A Survey to Evaluate the Association of COVID-19 Restrictions on Perceived Mood and Coping in Australian Community Level Athletes.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Fox-Harding C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8021018 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundBeing a parent can be demanding and stressful, especially for people with chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Parenting can be disrupted by flareups, disease worsening, and other MS symptoms, including mobility problems, pain, fatigue, and cognitive impairment. Mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety, have been found to occur at much higher rates in people with MS than in the general population. Surprisingly, less is known about which factors may predict mood disorders in parents with MS. This study aims to identify potential demographic, clinical, and self-reported predictors that contribute to mood disorders measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.MethodsA total of 285 parents with MS completed an anonymous online questionnaire combining sociodemographic, clinical, and family characteristics and scales, validated in Italian, related to coping strategies and social support. Associations between each variable and mood disorders were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsDisability level, emotional and dysfunctional coping strategies, and perceived social support were significant predictors of mood disorders in parents with MS.ConclusionsThese findings confirm the importance of identifying risk factors for mood disorders in parents with MS so that early intervention can minimize mood disruptions caused by the disease.
| S-EPMC9461724 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The COVID-19 outbreak has led to the implementation of strict restrictions in Australia, which have severely impacted sporting activities. Tennis is played by 6.2% of the population within the Oceania region, and is a valuable sport for maintaining social, mental, and physical health. Current literature indicates the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of Australian residents. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in training and match play due to the outbreak, and its effects on emotional well-being of Australian senior tennis players. Additionally, explore any differences between middle aged (41-60 years) and senior (61 years and over) Australian tennis players. An online survey was used to assess training and match play habits, as well as ascertain the emotional well-being of tennis players. The survey was active from 24th April 2020 until 6th June 2020. Participants were adult (41+ years) tennis players from Australia. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were performed to check for differences in training hours and tennis matches played. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess the difference in Brief Emotional Experience Scale (BEES) scores, employment status as well as the training hours and tennis matches played between the two age groups. A Kendall's Tau B correlation test was performed to assess the associations of training, match play and demographic characteristics with BEES scores. Kruskal-Wallis tests assessed differences in BEES scores between participants of differing match play formats, tennis experience and cessation of tennis training time periods. There were 245 respondents who met our inclusion criteria. Tennis training hours along with the tennis matches played significantly decreased during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19, 85.09 and 88.48%, respectively. No significant (p > 0.05) differences were observed between age groups for any of the training modality hours, nor was there any significant difference in number of tennis matches played. The participants average BEES score was 0.99 ± 1.27, indicating that respondents had a positive emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The emotional well-being of the senior group was significantly (P = 0.002) higher than the middle aged group. Together, our results show that training and tennis match play decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, however the emotional well-being of senior tennis players in Australia appeared to not be negatively affected.
| S-EPMC8012798 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVES:This study investigated pharmacists' and pharmacy assistants' current practices and perspectives with regard to oral healthcare provision across Australian community pharmacies. DESIGN:Cross-sectional study. A questionnaire for each pharmacist and pharmacy assistant cohort was developed and administered by online or postal means. Pearson's ?2 test was used to examine relationships between categorical variables. PARTICIPANTS:Pharmacists and pharmacy assistants working within 2100 randomly selected Australian community pharmacies. RESULTS:The overall response rate was 58.5% (644/1100) for the pharmacist cohort and 28% (280/1000) for the pharmacy assistant cohort. This represents pharmacy staff responses from 803 community pharmacies across Australia (approximately 14.6%, 803/5500 of community pharmacies nationally). Overall, the majority of pharmacists (80.2%; 516/644) and pharmacy assistants (83.6%; 234/280) reported providing oral health advice/consultations to health consumers up to five times each week. More than half of community pharmacists and pharmacy assistants were involved in identifying signs and symptoms for oral health problems; and the majority believed health consumers were receptive to receiving oral health advice. Additionally, more than 80% of pharmacists and 60% of pharmacy assistants viewed extended oral healthcare roles positively and supported integrating them within their workplace; extended roles include provision of prevention, early intervention and referral to oral healthcare services. The most commonly reported barriers to enhance pharmacy staff involvement in oral healthcare within Australian community pharmacies include lack of knowledge, ongoing training and resources to assist practice. CONCLUSION:This study highlights that Australian pharmacists have an important role in oral health and provides evidence supporting the need for growing partnerships/collaborations between pharmacy and dental healthcare professionals and organisations to develop, implement and evaluate evidence-based resources, interventions and services to deliver improved and responsive oral healthcare within Australian communities.
