Search

Background: Myostatin has been proposed as a candidate biomarker for frailty and sarcopenia. However, the relationship of myostatin with these conditions remains inconclusive.Objective: To determine the association of serum myostatin concentration with body composition, physical fitness, physical activity level, and frailty in long-term nursing home residents. We also aimed to ascertain the effect of an exercise program on myostatin levels.Methods: We obtained study data on 112 participants from long-term nursing homes. Participants were randomly assigned to a control or an intervention group and performed a 6-month multicomponent exercise program. Serum myostatin levels were analyzed by ELISA. Assessments also included body composition (anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance), physical fitness (Senior Fitness Test), physical activity level (accelerometry), and frailty (Fried frailty criteria, Clinical Frailty Scale, and Tilburg frailty indicator).Results: The concentration of myostatin at baseline was positively correlated with: a leaner body composition (p < 0.05), and a higher number of steps per day and light and moderate-vigorous physical activity in women (p < 0.005); greater upper and lower limb strength, endurance, and poorer flexibility (p < 0.05) in men; and better performance (less time) in the 8-ft timed up-and-go test in both women (p < 0.01) and men (p < 0.005). We observed higher concentrations of serum myostatin in non-frail than in frail participants (p < 0.05). Additionally, we found that the implemented physical exercise intervention, which was effective to improve physical fitness, increased myostatin concentration in men (p < 0.05) but not in women. The improvements in physical condition were related with increases in serum myostatin only in men (p < 0.05-0.01).Conclusions: Higher serum levels of myostatin were found to be associated with better physical fitness. The improvements in physical fitness after the intervention were positively related to increases in myostatin concentrations in men. These results seem to rule out the idea that high serum myostatin levels are indicative of frailty in long-term nursing home residents. However, although the direction of association was opposite to that expected for the function of myostatin, the use of this protein as a biomarker for physical fitness, rather than frailty, merits further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives There is evidence that exercise interventions counteract the functional and cognitive decline experienced by long-term nursing home (LTNH) residents. To determine the most effective exercise intervention, we compared the effects of a multicomponent exercise intervention and a walking intervention on physical and cognitive performance, habitual physical activity, affective function, and quality of life among older adults living in LTNHs. Research Design and Methods This 3-month single-blind randomized controlled trial (NCT03996083) involved 81 participants at 9 LTNHs randomly assigned to a multicomponent (MG) or a walking (WG) group. The MG participated in a twice-a-week individualized and progressive program composed of strength and balance exercises for 3 months. The WG was also individualized and participants walked up to 20 min per day. The primary outcome was the score on the short physical performance battery (SPPB). Secondary outcomes included other physical performance tests, habitual physical activity, cognitive performance, affective function, and quality of life. Results Compared with the WG, the MG group showed greater improvements in physical performance, including the SPPB (p <.05). No significant differences were observed in cognitive performance or habitual physical activity. Both groups showed improvements in anxiety and quality of life (p <.05). Discussion and Implications Although both interventions were effective in maintaining or improving affective function, the MG conferred greater improvements in physical function. Therefore, multicomponent interventions would be preferable over walking-only interventions. Otherwise, individualized and progressive walking interventions should be implemented to face the rapid decline in functionality encountered in LTNHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background the potential benefits of dual-task interventions on older adults living in long-term nursing homes (LTNHs) from a multidimensional perspective are unknown. We sought to determine whether the addition of simultaneous cognitive training to a multicomponent exercise program offers further benefits to dual-task, physical and cognitive performance, psycho-affective status, quality of life and frailty in LTNH residents. Design: a single-blind randomized controlled trial. Setting nine LTNHs in Gipuzkoa, Spain. Subjects 85 men and women (ACTRN12618000536268). Methods participants were randomly assigned to a multicomponent or dual-task training group. The multicomponent group performed two sessions per week of individualized and progressive strength and balance exercises for 3 months. The dual-task group performed simultaneous cognitive tasks to the same tasks as in the multicomponent group. Gait speed under single- and dual-task conditions, physical and cognitive performance, psycho-affective status, quality of life and frailty were measured at baseline and after 3 months of intervention. Results both groups showed clinically significant improvements on gait performance under single- and dual-task conditions and on the short physical performance battery (P  < 0.05). Both interventions were effective in maintaining cognitive function (P  > 0.05). Only the multicomponent group significantly improved quality of life, and reduced anxiety and Fried frailty score (P  < 0.05). No group-by-time interactions were found except for the chair-stand test in favour of the multicomponent group (P  < 0.05). Conclusions the addition of simultaneous cognitive training does not seem to offer significantly greater benefits to the evaluated multicomponent exercise program in older adults living in LTNHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to determine the association of relative age and performance of young elite basketball players. The distribution of the birth dates, heights, positions, classification and performance of the male and female participants (n = 2395) of the U16, U18 and U20 European Basketball Championships were analysed. We found an over-representation of players born during the initial months of the year in all groups, with the relative age effect being more evident in players of the U16 and U18 groups, than of the U20 teams, particularly in male squads. Nevertheless, in the U20 championships, those teams that had the oldest players performed the best. In all championships, the oldest participants played more minutes. In addition, relatively older male players scored better in total points and in performance index rating when results were normalised to played time. This effect was not found for female players. Regarding playing position, different distributions of birth dates were observed due to each position’s physical requirements. Thus, basketball coaches and managers should keep these results in mind when they select players because if not, they might subject players who are born towards the end of the year to a negative selection bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Walking speed (WS) is an easy, quick and inexpensive measure that could be used to discern between older people with greater and lesser function and thus individualize physical exercise programs., Objectives: To analyze the differences in physical capacity, physical activity, and quality of life in people over 65years of age who attended a physical exercise program according to their WS and age., Methods: 55 women (mean age: 76.67±6.66years) were divided into groups based on their WS (low WS: ≤1.59m/s and high WS: >1.59m/s) and age (older-younger: ≤76years and older-older: >76years). The following parameters were compared: 10Meters Walk Test (10MWT), Arm Curl Test, Handgrip, Chair Stand Test, 8Foot Up and Go Test (8FUG), 6Minute Walk Test (6MWT), and the Minnesota and The Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaires., Results: The level of physical activity was higher than 3000METs/week in all groups. The high WS group had better results in the Arm Curl Test, 10MWT, 8FUG and 6MWT and in the Physical Role and Vitality dimensions of the SF-36 (P<.05). The older-older group had lower weight, BMI and Handgrip (P<.01)., Conclusions: The best results in physical capacity and quality of life are in those women with higher WS, suggesting that WS could be useful to individualize physical exercise programs., (Copyright © 2021 SEGG. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)