Environmental health knowledge and competences in Basque health workers. A comparison of different professional profiles.

Environmental exposures are responsible for a quarter of morbidity and mortality rates globally. Primary care professionals work in a privileged position to detect and intervene on environmental health matters. Nevertheless, due to lack of specific training, international literature shows that primary care health professionals have limited skills to deal with those. The objectives of this study were to assess the levels of environmental health (EH) knowledge and competence of a sample of 446 health professionals and students in the Basque Country and explore the presence that EH has on their daily practice. Only a very small proportion of participants had received training and took environmental clinical history regularly. Participants were confident to deal, and actually dealt, with tobacco, pollen and sun exposures but less able to address topics like biomarkers, pesticides and endocrine disruptors. Finally, and in accordance to previous works, we found moderate levels of EH knowledge and skills in our sample, and observed that nurses and nursing students reported higher EH skills than other professional profiles but scored lower in knowledge. Despite the manifold impacts of environmental exposures on health, interventions to strengthen health professionals' EH competence are required.

What Accounts for Physical Activity during Pregnancy? A Study on the Sociodemographic Predictors of Self-Reported and Objectively Assessed Physical Activity during the 1st and 2nd Trimesters of Pregnancy.

Physical activity (PA) during pregnancy has positive health implications for both mother and child. However, current literature indicates that not all pregnant women meet the international recommendations for PA (at least 150 min/week of moderate-to-vigorous PA). The main objective of this study was to assess PA levels among pregnant women in the city of Donostia-San Sebastian and identify their main sociodemographic predictors. We recruited 441 women in the 12th week of pregnancy from the local public obstetric health services. Women wore an accelerometer for one week during two separate time points (1st and 2nd trimesters of pregnancy) and completed a questionnaire assessing several sociodemographic variables as well as self-reported PA. With this information, we estimated women's overall PA levels during both time points. The fulfillment of PA recommendations raised up to 77% and 85% during the first and second trimesters, respectively. We found that a higher number of children and a greater preference for exercise positively predicted light-to-moderate PA, being the most consistent predictors. The availability of a greater number of cars negatively predicted moderate-to-vigorous PA.

¿Es la ultradistancia saludable? estudio descriptivo observacional de una cohorte de corredores de ultradistancia / Is ultradistance healthy? a descriptive observational study of a cohort formed by ultradistance runners

Objetivo: Describir las características físicas y fisiológicas de un grupo de corredores de ultradistancia, comparar sus hábitos de entrenamiento con las directrices establecidas por la OMS y estudiar las posibles consecuencias lesivas del alto volumen de ejercicio físico realizado. Material y método: Muestra compuesta por corredores que repitieron participación en las carreras de ultradistancia Ehunmilak de 2017 y 2018. Se analizaron datos recogidos mediante los informes médicos de la carrera y un cuestionario creado específicamente para este estudio. Para el análisis de variables, se utilizaron las pruebas de U de Mann-Whitney y Chi-cuadrado, con un intervalo de confianza del 95%. Un valor de p <0,05 fue considerado estadísticamente significativo. Resultados: Se observó baja prevalencia de varios factores de riesgo conocidos (HTA 1,8%, DM 0%, dislipemia 0-1,8%, tabaquismo 5,3-10,5%, sobrepeso 17,5%). Durante los dos últimos años, el 0% sufrió lesiones cardiovasculares y el 52,6% lesiones musculoesqueléticas. Los exámenes médicos son realizados con frecuencia, cada año por el 91,2%. El 72% cumplió con las últimas recomendaciones de la OMS en cuanto a volumen de ejercicio físico. Por último, no se encontró relación entre los parámetros que indican gran volumen de ejercicio físico y el resultado del ECG. Lo mismo ocurrió con las lesiones musculoesqueléticas, aunque en este caso se observaron relaciones significativas con el IMC (p=0,004) y la intensidad del entrenamiento (p=0,009). Conclusiones: Se observó que el grupo de corredores estudiado goza de buena salud y que sus hábitos de entrenamiento son correctos, acorde a las últimas recomendaciones de la OMS. Además, sus características y hábitos de entrenamiento no mostraron relación con el riesgo de desarrollar un ECG patológico o de sufrir lesiones musculoesqueléticas, exceptuando la relación significativa que mostraron el IMC y la intensidad del entrenamiento con estas últimas.(AU)

Objective: To describe the physical and physiological characteristics of a group formed by ultra-distance runners, to compare their training habits with the guidelines established by the WHO and to study the possible harmful consequences of the high volume of physical activity performed. Material and method: The sample was formed by runners who repeated their participation in the “Ehunmilak” ultra-distance race in 2017 and 2018. Data collected through the medical certificates of the race and an own questionnaire were analyzed. For the analysis of variables, the Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square tests were used, with a 95% confidence interval. A value of p <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A low prevalence of several well known risk factors was observed (HT 1.8%, DM 0%, dyslipidemia 0-1.8%, smoking 5.3-10.5%, overweight 17.5%). During the last two years, 0% suffered cardiovascular injuries and 52.6% suffered musculoskeletal injuries. Medical examinations were performed frequently, each year by 91.2%. 72% complied with the latest WHO recommendations regarding volume of physical activity. Finally, no relationship was found between the parameters that indicate a high volume of physical exercise and the ECG result. The same occurred with musculoskeletal injuries, although in this case significant relationships were observed with BMI (p = 0.004) and training intensity (p = 0.009). Conclusions: It was observed that the group of runners studied is in good health and that their training habits are correct, according to the latest WHO recommendations. In addition, their characteristics and training habits did not show a relationship with the risk of developing a pathological ECG or suffering musculoskeletal injuries, except for the significant relationship that BMI and training intensity showed with the latter.(AU)