The Influence of Joe Wicks on Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Thematic, Location, and Social Network Analysis of X Data.

BACKGROUND:  Social media (SM) was essential in promoting physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among people confined to their homes. Joe Wicks, a fitness coach, became particularly popular on SM during this time, posting daily workouts that millions of people worldwide followed. OBJECTIVE:  This study aims to investigate the influence of Joe Wicks on SM and the impact of his content on physical activity levels among the public. METHODS:  We used NodeXL Pro (Social Media Research Foundation) to collect data from X (formerly Twitter) over 54 days (March 23, 2020, to May 15, 2020), corresponding to the strictest lockdowns in the United Kingdom. We collected 290,649 posts, which we analyzed using social network analysis, thematic analysis, time-series analysis, and location analysis. RESULTS:  We found that there was significant engagement with content generated by Wicks, including reposts, likes, and comments. The most common types of posts were those that contained images, videos, and text of young people (school-aged children) undertaking physical activity by watching content created by Joe Wicks and posts from schools encouraging pupils to engage with the content. Other shared posts included those that encouraged others to join the fitness classes run by Wicks and those that contained general commentary. We also found that Wicks' network of influence was extensive and complex. It contained numerous subcommunities and resembled a broadcast network shape. Other influencers added to engagement with Wicks via their networks. Our results show that influencers can create networks of influence that are exhibited in distinctive ways. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that Joe Wicks was a highly influential figure on SM during the COVID-19 pandemic and that his content positively impacted physical activity levels among the public. Our findings suggest that influencers can play an important role in promoting public health and that government officials should consider working with influencers to communicate health messages and promote healthy behaviors. Our study has broader implications beyond the status of fitness influencers. Recognizing the critical role of individuals such as Joe Wicks in terms of health capital should be a critical area of inquiry for governments, public health authorities, and policy makers and mirrors the growing interest in health capital as part of embodied and digital experiences in everyday life.

'All Avatars Aren't We': Football and the experience of football-themed digital content during a global pandemic.

This paper explores the contemporary nature of association football consumption. In particular, we argue that the coronavirus 2019 pandemic reveals the contemporary and particular nature of the relationship between football and its supporters, which is increasingly focused on the consumption of themed digital participatory experiences. During this pandemic, what fans missed was not only live football, but also the sporting 'experience' and the opportunities for participation that this provides. Hence, here we saw fans, clubs and media providers employing new digital technologies to create themed experiences that facilitated (and mediated) participation and interaction. Following Zizek (2014), we suggest that the coronavirus 2019 pandemic can be understood as a global mega event that creates a seismic, reality alerting schism, whose aftermath requires new ontologies and theories. Our response is to utilise a number of key and illustrative examples and to offer a new synthesis of theories and literatures, most notably, on the experience society, theming, participatory culture, neoliberalism and digital culture. This new context and (re)combination of theories then provides a new, and essential, perspective that reveals a great deal about the contemporary nature of the sport, what fans buy into, and also, how this may change post pandemic.

The incidence of ventriculostomy-related infections as diagnosed by 16S rRNA polymerase chain reaction: A prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Ventriculostomy-related infections (VRIs) are reported in about 10 % of patients with external ventricular drains (EVDs). VRIs are difficult to diagnose due to clinical and laboratory abnormalities caused by the primary neurological injury which led to insertion of the EVD. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may enable more accurate diagnosis of VRI. We performed a prospective cohort study to measure the incidence of VRI as diagnosed by 16S rRNA PCR. METHODS: Patients admitted to intensive care with a primary diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), who required an EVD, were assessed for inclusion in this study. Data were extracted from the electronic medical record, bedside charts, or from a prospectively collected database, the Neuroscience Outcomes in Intensive CarE database (NOICE). 16S rRNA PCR was performed on routinely collected CSF as per laboratory protocol. VRI was also diagnosed based on pre-existing definitions. RESULTS: 237 CSF samples from 39 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean patient age was 55.7 years, and 56.4 % were female. The most common primary neurological diagnosis was SAH (61.5 %). The incidence of a positive PCR was 2.6 % of patients (1 in 39) and 0.8 % of CSF samples (2 in 237). The incidence of VRI according to pre-published diagnostic criteria was 2.6 % - 41 % of patients and 0.4 % - 17.6 % of CSF samples. 28.2 % of patients were treated for VRI. Pre-published definitions which relied on CSF culture results had higher specificity and lower false positive rates for predicting a PCR result when compared to definitions incorporating non-microbiological markers of VRI. In CSF samples with a negative 16S rRNA PCR, there was a high proportion of non-microbiological markers of infection, and a high incidence of fever on the day the CSF sample was taken. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of VRI as defined as a positive PCR was lower than the incidence of VRI according to several published definitions, and lower than the incidence of VRI as defined as treatment by the clinical team. Non-microbiological markers of VRI may be less reliable than a positive CSF culture in diagnosing VRI.

The association between ventriculostomy - Related infection and clinical outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Ventriculostomy - related infection (VRI) is a common complication of patients who require placement of an external ventricular drain (EVD). The clinical outcomes of people who are diagnosed with VRI is poorly characterised. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between VRI, and clinical outcomes and resource use, in patients treated with an EVD. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Central Register of clinical trials to identify clinical trial and cohort studies that reported outcomes including mortality, functional outcome, duration of EVD insertion, and intensive care and hospital length of stay. Inclusion criteria and data extraction were conducted in duplicate. Where sufficient data were available, data synthesis was conducted using a random effects model to provide a pooled estimate of the association between VRI and clinical outcomes and resource use. We also pooled data to provide an estimate of the incidence of VRI in this population. RESULTS: Nineteen studies including 38,247 patients were included in the meta-analysis. There were twelve different definitions of VRI in the included studies. The pooled estimate of the incidence of VRI was 11 % (95 % confidence interval (CI), 9 % to 14 %). A diagnosis of VRI was not associated with an increase in the estimated odds ratio (OR) for mortality (OR 1.07, 95 % CI 0.59 to 1.92, p = 0.83 I2 = 83.5 %), nor was a diagnosis of VRI associated with changes in neurological outcome (OR 1.42, 95 % CI 0.36 to 5.56, p = 0.89, I2 = 0.3 %). Those diagnosed with VRI had longer intensive care unit length of stay (estimated pooled mean difference 8.4 days 95 % CI 3.4 to 13.4 days, p = 0.0009, I2 = 78.7 %) an increase in hospital length of stay (estimated mean difference 16.4 days. 95 % CI 11.6 to 21.2 days, p < 0.0005, I2 = 76.6 %), a prolonged duration of EVD placement (mean difference 5.24 days, 95 % CI 3.05 to 7.43, I2 = 78.2 %, p < 0.01), and an increased requirement for an internal ventricular shunt (OR 1.80, 95 % CI 1.32 to 2.46, I2 = 8.92 %, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Ventriculostomy related infection is not associated with increased mortality or an increased risk of poor neurological outcome, but is associated with prolonged duration of EVD placement, prolonged duration of ICU and hospital admission, and an increased rate of internal ventricular shunt placement.