This study aimed to investigate the relationships between physical fitness and academic performance in youth handball players of different BMI classifications. Thirty-three male handball players were recruited from the Qatar handball first league and were assigned to their BMI age-adjusted groups. Measurements included anthropometric data and body fat percentage, and physical performance tests: agility T-half test; squat jump, and countermovement jump, 10 and 15 m sprint; medicine ball throw. Aerobic capacity was evaluated using the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test level 1. (...) Academic achievement was assessed through school records of grades point average of Mathematics, Science and Arabic. None academic performance parameter and four physical performance parameters were different between BMI related groups. In 43% of performance parameters and all academic parameters, the normal weight group showed the highest performance level, whereas the overweight group had the best performance in both sprint tests. The obese group was only superior in the medicine ball throw, but not at the p 0.5) between academic and physical performance parameters was only found between Yo-Yo IR 1 and science. A relevant correlation were found between CMJ and BMI. The agility T-half test was correlated with CMJ and 10 m sprint. These findings suggest being overweight or obese are related to science academic performance among schoolchildren athletes in Qatar. Possibly, a normal BMI could positively influence academic performance. Physical education teachers, staff, and administrators should be cognizant that health promotion interventions improving composition may have the additional potential to improve dimensions of academic performance. (shrink)

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is universally acknowledged as the prominent reference textbook for the diagnosis and assessment of psychiatric diseases. However, since the publication of its first version in 1952, controversies have been raised concerning its reliability and validity and the need for other novel clinical tools has emerged. Currently the DSM is in its fourth edition and a new fifth edition is expected for release in 2013, in an intense intellectual debate and in a (...) call for new proposals. (shrink)

Background: Benzodiazepines have been widely used in clinical practice for over four decades and continue to be one of the most consumed and highly prescribed class of drugs available in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. The literature indicates that Benzodiazepine users at a significantly increased risk of Motor Vehicle accidents compared to non-users but the impact on injuries at workplace is not well-defined. We aimed to investigate whether use of benzodiazepine is associated with increased risk of occupational injuries.Methods: (...) PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate odds ratio and 95% confidence interval among case controls, cross-sectional studies, either questionnaire or laboratory exams based.Results: A total of 13 studies met inclusion criteria, involving 324,168 OI from seven different countries, with an estimated occurrence of benzodiazepine positivity of 2.71%. A total of 14 estimates were retrieved. Of them, 10 were based on laboratory analyses, three on institutional databases, while one study was based on questionnaires. Regarding the occupational groups, three estimates focused on commercial drivers, that exhibited a reduced risk ratio for benzodiazepine positivity compared to other occupational groups. Eventually, no increased risk for benzodiazepine positivity was identified, either from case control studies, or cross sectional studies, when only laboratory based estimates were taken in account.Conclusions: Even though benzodiazepines have the potential to increase injury rates among casual and chronic users, available evidence are insufficient to sustain this hypothesis, particularly when focusing on laboratory-based studies. (shrink)

The novel pandemic called “Coronavirus Disease 2019”, as a global public health emergency and global threat, has affected many countries in unpredictable ways and impacted on physical activity behaviors to various extents. Specific populations including refugees, asylum seekers, and prisoners, are vulnerable groups with multiple complex health needs and worse health outcomes with respect to the general population worldwide and at high risk of death from the “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus type 2”. Governments around the world have been implementing (...) preventive healthcare policies, including physical and social distancing, isolation, and confinement, to mitigate against the burden imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak. This pandemic period is characterized by reduced or lack of movement. During this period of lockdown, PA can represent an immunotherapy and a preventative approach to avoid the harmful effects of inactivity due to the pandemic. Moreover, PA could be prescribed to improve the immune system of specific populations, which particularly experience the condition of being confined. The present narrative review discusses the potential impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on these specific populations’ health status and the importance of performing PA/exercise to reduce the deleterious effects of COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we aim to provide useful recommendations on PA/exercise for these specific populations to maintain their level of independence, physical, and mental health as well as their wellbeing. (shrink)

The general and sports psychology research is limited regarding the difference between the effects of verbal encouragement or compliment methods during high-intensity functional exercise testing. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of VE and compliments on the performance of the repeated change-of-direction sprint test. A total of 36 male students in secondary school participated voluntarily in the study. They were divided equally into three homogeneous groups [VE group, compliment group, and control group) and performed a standardized (...) one repetition RCOD. The RCOD test consisted of a 100°change in the direction at every 4 m. Outcomes included performance indices, rating of perceived exertion, and feeling scale scores. VE and the compliment increased the performance indices and RPE compared with the control group. In conclusion, VE during the exercise testing would be more beneficial for optimal performance and RPE compared with the compliment and control groups. However, the moods, during RCOD, reproduce more positively during compliment conditions than the VE and control groups. (shrink)

The present study aimed to verify the quarantine’s effects during a serious viral outbreak on the cardiovascular and performance associated with the Yo-Yo test in a sample of professional soccer players. 20 high-level soccer players participated in this study. The intermittent Yo-Yo test was performed pre- and post- COVID-19 quarantine in a random order. During each test, the soccer players’ running performance outcomes were monitored using a portable 5-Hz GPS with a 100 Hz accelerometer and a paired t-test was conducted (...) at a p-value of ≤ 0.05. The main results demonstrated significant differences between pre- versus post-COVID-19 quarantine in the following variables: relative distance, maximal speed, acceleration, deceleration, sprints > 19 km/h [0.8 % >0.5 %], and in high intensity running distance [16.48 m > 0.827 m]. We concluded that COVID-19-related restrictions and quarantine COVID-19 demonstrated adverse effects on professional soccer players’ Yo-Yo tests performance. (shrink)