Liya Xu

This study aims to assess the associations among tobacco exposure, confirmed through serum cotinine (SC) levels, physical activity (PA), and the likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study involved 8,423 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning years 2007 to 2018. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the associations among SC, PA and the risk of MetS with its components. We also investigated the sex differences on these outcome variables via analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square test. The covariate-adjusted logistic regression analysis results suggest that SC concentration (unit: ng/mL) was significantly and positively associated with MetS (OR: 6.41, 95%CI: 5.81–7.08), abdominal obesity (OR: 1.92, 95%CI: 1.75–2.11), hypertension (OR: 2.70, 95%CI: 2.46–2.96), hyperglycemia (OR: 12.50, 95%CI: 10.63–14.71), hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 2.10, 95%CI: 1.90–2.33), and low serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (OR: 1.61, 95%CI: 1.46–1.77). PA energy consumption (unit: MET*h/wk) was significantly and inversely associated with MetS (OR: 0.56, 95%CI: 0.51–0.61), abdominal obesity (OR: 0.71, 95%CI: 0.65–0.78), hypertension (OR: 0.55, 95%CI: 0.50–0.60), hyperglycemia (OR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.52–0.67), and hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 0.84, 95%CI: 0.76–0.93). For males, an increase of approximately 6 MET*h/wk in PA energy consumption was negatively associated with the higher odds of MetS linked with a 1 ng/mL higher SC level. Similarly, for females, the corresponding estimate was 7 MET*h/wk. This study indicates a positive relationship between SC concentration and MetS risk, whereas higher PA energy expenditure was inversely associated with MetS risk. Moreover, the findings indicate a potential compensatory association between PA and SC levels in relation to MetS risk. These estimates are based on statistical modeling and should be viewed as illustrative approximations rather than definitive causal or prescriptive thresholds. Future longitudinal and interventional studies are warranted to confirm these relationships.

To explore the relationship between hand grip strength (HGS) and blood pressure in physically disabled individuals over 50 years old. The research adopts a cross-sectional survey, and the data comes from the “2022–2023 Physical Health Monitoring and Scientific and Technological Services for Physical Disabilities” jointly carried out by Beijing Sport University and China Disabled Sports Management Center. Select physically disabled individuals over 50 years old and collect physical fitness measurement data. HGS was measured and adjusted based on body weight and waist circumference, with standard normal conversion. The relationship between HGS and blood pressure was analyzed using multiple linear regression, and further logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between standard HGS and the risk of abnormal blood pressure. 695 disabled individuals participated in the experiment, including 402 males (57.84%) and 293 females (42.16%). Multiple linear regression analysis found that for each standard deviation increase in the standardized Z-value of relative HGS, the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of male individuals decreased by 2.391 mmHg (P = 0.008) and 1.229 mmHg (P = 0.025); decreased by 2.336 mmHg (P = 0.026) and 1.585 mmHg (P = 0.008), respectively, for female. The increase in HGS reduced the risk of hypertension in physical disabilities in males [OR = 0.820 95%CIs (0.670, 0.952)] (P = 0.003) and females [OR = 0.735 95%CIs (0.472, 0.986)] (P = 0.007). The HGS of middle-aged and elderly physically disabled individuals negatively correlates with blood pressure, indicating the importance of increasing muscle strength (HGS) in preventing blood pressure.

Background: Physical exercise can slow down the decline of the cognitive function of the older adults, yet the review evidence is not conclusive. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of aerobic and resistance training on cognitive ability. Methods: A computerized literature search was carried out using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase SCOPUS, Web of Science, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), Wanfang, and VIP database to identify relevant articles from inception through to 1 October 2022. Based on a preliminary search of the database and the references cited, 10,338 records were identified. For the measured values of the research results, the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to synthesize the effect size. Results: Finally, 10 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Since the outcome indicators of each literature are different in evaluating the old cognitive ability, a subgroup analysis was performed on the included literature. The study of results suggests that aerobic or resistance training interventions significantly improved cognitive ability in older adults compared with control interventions with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MD 2.76; 95% CI 2.52 to 3.00), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MD 2.64; 95% CI 2.33 to 2.94), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (MD 2.86; 95% CI 2.25 to 3.47), the Wechsler Memory Scale (MD 9.33; 95% CI 7.12 to 11.54), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (MD 5.31; 95% CI 1.20 to 9.43), the Trail Making Tests (MD −8.94; 95% CI −9.81 to −8.07), and the Stroop Color and Word Test (MD −5.20; 95% CI −7.89 to −2.51). Conclusion: Physical exercise improved the cognitive function of the older adults in all mental states. To improve cognitive ability, this meta-analysis recommended that patients perform at least moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and resistance exercise on as many days as possible in the week to comply with current exercise guidelines while providing evidence for clinicians.

Background: This study aimed to explore the risk factors for flatfoot in children and adolescents to provide a reference basis for studying foot growth and development in children and adolescents. Methods: We examined the cross-sectional research literature regarding flatfoot in children and adolescents published in the past 20 years, from 2001 to 2021, in four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Cochrane Library. Two researchers independently searched the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and evaluated the literature quality of the selected research; from this, a total of 20 articles were included in our review. After the relevant data were extracted, the data were reviewed using Manager 5.4 software (The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark), and the detection rate and risk factors for flatfoot in children were analyzed. Results: In total, 3602 children with flatfoot from 15 studies were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis results showed that being male (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.62, p = 0.005), being aged p < 0.001; age 6–9 years, OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.41, 0.70, p < 0.001), joint relaxation (OR = 4.82, 95% CI: 1.19, 19.41, p = 0.03), wearing sports shoes (OR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.46, 6.03, p = 0.003), being a child living in an urban environment (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.66, 2.64, p < 0.001) and doing less exercise (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.80, p = 0.02) were risk factors for the detection of flatfoot. Conclusion: In summary, the detection rate of flatfoot in children in the past 20 years was found to be 25% through a meta-analysis. Among the children included, boys were more prone to flatfoot than girls, and the proportion of flatfoot decreased with age.