Self-reported visual symptoms and high visual demand activities in professional football players: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Vision is crucial for football players, impacting decision-making and athletic performance. Despite its global popularity, football lacks comprehensive evaluations of the impact of digital device use on ocular symptoms during high-demand activities. Purpose: To gain knowledge about the time spent by football players in high visual demand activities, the symptoms associated with binocular vision dysfunction, and their relationship with sports performance. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 2020 using an online survey targeting football players from Portugal, England, Spain, and Saudi Arabia. The survey, distributed over 5 weeks, aimed to collect data from approximately 5,000 football players. Information on player profiles, competitive levels, vision habits, and symptoms related to binocular vision dysfunctions was collected. The Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) employed a 5-point Likert scale to indicate the average frequency of each symptom. Due to non-normality, non-parametric tests were used (p < 0.05). Specifically, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square, and Spearman's rank correlation tests were used as appropriate. Results: Analyzing male professional football players (mean age: 27.4 ± 5.0 years, 95% CI, 26.7-28.1), it was found that 38.1% of the players had been called up to the national team and 6.9% had played over 50 games. Self-rated last season's performance had a mean score of 6.5 ± 2.1 (95% CI, 6.2-6.8)(on a scale of 1 to 10). Smartphone use exceeded 1 h daily for all players, with 36.0% surpassing 4 h. Visual symptoms, notably associated with smartphone use (35.5%), were observed. Regarding the CISS score, the mean was 7.1 ± 7.7 (IC95%: 6.6 to 8.8). A weak negative correlation (rho = -0.215, p = 0.003) emerged between CISS scores and self-perceived sports performance. Football players using prescription lenses had significantly higher CISS scores (11.9 ± 10.4, 95% CI, 12.3-7.7) compared to non-users (6.2 ± 6.8, 95% CI, 7.8-5.7) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study reveals that professional football players engage in high visual demand tasks, notably on smartphones. One-third of the players link smartphone use to ocular symptoms. The Convergence Insufficiency Symptoms Survey indicates that 6.3% exhibit binocular vision dysfunction symptoms. Those with fewer ocular symptoms perceive that they have better sports performance than their counterparts.

Attitudes and Satisfaction toward the Taken Procedures to Tackle COVID-19 Pandemic in Palestine.

BACKGROUND: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been differences in the mitigation strategies implemented by governments worldwide. In addition, people's acceptance and adherence to these strategies, such as avoiding large gatherings and shelter in place, varied. The current study aims to assess the attitude and satisfaction with the procedures to tackle COVID-19 in Palestine. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in the Palestinian territories, including, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, between April 29, 2020, and June 5, 2020, using a validated online questionnaire. The questionnaire included three sections: socio-demographic characteristics, attitude towards the measures and behaviors to avoid COVID-19 infection and its consequences, and level of people satisfaction with the response of the community and local authorities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. A convenience sampling method was used to select participants. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 26. RESULTS: A total of 570 adults aged ≥18 years (56.3% males and 43.7% females) were included in the study. The mean positive attitude score (average % agree or strongly agree) was 94.22%; 95.24%, 95.18%, and 92.18% in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, respectively. While, the mean satisfaction score was 44.26%, distributed as 47.16%, 46.1%, and 39.22% in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, respectively. Additionally, there were statistically significant variations by most attitude and satisfaction variables across the governorates included in the study (p < 0.05). The current study demonstrated high levels of positive attitude but suboptimal level of satisfaction toward the taken procedures to tackle COVID-19 in Palestine. CONCLUSIONS: Varied implementation strategies to improve the levels of satisfaction toward the approaches to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are recommended.

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the Palestinian family: A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: The current study aims to understand and assess the consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on Palestinian families. METHODS: This online community-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between 19 April 2020 and 5 June 2020, using a validated questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of three sections: sociodemographic characteristics, living conditions, and impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. A convenience sampling method was used to select participants. RESULTS: A total of 570 adults aged ⩾18 years participated in the study. Of them, 258 (45.3%), 120 (21%), and 192 (33.7%) were residing in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem, respectively. A large portion of participants (73.2%) reported that the containment measures of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic had caused an excessive burden on their families; 549 (96.3%) revealed that water supplies were not always available at home. However, paying attention to personal hygiene and home cleaning was more than usual before the announcement of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The mean times of going out of their homes have dropped significantly following the onset of the pandemic, p value = 0.001 (95% confidence interval). In addition, 192 (33.7%) participants reported that they changed to working remotely from home with 66 (11.6%) having lost their employment. CONCLUSION: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic was associated with an additional burden on the Palestinian families. Moreover, we suggest discussing the obtained results with local and national stakeholders to ensure that they know to improve their actions.