| S-EPMC5640116 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundNo documented standard or core competencies exist for paediatric curriculum in entry-level physiotherapy programs in Australia. Consequently, extensive variability is thought to exist amongst Australian entry-level physiotherapy programs for preparing physiotherapists to work safely and effectively with children. The purpose of this study was to explore the landscape of paediatric curriculum in Australian entry-level physiotherapy programs and identify the paediatric content being covered, its perceived importance according to university academics who teach paediatrics, the mode of delivery and assessment, and the strengths, weaknesses, barriers and facilitators to implementing paediatric curriculum.MethodsA web-based desktop audit and an online cross-sectional survey using closed and open-ended questions was administered to all Australian universities offering entry-level physiotherapy programs in November 2017. Content coverage and perceived level of importance for paediatric content areas were determined using Likert scale responses. Open-ended responses were thematically analysed to identify key themes for strengths, weaknesses and facilitators to implementation of paediatric curriculum.ResultsAll (n = 20, 100%) entry-level programs used the terms lifespan, child and/or paediatrics somewhere in at least one subject descriptor. Forty-five percent (n = 9) of universities did not use the terms lifespan, child or paediatric in their published learning objectives. Eight (40%) universities offered a paediatric stand-alone course. Sixty-five (13/20) percent of universities invited, responded to the survey. For paediatric conditions the perceived level of importance was predominately higher than its course content coverage for 19 of the 31 conditions surveyed. Key barriers to implementating paediatric curriculum were: crowded curriculum, limited financial resources resulting in a lack of qualified staff, lack of prioritisation of paediatric curriculum and inadequate paediatric placement availability. Facilitators for effective implementation of paediatric content were stand-alone paediatric subjects, demonstrated dedication to paediatric curriculum and having suitably qualified faculty members.ConclusionThe results of this survey provide the physiotherapy community with the views of paediatric physiotherapy academic educators regarding the content, perceived need to expand content delivery in identified clinical areas, and the barriers and facilitators to implementing paediatric content in Australian entry-level physiotherapy programs. Further research exploring similar questions with paediatric physiotherapy clinicians would complement the findings of this study.
| S-EPMC6469150 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objectives: The present study, one of the first to look at COVID-19 and coping in Iran, aimed at mapping, describing and understanding the coping methods academics employ as protective resources to deal with the psychological challenges and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We specifically aimed at identifying the meaning-making coping methods used and understanding the influence of culture. The guiding research question has been: Are there differences in meaning-making coping methods by gender, age group, work/student status, and place of residence? Design: The study, which used convenience sampling, was a quantitative inquiry. It employed a modified version of the RCOPE scale among faculty/staff members and students in Iran (n = 196, 75% women). Results: The most frequently used coping method among all subgroups of the study sample was thinking that life is part of a greater whole, followed by praying to Allah/God. The least used coping methods were the negative religious ones. Gender differences were found for being alone and contemplating, stronger for men. Thinking that life is part of a greater whole was found mainly among on-campus students. Praying to Allah/God was most common among the youngest staff and students, as well as among women. Two segments of respondents were discovered-the Theists and Non-theists-where the former used more religious coping methods, were more likely to be women, older staff and students, on-campus students, married, have children, and lived in capital. Conclusions: Our conclusion is that the RCOPE methods, which include religious and spiritual meaning-making methods, are of great importance to the studied Iranian informants. However, they use some secular existential meaning-making coping strategies too. This is explained by the role of religion in the larger orientation system and frame of reference in parallel with a secular worldview. Further, a sharp distinction between religious and secular worldviews was not found, which is explained by the fact that secular norms are hardly internalized in ways of thinking in Iran.
