI-20, range 4-20) and CRF (cardiopulmonary exercise testing) were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks (post-intervention). The outcomes were analyzed as between-group differences using either linear mixed effects models or ANCOVA adjusted for baseline and stratification factors (i.e. sex, time since surgery, center), according to the intention-to-treat principle. Results: A total of 120 patients (age 64±8) were included and randomized to EX (n = 61) or UC (n = 59). Patients in the EX group participated in 96% (IQR:92-100%) of the supervised exercise sessions and compliance with all parts of the exercise program was high ( > 90%). Post-intervention, global QoL was not statistically different between groups, but significant (p < 0.05) beneficial EX effects were found for QoL-Summary scores (between-group difference 3.5, 95% CI 0.2;6.8) and QoL-role functioning (9.4, 1.3;17.5). Physical fatigue wat non-significantly lower in the EX group (-1.2; -2.6;0.1, p = 0.08). CRF was significantly higher (VO2peak (1.8 mL/min/kg, 0.6;3.0) following the EX intervention. Conclusions: Patients were well capable to complete an intensive supervised exercise program after esophageal cancer treatment, which led to small but significant improvements in several aspects of QoL and cardiorespiratory fitness. Our results suggest that supervised exercise is a beneficial addition to routine care of patients with esophageal cancer. Clinical trial information: NTR5045 .


Circulation ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 133 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Candice A Myers ◽  
Stephanie T Broyles ◽  
Corby Martin ◽  
Timothy S Church

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The American Heart Association set national goals for cardiovascular health, including 7 metrics for ideal cardiovascular health. Research has shown that social factors, such as socioeconomic position (i.e., income, education), are important influences on cardiovascular health. Specifically, disparities in cardiovascular health exist between higher and lower socioeconomic positions. We assessed the hypothesis that higher socioeconomic position would be associated with improved cardiovascular health, measured as 4 cardiovascular health factors as outlined by the American Heart Association Life’s Simple 7, following an exercise intervention. This study used data from the Examination of Mechanisms (E-Mechanic) of Exercise-Induced Weight Compensation randomized control trial. Cardiovascular health factors included 1) BMI, 2) cholesterol, 3) glucose, and 4) systolic blood pressure, which were used to create composite cardiovascular health scores based upon ideal (2 points), intermediate (1 point), and poor (0 points) health for each factor for a possible range of 0 points (worst CVH) to 8 points (best CVH). These scores were calculated pre- and post-intervention. The primary covariate, socioeconomic position, was created using principal components analysis with income and educational attainment to produce a single socioeconomic factor that was dichotomized to indicate high socioeconomic position (=1). We also included covariates for age, sex, race, and marital status. Among the 114 participants (21-65 years old; 72% female; 30% black) who received the E-MECHANIC exercise intervention, the mean cardiovascular health factor score pre-intervention was 5.1 points (SD=1.2 points) and post-intervention 5.4 (SD=1.2 points). Regression analysis revealed that the exercise intervention increased cardiovascular health overall (p=0.03). However, participants with higher socioeconomic position had significantly (p=0.002) greater improvement in cardiovascular health factor scores. At baseline participants with higher socioeconomic position had better cardiovascular health, but not significantly better (LS-means difference = 0.38; p=0.35). Yet, after the intervention the difference in cardiovascular health between high and low socioeconomic position participants had increased (LS-means difference = 0.71; p=0.01). Although cardiovascular health improved for all intervention participants, those with higher socioeconomic position demonstrated better improvement in cardiovascular health thusly increasing socioeconomic health disparities. This provides further evidence that in order for interventions to be equally effective among participants consideration should be given to socioeconomic influences and interventions may need to be customized for different populations.


