Assumpta Ensenyat

Background/Objectives: Physical activity is a key prognostic factor in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but changes in physical activity patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic remain insufficiently characterized. Methods: We conducted an observational longitudinal cohort study in patients with COPD managed in primary care in Lleida, Spain. Baseline assessment was performed between December 2018 and February 2019 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic), and follow-up assessment was conducted between March and June 2021 (post-COVID-19 pandemic). Physical activity was measured using triaxial accelerometry, and clinical, functional, and psychological variables were collected. Results: Of the 192 screened patients, 13 patients were included in the baseline pre-COVID-19 cohort, of whom 7 completed the longitudinal follow-up assessment in the post-COVID-19 period. Among the seven patients with longitudinal follow-up, at baseline, participants exhibited a predominantly sedentary profile, spending approximately 80% of their time in a sedentary mode and accumulating a mean of 6179 steps/day. In the post-COVID-19 period, sedentary time increased to 85.7% and mean steps/day decreased to 3038. Patients also showed a worse psychological profile, mainly driven by increased anxiety levels. Exploratory analyses suggested variable associations between physical activity and clinical, health-related quality of life, and psychological measures. Conclusions: In this small exploratory longitudinal cohort, lower physical activity and a less favorable psychological profile, particularly regarding anxiety, were observed at the post-COVID-19 assessment compared with the baseline. Given the small, paired sample and observational design, these findings should be considered exploratory and hypothesis-generating. Further studies with larger controlled longitudinal cohorts are warranted to confirm these observations.

The potential for assessing performance and acute fatigue in uphill trail running (UTR) through acceleration time series remains underexplored. For this purpose, time-variability of body acceleration and covariation among limb acceleration were studied in UTR. Twenty competitive and young trail runners participated in a simulation UTR test covering a distance of 4758 meters, with a total elevation gain of 575 meters and an average slope of 13.6%. Four sections with clear slope differences were identified. Detrended Fluctuation Analysis of upper back acceleration and Principal Component Analysis among wrists and ankle acceleration were performed for the whole test and for each section.The outcomes were correlated with performance and standardized effect size was used to compare sections. The main findings suggest that (a) runners with higher performance showed less persistence in body acceleration fluctuations and greater interlimb diversity, and (b) the steepest parts, particularly the final and effortful section, showed increased persistence in body acceleration and some runners lost interlimb covariation.In conclusion, time-variability and coordination analyses of acceleration time series seem to be sensitive to performance and acute fatigue in UTR, which opens further possibilities for providing more integrative, dynamic, and practical assessment tools.