| S-EPMC8804233 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Remote Indigenous Australians experience disproportionately poor cardio-metabolic health, which is largely underpinned by adverse dietary intake related to social determinants. Little evidence exists about the community environmental-level factors that shape diet quality in this geographically isolated population group. This study aimed to explore the modifiable environmental-level factors associated with the features of dietary intake that underpin cardio-metabolic disease risk in this population group. Community-level dietary intake data were estimated from weekly store sales data collected throughout 2012 and linked with concurrent social, built, and physical environmental dimension data for 13 remote Indigenous Australian communities in the Northern Territory. Statistical analyses were performed to investigate associations. At the community level, store sales of discretionary foods were lower in communities with greater distance to a neighbouring store (r = -0.45 (p < 0.05)). Sales of sugar-sweetened beverages were lower in communities with higher levels of household crowding (r = -0.55 (p < 0.05)), higher levels of Indigenous unemployment (r = -0.62 (p = 0.02)), and greater distance to neighbouring stores (r = -0.61 (p = 0.004)). Modifiable environmental-level factors may be associated with adverse diet quality in remote Indigenous Australian communities and further investigations of these factors should be considered when developing policies to improve dietary intake quality in geographically isolated populations.
| S-EPMC6603945 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The IMMEDIATE (Immediate Myocardial Metabolic Enhancement During Initial Assessment and Treatment in Emergency care) Trial, a randomized controlled double-blind clinical effectiveness trial of glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) administered in ambulances in the out-of-hospital setting, used the Exception from Informed Consent Requirements (EFIC) for Emergency Research under Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. EFIC requirements include community consultation that typically involves using a variety of communication methods and venues to inform the public of the research and to receive their feedback. Although not the primary purpose of the community consultation process, a common concern to research sponsors, staff, and institutional review boards (IRBs) is whether there will be a sufficient number of participants to justify mounting a study in their community. Information from community consultation regarding the community acceptance might inform this question.We evaluated the utility of telephone survey data done as part of the EFIC process as a way to project the ultimate rate of trial participant enrollment.A telephone survey community consultation process was undertaken in nine communities planning to be IMMEDIATE Trial sites using a representative sampling of the target population in the areas covered by participating emergency medical service (EMS) agencies. Survey respondents were read a description of the planned study and its informed consent approach that included the option for patients to decline participation in the trial while being transported for acute care in an ambulance. Survey respondents were then asked whether they would object to participating in the study. At the conclusion of actual trial enrollment, the Coordinating Center compared the survey results with the actual rates of enrollment at each site.Approximately 200 (range = 200-271) respondents completed the survey in each of the study communities. Of 2079 survey respondents, 68% (range = 61%-75%) said that they would not object to participating in the trial if experiencing a heart attack, and 85% (range = 79%-89%) said that they would allow the study to be done in their community. During actual trial enrollment in the communities, 79% (range = 63%-91%) of the 828 potential participants agreed in the ambulance to have the study drug started and provided informed consent at the hospital, an average of 13 percentage-points higher than projected by the survey (95% confidence interval (CI): 9%-17%), 19% higher on a relative scale (CI: 14%-25%).The survey-based approach to community consultation proved to be an efficient way to obtain representative input from potential clinical trial participants. The survey data generated a relatively good and conservative estimate of the ultimate rate of trial enrollment. This information could be useful to investigators and IRBs in projecting enrollment for clinical trials using EFIC.