Author(s):  
Anne Cathrine Thurmann-Moe ◽  
Monica Melby-Lervåg ◽  
Arne Lervåg

AbstractThis study evaluates the effect of an intervention whose aim is to make articulatory consciousness a tool in decoding and spelling. The sample comprises 11 students with severe dyslexia (2 SD below the mean pseudoword scores), and the intervention programme consists of 32 individual sessions over 8 weeks. The study applies a multiple baseline/probe design with five baseline tests that correspond to a control condition, eight tests during the intervention and five post-intervention tests. On average, the results show significant improvement in all reading and spelling outcomes. However, there were also significant effects on an irrelevant control task (the pegboard test), perhaps indicating testing effects on the dependent variables, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions from the study. Consequently, testing the intervention in randomised trials of children with severe dyslexia is recommended to draw more firm conclusions about its efficacy for this group.


Author(s):  
Natalie J. Frost ◽  
Michael Weinborn ◽  
Gilles E. Gignac ◽  
Ying Xia ◽  
Vincent Doré ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: Exercise has been found to be important in maintaining neurocognitive health. However, the effect of exercise intensity level remains relatively underexplored. Thus, to test the hypothesis that self-paced high-intensity exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness (peak aerobic capacity; VO2peak) increase grey matter (GM) volume, we examined the effect of a 6-month exercise intervention on frontal lobe GM regions that support the executive functions in older adults. Methods: Ninety-eight cognitively normal participants (age = 69.06 ± 5.2 years; n = 54 female) were randomised into either a self-paced high- or moderate-intensity cycle-based exercise intervention group, or a no-intervention control group. Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and fitness assessment pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 12-months post-intervention. Results: The intervention was found to increase fitness in the exercise groups, as compared with the control group (F = 9.88, p = <0.001). Changes in pre-to-post-intervention fitness were associated with increased volume in the right frontal lobe (β = 0.29, p = 0.036, r = 0.27), right supplementary motor area (β = 0.30, p = 0.031, r = 0.29), and both right (β = 0.32, p = 0.034, r = 0.30) and left gyrus rectus (β = 0.30, p = 0.037, r = 0.29) for intervention, but not control participants. No differences in volume were observed across groups. Conclusions: At an aggregate level, six months of self-paced high- or moderate-intensity exercise did not increase frontal GM volume. However, experimentally-induced changes in individual cardiorespiratory fitness was positively associated with frontal GM volume in our sample of older adults. These results provide evidence of individual variability in exercise-induced fitness on brain structure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faye S. Routledge ◽  
Judith A. McFetridge-Durdle ◽  
Marilyn Macdonald ◽  
Lynn Breau ◽  
Tavis Campbell

Ruminating about a prior anger provoking event is found to elevate blood pressure (BP) and delay BP recovery. Delayed BP recovery may be associated with increased risk of hypertension. Interventions that improve BP recovery may be beneficial for cardiovascular health. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the influence of rumination and anger on BP reactivity and recovery, to compare the effect of an exercise intervention or distraction intervention on BP recovery and to explore if exercise improved BP recovery by distracting participants from stressor-related rumination and anger. Healthy, normotensive participants (n = 79, mean age 22.2 ± 4.0 years) underwent an anger-recall interview stressor task, 3 min of exercise (walking), distraction (reading) or no-intervention (quiet sitting) and a 15 min recovery period. State anger reactivity was associated with Δ diastolic (D) BP reactivity and approached significance with Δ systolic (S) BP reactivity. Trait rumination was associated with greater SBP during recovery. Δ SBP recovery did not differ between the exercise, distraction and no-intervention groups. Although there were no differences in Δ DBP recovery between the exercise and no-intervention groups, distraction improved Δ DBP recovery compared to the exercise intervention but not the no-intervention. The proportion of anger-related thoughts (state rumination) in the exercise group did not differ from the distraction or no-intervention groups. However, a smaller proportion of participants in the distraction intervention reported an anger-related thought during recovery compared to the no-intervention group with 76% of their thoughts relating to the provided distraction. Overall, post-stressor exercise was not found to improve BP recovery while reading was effective at distracting individuals from angry thoughts (state rumination) but had no effect on BP compared to no-intervention.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 377
Author(s):  
Domingo Jesús Ramos-Campo ◽  
Luis Andreu Caravaca ◽  
Alejandro Martínez-Rodríguez ◽  
Jacobo Ángel Rubio-Arias

