Search

The aim of the study was to assess the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder in patients after hip acetabular fracture surgery. The study involved 42 patients fulfilling inclusion criteria. Physical ability levels of the patients were determined with the Harris Hip Score, and modified Merle d'Aubigné scale. High risk of post-traumatic stress disorder was assessed with the PTSD-C questionnaire. Patients had in PTSD-C questionnaire 42.86 ± 28,10 points. In Harris Hip Score 63.64 ± 16.06, in Merle scale 11.10 ± 2.82, that was poor results in both scales. Positive correlation with age reached the level of tendency ([rho] = 0.294; p = 0.059). Patients at risk of PTSD were in worse functional state measured by HHS (U = 136.0; p = 0.034) and Merle scale (U = 132.0; p = 0.026) and they were older (U = 147.5; p = 0.068). The groups differed significantly in gender ratio ([chi].sup.2 = 4.01; p = 0.045). Women (8/10) were more often than men (14/32) at risk of PTSD. Patients after surgical fixation of the acetabulum experience significant functional disability. Increased level of disability after fracture and surgery, older age and female sex make patients vulnerable to PTSD. It is advisable to make medical staff who treat accident victims aware towards aspects which may be related to disorders of the patients' psychological health., Author(s): Aleksandra Truszczynska-Baszak [sup.1] [sup.2] , Monika Guszkowska [sup.1] , Emilia Dadura [sup.1] , Adam Tarnowski [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.449495.1, 0000 0001 1088 7539, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Józef Pilsudski [...]

The purpose of this project was to verify whether slogans displayed on roadside advertisements created a distraction for drivers. In order to explain the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, Study 1 examined the impact of slogan length on attentional processing efficiency. Study 2 investigated the relationship between the length of the slogan and the motor behavior of respondents driving a car simulator. We assumed that slogan length would decrease the drivers' task performance in both studies. Study 1 was conducted on a group of 70 participants, who completed a modified version of the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan et al. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3), 340-347, 2002 (See CR15)). The task consisted of visual ads intended to distract respondents from the primary task. Reaction times were significantly longer when ads had longer slogans compared to shorter slogans. Study 2, involving a car simulator, was conducted on a group of 53 drivers performing a task of driving in a convoy. Participants were shown billboards with ads at the roadside in random order (two pairs of corresponding ads with short and long text on it). Participants' driving performance decreased when longer slogans were presented in comparison to the short-slogan condition. In conclusion, we interpret the results of Study 1 to indicate that longer slogan leads to a greater load of attentional processing. This subsequently leads to a reduction of the processing efficiency within attentional systems and further increases the amount of time to resist the irrelevant stimulus. A consequence of this, as shown in Study 2 using a car simulator, is a decrease in cognitive resources necessary for safe driving and therefore worse performance on a driving task., Author(s): Justyna Harasimczuk [sup.1] , Norbert E. Maliszewski [sup.1] , Anna Olejniczak-Serowiec [sup.2] , Adam Tarnowski [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.440603.5, 0000 0001 2301 5211, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of [...]

Study aim: Low back pain is accompanied by deconditioning of trunk muscles due to pain limiting patients’ physical activity, but so far it has not been explained whether the changes in the structure of muscles are the cause of disc disease or its result. The aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of segmental paraspinal muscle hypotrophy in patients with chronic low back pain and sciatica. Material and methods: The study involved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 40 patients: 20 women and 20 men aged from 30 to 47, mean 39.51 ± 3.73 years, with single level disc extrusion at L4-L5. The entire cross-sectional area of the par­aspinal muscles, the adipose tissue area in the paraspinal muscles and the extensor muscle tissue area at the level of L4-L5 were measured and compared with the healthy L3-L4 level. T2-weighted axial slices were used to facilitate distinguishing between the muscle and the fat tissue. Results: Fat tissue ingrowth and paravertebral muscle tissue hypotrophy at the disc extrusion level were highly statistically significant (p < 0.001) compared to the healthy level. Conclusions: 1. Ingrowth of the adipose tissue into the muscle tissue occurs only at the level of disc extrusion. 2. It seems rea­sonable to introduce strengthening exercises after the resolution of pain in order to rebuild the muscles of the spine.

Study aim: to investigate the impact of heels of different height on static balance of teenagers and young women not accustomed to high heels.