Ginseng, a popular herbal supplement among athletes, is believed to enhance exercise capacity and performance. This study investigated the short-term effects of Panax ginseng extract (PG) on aerobic capacity, lipid profile, and cytokines. In a 14-day randomized, double-blind trial, male participants took 500 mg of PG daily. Two experiments were conducted: one in 10 km races (n = 31) and another in a laboratory-controlled aerobic capacity test (n = 20). Blood lipid and cytokine profile, ventilation, oxygen consumption, hemodynamic and fatigue parameters, and race time were evaluated. PG supplementation led to reduced total blood lipid levels, particularly in triacylglycerides (10 km races −7.5 mg/dL (95% CI −42 to 28); sub-maximal aerobic test −14.2 mg/dL (95% CI −52 to 23)), while post-exercise blood IL-10 levels were increased (10 km 34.0 pg/mL (95% CI −2.1 to 70.1); sub-maximal aerobic test 4.1 pg/mL (95% CI −2.8 to 11.0)), and oxygen consumption decreased during the sub-maximal aerobic test (VO₂: −1.4 mL/min/kg (95% CI −5.8 to −0.6)). No significant differences were noted in race time, hemodynamic, or fatigue parameters. Overall, PG supplementation for 2 weeks showed benefits in blood lipid profile and energy consumption during exercise among recreational athletes. This suggests a potential role for PG in enhancing exercise performance and metabolic health in this population.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a high-intensity semisupervised exercise program alongside lifestyle counseling as an intervention for managing cardiometabolic risk in sedentary adults. Methods: A 40-week 3-arm randomized controlled clinical trial (16-wk intervention and 24-wk follow-up) was used. Seventy-five sedentary adults (34–55 y) with at least 1 cardiometabolic risk factor were randomized into one of the following arms: (1) aerobic interval training (AIT) plus lifestyle counseling (n = 25), (2) low- to moderate-intensity continuous training plus lifestyle counseling (traditional continuous training, TCT) (n = 27), or (3) lifestyle counseling alone (COU) (n = 23). Metabolic syndrome severity scores, accelerometer-based physical activity, and self-reported dietary habits were assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and at follow-up. Results: AIT was well accepted with high enjoyment scores. All groups showed similar improvements in metabolic syndrome severity scores (standardized effect size = 0.46) and dietary habits (standardized effect size = 0.30). Moderate to vigorous physical activity increased in all study groups, with the number of responders higher in AIT and TCT groups (50%) than in COU group (21%). Both AIT and TCT had a greater impact on sedentary behavior than COU (63.5% vs 30.4% responders). Conclusions: AIT appears to be a feasible and effective strategy in sedentary individuals with cardiometabolic risk factors. AIT could be included in intervention programs tackling unhealthy lifestyles.

Sedentary lifestyle is associated with unfavourable health outcomes; however, few studies have analysed the daily fluctuations of sedentary behaviour in children. The aim was to characterise sedentary behaviour in low active, overweight/obese prepubertal children and to examine whether there were daily, age- or gender-based differences. In this observational study free-living movement was measured by accelerometry for one week. Eighty-eight low active, overweight/obese children (8- to 12-year-olds) were included. Analysis was conducted for weekends, weekdays, school time and non-school time on weekdays. Participants spent half of their waking hours engaged in sedentary behaviour (48.1%). Short sedentary bouts (1–4 min) accounted for 86% of sedentary time. Sedentary time was similar on weekends and non-school time, while it was highest during school time. Interventions for the management of childhood obesity should include strategies for shifting sedentary time to physical activity on weekends and non-school time and implementing more activity-permissive classroom lessons.

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different doses (intensity) of supervised exercise training — concomitant with lifestyle counselling — as a primary care intervention tool for the management of metabolic syndrome risk factors in low-active adults with one or more such factors (programme name in Catalan: Bellugat de CAP a peus). Three-arm, randomized controlled clinical trial implemented in the primary care setting, with a duration of 40 weeks (16 weeks intervention and 24-week follow-up). Adults aged 30 to 55 years with metabolic risk factors will be randomized into three intervention groups: 1) aerobic interval training (16 supervised training lessons) plus a healthy lifestyle counselling programme (6 group and 3 individual meetings); 2) low-to-moderate intensity continuous training (16 supervised training lessons) plus the same counselling programme; or 3) the counselling- programme without any supervised physical exercise. The main output variables assessed will be risk factors for metabolic syndrome (waist circumference, blood pressure, and levels of plasma triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins and glucose), systemic inflammation, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, dietary habits, health-related quality of life, self-efficacy and empowerment. Economic factors will also be analysed in order to determine the cost-effectiveness of the programme. These variables will be assessed three times during the study: at baseline, at the end of the intervention, and at follow-up. We estimate to recruit 35 participants per group. The results of this study will provide insight into the immediate and medium-term effects on metabolic risk and lifestyle of a combined approach involving aerobic interval training and a multidisciplinary behavioural intervention. If effective, the proposed intervention would provide both researchers and practitioners in this field with a platform on which to develop similar intervention programmes for tackling the repercussions of an unhealthy lifestyle. Clinical trials.gov. NTC02832453 . Registered 6 July 2016 (retrospectively registered).