Lisa Fernanda Mazzonetto

Objectives: (a) To describe studies that evaluated sarcopenic obesity (SO) in people with HIV (PWH); (b) to summarize the methods and diagnostic criteria used to define SO in PWH; and (c) to estimate the overall prevalence of SO in this population. Design: Scoping review conducted according to established methodological frameworks and reported following PRISMA‐ScR recommendations. Setting and Participants: Original observational studies conducted in clinical or research settings involving adults (≥ 18 years) with HIV that explicitly applied diagnostic criteria for SO were included. Methods: Studies were identified through searches in 12 electronic databases from inception to August 2024, without language restrictions. The scoping review followed five stages: identification of the research question, identification and selection of relevant studies, data extraction, and synthesis of findings. Diagnostic approaches for SO included body composition assessed by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) or computed tomography (CT), anthropometric measures such as body mass index (BMI), and functional assessments including handgrip strength and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). An exploratory random‐effects meta‐analysis was performed to estimate the overall prevalence of SO in PWH. Results: Three observational studies were included, two from Italy and one from the United States, comprising 2873 participants, predominantly male ( n = 2174 [76%]). Mean age ranged from 47 to 52 years, and mean duration of HIV diagnosis and antiretroviral therapy exceeded 10 years. Seven distinct diagnostic criteria for SO were identified, with DXA being the most frequently used method. The prevalence of SO ranged from 0.76% to 20.8%, and the pooled overall prevalence was 8.18%. Conclusions and Implications: SO remains insufficiently explored among PWH. The wide variability in diagnostic criteria and assessment methods contributes to inconsistent prevalence estimates, underscoring the need for standardized, population‐specific diagnostic approaches.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate physical training protocols for alleviating long COVID symptoms, especially dyspnea and fatigue, through a systematic review with meta-analysis. Method: Data were collected from EMBASE, LILACS, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, and grey literature (Google Scholar, medRxiv). Studies evaluating dyspnea and/or fatigue before and after physical rehabilitation, using validated questionnaires, were included. Studies lacking pre- and post-assessments or physical training were excluded. Two reviewers independently extracted data on intervention type, duration, frequency, intensity, and assessment methods for dyspnea and fatigue. Bias risk was evaluated using the Cochrane tool. Results: Combined methods, such as respiratory muscle training with strength and aerobic exercise, were common for long COVID symptoms. Aerobic exercise notably improved dyspnea and/or fatigue. Among 25 studies, four had a low risk of bias. Meta-analysis of two studies found no significant reduction in fatigue. Conclusion: Combined training methods, particularly aerobic exercise, alleviate dyspnea and fatigue in long COVID. More high-quality studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Control and monitor the training load program and training responses in athletes is important to avoid negative consequences of high training loads, such as injuries, illness and performance decay. Specifically in American football teams, there is a large number of athletes to monitor and depending on the sports team, they may or may not have easy access to a certain type of instrument. A reference material about instruments already used to monitor training load and training responses in American football athletes is interesting. This could help coaches and researchers to choose better instruments to use in their clinical practice or to cover some gap in the literature, advancing the state of the art. In this sense, the objective of this scope review is to indicate which tools have already been used to monitor training response and training load, thus indicating the limitations and gaps that researchers can advance. This study is a scoping review of the literature to be performed based on the stages proposed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) for Scoping Reviews. The search for studies will be carried out in the following databases: Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE [via: PubMed]), Web of Science, Excerpta Medica DataBase (EMBASE), Scopus, and SPORTDiscus. For Scopus and Embase we used the “title, abstract, keywords” filter. For the Web of Science we used the “topic” (title, abstract, author keywords, and Keywords Plus) filter. For SPORTDiscus we selected only "Academic Journals". The gray literature will be consulted using Google Scholar, Research Square, and MedRxiv. The search strategy will be developed from a combination of controlled descriptors and/or keywords related to the topic, without applying restrictions related to publication periods or language. The identified studies will be imported to EndNote Basic to remove the duplicates, and then imported into the Rayyan software. Studies without duplicates will then be evaluated and selected based on eligibility criteria by groups of two independent and blinded reviewers by reading the title and abstract of the studies (phase 1), followed by reading the full text of the selected studies in phase 1 (phase 2). Any disagreements in the process of study selection will be solved by a third reviewer. The lists of references cited by selected studies in phase 2 will be analyzed (hand search) to identify other eligible studies to be included in this review. The data of selected studies will be analyzed and collected by two independent and blinded reviewers, by filling out a characterization table in Microsoft Word software, which contains: characteristics of the study, characteristics of individuals, characteristics of instruments. At the end of this process, a cross-checking of all information retrieved from the studies will be carried out. The divergences will be resolved by a third reviewer.

The regular practice of physical activity helps in the prevention and control of several non-communicable diseases. However, evidence on the role of physical activity in mitigating worsening clinical outcomes in people with COVID-19 is still unclear. The aim of this study was to verify whether different levels of physical activity provide protection for clinical outcomes caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 509 adults (43.8 ± 15.71 years; 61.1% female) with a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 residing in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were interviewed by telephone to determine the severity of the infection and the physical activity performed. Binary logistic regression was used to indicate the odds ratio (OR) of active people reporting less harmful clinical outcomes from COVID-19. Active people had a lower chance of hospitalization, fewer hospitalization days, less respiratory difficulty and needed less oxygen support. The results suggest that active people, compared to sedentary people, have a lower frequency of hospitalization, length of stay, breathing difficulty and need for oxygen support. These results corroborate the importance of public policies to promote the practice of physical activity, in order to mitigate the severity of the clinical outcomes of COVID-19.

People living with HIV (PWH) experience an accelerated reduction in bone mineral content (BMC), and a high risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Anthropometry is an accurate and low-cost method that can be used to monitor changes in body composition in PWH. To date, no studies have used anthropometry to estimate BMC in PWH. To propose and validate sex-specific anthropometric models to predict BMC in PWH. This cross-sectional study enrolled 104 PWH (64 males) aged >18 years at a local university hospital. BMC was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Anthropometric measures were collected. We used linear regression analysis to generate the models. Cross-validations were conducted using the “leave one out”, from the predicted residual error sum of squares (PRESS) method. Bland–Altman plots were used to explore distributions of errors. We proposed models with high coefficient of determination and reduced standard error of estimate for males (r² = 0.70; SEE = 199.97 g; Q²_PRESS = 0.67; SEE_PRESS = 208.65 g) and females (r² = 0.65; SEE = 220.96 g; Q²_PRESS = 0.62; SEE_PRESS = 221.90 g). Our anthropometric predictive models for BMC are valid, practical, and a low-cost alternative to monitoring bone health in PWH.