Social environmental impact of COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction: an explorative review.

BACKGROUND: To date, no attempt has been made to collate literature on the relationship between the social environmental impact of COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction. The aim of this explorative review was to assess and compare the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in male healthcare workers and males during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A systematic review of major databases from inception to February 2021 was conducted. Prevalence data were extracted, and a random-effects meta-analysis was undertaken. OUTCOMES: The pooled prevalence of ED amongst healthcare workers working in COVID-19 specific environments, and non-healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Of 52 initial studies, six were included for the final analysis. The pooled prevalence of ED in healthcare workers working in a COVID-19 environment was 63.6% (95% CI 20.3-92.3%), and in non-healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic was 31.9% (95% CI 19.5-47.6%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ED in healthcare workers working in COVID-19 environments was higher than representative samples and is of concern. Sexual health (and by extension, overall health), should be a priority when considering ways to care for this population. Considering the social environmental impact of COVID-19 on sexual health and in particular on ED, it is important to provide adequate psychological support systems and to promote quality of life with particular attention to sexual health.

Load release balance test under unstable conditions effectively discriminates between physically active and sedentary young adults.

This study investigates test-retest reliability and diagnostic accuracy of the load release balance test under four varied conditions. Young, early and late middle-aged physically active and sedentary subjects performed the test over 2 testing sessions spaced 1week apart while standing on either (1) a stable or (2) an unstable surface with (3) eyes open (EO) and (4) eyes closed (EC), respectively. Results identified that test-retest reliability of parameters of the load release balance test was good to excellent, with high values of ICC (0.78-0.92) and low SEM (7.1%-10.7%). The peak and the time to peak posterior center of pressure (CoP) displacement were significantly lower in physically active as compared to sedentary young adults (21.6% and 21.0%) and early middle-aged adults (22.0% and 20.9%) while standing on a foam surface with EO, and in late middle-aged adults on both unstable (25.6% and 24.5%) and stable support surfaces with EO (20.4% and 20.0%). The area under the ROC curve >0.80 for these variables indicates good discriminatory accuracy. Thus, these variables of the load release balance test measured under unstable conditions have the ability to differentiate between groups of physically active and sedentary adults as early as from 19years of age.

Road Cycling and Mountain Biking Produces Adaptations on the Spine and Hamstring Extensibility.

The purposes of this study were as follows: 1) to analyse the influence of training in road cycling or cross-country mountain biking on sagittal spinal curvatures, pelvic tilt and trunk inclination in cyclists of both cycling modalities; 2) to evaluate the specific spinal posture and pelvic tilt adopted on the road bicycle and cross-country mountain bike; and 3) to compare the spinal sagittal capacity of flexion and pelvic tilt mobility as well as hamstring muscle extensibility among road cyclists, cross-country mountain bikers and non-cyclists. Thirty matched road cyclists, 30 mountain bikers and 30 non-cyclists participated in this study. The road cyclists showed significantly greater thoracic kyphosis and trunk inclination than did the mountain bikers and non-cyclists in a standing posture. On the bicycle, the road bicycling posture was characterised by greater lumbar flexion and more significant anterior pelvic tilt and trunk inclination compared with the mountain biking posture. The thoracic spine was more flexed in mountain biking than in road cycling. Road cyclists had significantly greater hamstring muscle extensibility in the active knee extension test, and showed greater anterior pelvic tilt and trunk inclination capacity in the sit-and-reach test, compared with mountain bikers and non-cyclists.

Concurrent validity of clinical tests for measuring hamstring flexibility in school age children.

The objectives were 1) to evaluate the hamstring muscle flexibility in children and adolescents; 2) to examine the relative contribution of the spinal curvatures, pelvic tilt and hamstring flexibility on the sit-and-reach (SR) score; and 3) to determine the validity of the sit-and-reach test through both active and passive hip flexion tests. 118 children and adolescents (aged 7-18 years; 60 males and 58 females) were tested for sit-and-reach (SR), passive straight leg raise (PSLR) and active straight leg raise (ASLR). The spinal curvatures and pelvic tilt were assessed during the SR test by means of the Spinal Mouse system. Females showed a statistically greater anterior pelvic tilt, distance reached in the SR test and hip flexion in both PSLR and ASLR tests than males. The pelvic tilt independently explained more than 60% of the variance (distance reached in the SR test) and in conjunction with lumbar flexion explained more than 80% of the variance. In conclusion, the pelvic tilt is the main determinant of SR test in school age children. The SR test can be considered an appropriate and valid test for evaluating pelvic tilt and lumbar flexion in school age children, but not to measure hamstring flexibility.

A comparison of the thoracic spine in the sagittal plane between elite cyclists and non-athlete subjects.

AIM: to evaluate and compare the angular disposition of the thoracic spine (at different postures) in elite cyclists and a group of individuals who do not exercise in a systematic manner. METHODS: Sixty elite cyclists and sixty-eight sedentary individuals (control group), mean age: 21.91 (2.86) years participated in this study. Thoracic spine was measure with a Spinal Mouse® while relaxed standing, lying prone and sitting on the bicycle in three handlebar positions (upper, middle and lower handlebar). RESULTS: The mean (SEM) thoracic kyphosis while standing was 48.17 (8.05°) and 42.68 (8.02°) in cyclists and control group, respectively (p< 0.001). The thoracic curve adopted in lying prone was 34.69 (8.28°) in cyclists and 30.96 (7.24°) in control group (p< 0.05). On the bicycle, cyclists showed lower thoracic kyphosis with respect to control group (p> 0.05). The thoracic spine was adopted more neutral in the posture sitting on bicycle than in relaxed standing, in both groups analyzed. CONCLUSION: The posture adopted in cycling is not the only result of the higher thoracic curvature in cyclists when standing. It is necessary to include spinal postural awareness in the training plan and thoracic muscle resistance exercises that favour more aligned postures while standing.