The aim of the study was to determine potential mood changes reported by Polish undergraduates during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and how mood may be differ, according to gender, field and year of study. Differences in coping strategies depending on mood changes were also Investigated. The study involved 1330 students (767 women and 563 men) aged 18–30 years studying various faculties at the Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland. A modified version of the the Coping Orientations to Problem Experienced University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology Mood Adjective Check List UMACL was used to identify mood changes, and brief version of the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced COPE was used to identify the coping strategies employed. A decrease in hedonic tone and energetic arousal and an increase in tense arousal was reported during the pandemic, with a deterioration in students' mood. Mood deterioration was lower in male students and sport and physical education students. Students who reported mood improvement were most likely to use positive reframing, acceptance, active coping, humour, and physical activity. Students with deteriorated mood used self-blaming, venting, denial, behavioural disengagement, and doing something else most frequently. Female students, those studying physiotherapy, tourism and recreation, and other majors (nursing, occupational therapy, cosmetology), and first-year master's students are more likely to report negative psychological impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of emotional and avoidance coping strategies may increase the affective cost of pandemic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eye movements latencies toward peripherally presented stimuli were measured in 10-year-old dyslexic and control children. Dyslexic subjects, previously found to be oversensitive to stimulation of the magnocellular channel, showed reduced latencies as compared to normally reading controls. An attention shifting task was also used which showed no group differences in latencies of eye movements. The data are discussed in terms of the hypothesis of magnocellular system alteration and attention dysfunction in dyslexia. Additionally, sex differences in eye movement latencies were found and are discussed.

Study aim: the aim of this study was to determine how body height, body weight, and moderate physical activity affected postural stability in young schoolchildren.

Drivers distraction analysis should take into account capabilities of road users with the weakest performance. The first issue was to determine by Test2Drive psychological testing system, empirical criteria of limited attention performance. The second issue was the level of influence of distracting roadside advertisement on driving performance in standard simulator tasks - three vehicle platoon task and lane changing task. The attentional performance has been established by PUT test. This method, based on conjunctive search task was an indicator of speed and accuracy of visual inspection. In the experiment distraction mode has been established at three levels: on roadside billboards red dot has been absent or exposed for 1 or 2 second. In first analysis a group of about 17 000 professional drivers, aged 18-84 form Test2Drive database were selected. In a simulator experiment a group consisted of 30 drivers in age 20-60. As expected, attention performance decreased with age. Markers of impaired attentional performance have been established. In the experiment, no significant effects have been found in 3VPT paradigm. In LCT paradigm, a significant interaction of attention and distraction mode has been observed - drivers with symptoms of attentional malfunctions presented significant problems with maneuver accuracy. The experiment allowed to prove that attentional performance led to higher distraction when stimuli analogical to roadside advertisement were presented. The observed effect was statistically significant but not so strong as in had been expected, what can be explained by a small sample size, in which attention disorders rate were not high. Even with its limitations the experiment proves a simple thesis - roads users with limited attention performance are safer when no salient distractors are disturbing them.

Distraction of the driver's attention is one of the key aspects of research conducted by automotive companies. It concerns not only on-board devices, but also the factors outside the vehicle, such as advertising displays. Too much attention focused on advertisements can have negative impact on the driver's behaviour and driving quality. The 2-second distraction can more than double the risk of an accident. The paper presents the results of a simulator-based study, in which 60 drivers (including 30 women) age- 18-64 take part. All participants had a valid driving license and differed in their driving experience. It has been verified how the time of focusing the attention on the roadside advertisements affects the given safety and driving performance indicators.

Distraction during driving is becoming a major problem in contemporary transport and traffic psychology. Concentration may deteriorate complex vehicle systems due to the provision of unnecessary information and use of mobile phones (the problem is not only talking but writing text messages and e-mails, browsing sites, etc.). A significant role is also played by advertisers who use aggressive ways to attract attention and communicate product information, especially because they compete with an already overloaded attention system. On the other hand, the need for stimulation is strong with people increasingly less tolerant to monotony. The RoAdvert project is aimed to develop evidence-based rules of placing roadside advertising with respect to safety and real possibilities of regulating the advertising market, including the optimal level of driver stimulation. The paper will present a preliminary analysis of the survey and experimental research.

Copyright of Current Neurology / Aktualno?ci Neurologiczne is the property of Medical Communications Sp. z o.o. 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.)

BACKGROUND: Playing violin may lead to overload of the locomotor system. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess body parameters for trunk symmetry in child violinists and compare with the control group. METHODS: We analyzed body posture of 101 children aged 7-12 years, mean age 11.09 ± 9.46, 49 child violinists and control group of 52 children. RESULTS: We found statistically significant differences for the difference in depth of the lower corners of scapulae and upper posterior spina iliaca, though greater asymmetries were found in the clinical control group. The remaining parameter values are close to significance, which may suggest that the process of postural change among the children had just started and that the existing asymmetries were easy to correct. We found positive correlation between body height and the difference in distance of the lower corners of scapulae from the spine: OL (p = 0.029, correlation coefficient value was 0.167) and the Thales triangle height: (p = 0.018, correlation coefficient was 0.214). CONCLUSIONS: Position maintained while playing the violin changed some parameters characterizing the curvature of the spine in frontal plane. We found the importance of detailed analysis of children body posture and its critical assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]