We assessed the effects of resistance circuit-based training (CT) on strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body composition. A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted in three databases, ending on March, 2020. Meta-analysis and subgroup analysis were used to analyze the effects of pre–post-intervention CT and differences from control groups (CG). Of the 830 studies found, 45 were included in the meta-analysis (58 experimental groups (n = 897) and 34 CG (n = 474)). The CT interventions led to increases in muscle mass (1.9%; p < 0.001) and decreases in fat mass (4.3%; p < 0.001). With regard to cardiorespiratory fitness, CT had a favorable effect on VO2max (6.3%; p < 0.001), maximum aerobic speed or power (0.3%; p = 0.04), and aerobic performance (2.6%; p = 0.006) after training. Concerning strength outcome, the CT increased the strength of the upper and lower extremities. Only the magnitude of strength performance appears to be influenced by the training (number of sessions and frequency) and the training status. Moreover, low and moderate intensities and short rest time between exercise increase the magnitude of change in fat mass loss. Therefore, CT has been shown to be an effective method for improving body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and strength of the lower and upper limbs.


Author(s):  
Guillermo García Pérez de Sevilla ◽  
Olga Barceló Guido ◽  
María de la Paz De la Cruz ◽  
Ascensión Blanco Fernández ◽  
Lidia B. Alejo ◽  
...  

Healthy lifestyles should be encouraged in the workplace through the occupational health teams of the companies. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the adherence to a lifestyle intervention carried out in university employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on health-related quality of life (HrQoL). A randomized controlled trial following the CONSORT guidelines was performed, consisting of three supervised interventions lasting for 18 weeks: an educational intervention on healthy habits, a nutritional intervention, and a telematic aerobic and strength exercise intervention. Lifestyle and HrQoL were analyzed six months post-intervention to assess adherence. Twenty-three middle-aged participants completed the study. The intervention group significantly improved their lifestyle according to the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II questionnaire, especially in the categories of Health Responsibility, Physical Activity, and Nutrition, with a large effect size. Sitting time was reduced by 2.5 h per day, with a moderate effect size. Regarding HrQoL, the intervention group showed a clinically significant improvement in the Physical Component Summary. Despite the lockdown and the mobility restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this intervention performed on university employees achieved adherence to a healthier lifestyle and improved their HrQoL, which is of great clinical relevance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000929
Author(s):  
Sheharyar Baig ◽  
Bethany Moyle ◽  
Jessica Redgrave ◽  
Arshad Majid ◽  
Ali Ali

ObjectivesExercise programmes studied after stroke often involve specialist supervision. Determine the feasibility and safety for people with stroke (PwS) or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) participating in readily accessible, non-stroke specialised, community-based exercise programmes.MethodsParticipants were recruited into a structured, group-based, 12-week programme of aerobic and resistance exercise delivered two times per week at one of five local leisure centres. Completion rates, successful attainment of intended exercise intensity (Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)) and safety outcomes were recorded. Measures of physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded at baseline and day 1 post intervention.Results79% of participants completed >75% of the intended sessions, with >90% attainment of intended RPE. Exercise was safe with no serious and very few minor adverse events related to exercise. Exercise led to significant increases in EQ-5D (Best of Health p<0.001), levels of weekly moderate physical activity (p<0.001) and decreases in systolic BP (mean change [95% CI]=−5.4 mmHg [−2.84 to −7.96]; p<0.001).ConclusionGeneralised exercise programmes delivered through existing local services, appears feasible, safe and may improve quality of life, physical activity and systolic BP, for PwS and TIA.


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