| S-EPMC4025913 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hypoxia can impair cognitive performance, whereas exercise can enhance it. The effects of hypoxia on cognitive performance during exercise appear to be moderated by exercise duration and intensity and by severity and duration of hypoxia and cognitive task. In normal individuals, exercise under hypoxia can evoke adverse post-exercise mood states, such as tension and fatigue. However, little is known about the effects of hypoxia during exercise in trained athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate how hypoxia affected executive functions and mood states, assessed, respectively, during and post-exercise and to explore the role of motivation moderators, such as inhibition and activation systems (BIS-BAS). Two different sessions of exercise in normoxia and hypoxia (FiO2 13%), each lasting 18 min, were randomly assigned in a counterbalanced order and administered to seventeen male athletes. During exercise bouts, participants performed a mental task (BST) aimed to produce cognitive interference and suppression. Reaction times and accuracy of responses were recorded. After 5 min, all participants completed two questionnaires assessing mood states (ITAMS) and incidence of symptoms potentially related to hypoxia (AMS-C). The results show that hypoxia impairs cognitive performance in terms of slower reaction times, but a high BAS attenuates this effect. Participants with high BAS show an equivalent cognitive performance under hypoxia and normoxia conditions. No effects were found on mood states. Further research is required to investigate the role of BAS, cognitive abilities, and mood states in prolonged hypoxic conditions.
| S-EPMC9196732 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeTo garner the views of young people with epilepsy and caregivers regarding the impact of COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions in the UK.MehodsAn online survey was used to explore the views of young people with epilepsy (n = 71) and caregivers (n = 130) in June 2020. It included questions on the impact of the pandemic and associated restrictions on the child's epilepsy and on child and parental wellbeing.ResultsOne in three young people and 29 % of caregivers reported that the young person's seizures had increased during the pandemic (only 10 % of young people and 8% of caregivers reported a decrease). Half of young people reported that they were more reluctant to go to hospital. Thirty-one percent of young people and 20 % of parents reported difficulties getting epilepsy medication whilst a significant minority of young people (18 %) and caregivers (25 %) reported that the young person had investigations/assessments cancelled by their hospital. The majority of young people reported their sleep (72 %), mood (64 %) and levels of physical activity (53 %) had deteriorated. Caregivers experienced increases in stress (55 %) and anxiety (52 %). Epilepsy nurses were seen as the most helpful support CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that the pandemic and associated restrictions have had a negative impact on young people with epilepsy. Perceived increases in seizures, reluctance to go to hospital and cancelled investigations are likely to impact on epilepsy management. The wider psychosocial impact is also likely to be significant with increases in child and caregiver mental health problems in an already vulnerable group.
| S-EPMC7791316 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:Previous studies shows that elite and high-level athletes possess consistently higher pain tolerance to ischemic and cold pain stimulation compared to recreationally active. However, the data previously obtained within this field is sparse and with low consistency. Purpose:The aim of the present study was to examine the difference in pain perception between elite and high-level endurance athletes (cross country skiers and runners), elite soccer players and non-athletes, as well to explore the impact of psychological factors on pain processing. Methods:Seventy one healthy volunteers (33 females and 38 males) participated in the study. Soccer players (n = 17), cross country skiers (n = 12), and long-distance runners (n = 3) formed the athlete group, with 39 non-athletes as controls. Big-five personality traits, fear of pain and Grit (perseverance and passion for long-term goals) were measured prior to induction of experimental pain. Pain threshold and intensity was induced by a PC-controlled heat thermode and measured by a computerized visual analog scale. Pain tolerance was measured by the cold pressor test (CPT). Results:Elite and high-level athletes had increased pain tolerance, higher heat pain thresholds, and reported lower pain intensity to thermal stimulation. Endurance athletes (cross country skiers and long-distance runners) had better tolerance for cold pain compared to both soccer-players and non-athletes. Furthermore, endurance athletes reported lower pain intensity compared to non-athletes, whereas both endurance athletes and soccer players had higher heat pain thresholds compared to non-athletes. Fear of Pain was the only psychological trait that had an impact on all pain measures. Conclusion:The present findings suggest that sports with long durations of physically intense activity, leveling aerobic capacity, are associated with increased ability to tolerate pain and that the amount of training hours has an impact on this tolerance. However, the small sample size implies that the results from this study should be interpreted with caution.
| S-EPMC7399202 | biostudies-literature