The relationship between kinaesthesia, motor performance, physical fitness and joint mobility in children living in Nigeria.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the relationship between kinaesthesia, motor performance, fitness, and joint mobility in children. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted involving children from two primary schools in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. The Beighton criteria were used to measure joint mobility. Motor performance, fitness, and kinaesthesia were measured in all the children. Spearman's rank correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between the outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 91 children (51.6% girls) participated in the study. The mean age of the children was 8.20 ± 1.98 years. Using a Beighton score of ≥ 6, Generalized Joint Hypermobility (GJH) was identified in a total of 35 (38.46%) children and was more prevalent in females (60.0%). Joint mobility had significant correlations with most fitness and motor performance items, but not kinaesthesia. Agility & power, and motor performance seem to be reduced if mobility is larger. Kinaesthesia was correlated with most fitness and motor performance items, indicating that better fitness and better motor performance cooccur with better kinaesthesia or vice versa. CONCLUSION: Joint mobility may have a significant influence on fitness and motor performance in children. Hence, it may be useful for future studies to investigate how fitness and motor performance modulate the onset and progression of musculoskeletal symptoms in GJH.

Physical activity interventions implemented for older people in sub-Saharan Africa: protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: The global population of older people (OP) is on an upward trajectory, with predictions that the number of OP would surpass the population of younger people by 2050. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), death from infectious diseases in the younger population and lower fertility rates are influencing a double burden contributing to an exponential growth in the ageing population. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality and disability in the population of OP in SSA. Physical activity (PA) has been proven to have positive benefits in reducing the prevalence of NCDs in OP. The objective of this scoping review is to summarise the evidence on the feasibility and effectiveness of PA interventions that have been implemented among OP to address PA levels, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cognitive function, quality of life and body mass index in SSA. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Joanna Briggs Insitute (JBI) methodology will be followed for this scoping review. An electronic search of PubMed, EBSCOhost (Academic Search Premier AfricaWide Information, CINAHL, Health Sources Premier Academic/Nursing), Scopus and ProQuest (grey literature) will be done from 2010 onwards to identify reports of randomised controlled studies published in English using relevant keywords. 2010 was selected as the cut-off point for inclusion in order to focus only on relatively recent evidence, as it is more likely to remain relevant and applicable to present-day settings. The searches will be performed by the primary reviewer in conjunction with a senior librarian. Full independent review of the uploaded articles will be done by two reviewers, by title and abstract, and thereafter by full text, based on specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. The reference list of included articles will be scanned for additional relevant articles. Disagreements will be arbitrated by a third reviewer. Results will be presented in a descriptive form as well as in tabular, graphical and diagrammatic formats, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The review will be extracting and reporting on data from published literature so there is no requirement for ethics approval. The findings of the review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Understandings and practices: Towards socially responsive curricula for the health professions.

Global health inequities have created an urgency for health professions education to transition towards responsive and contextually relevant curricula. Such transformation and renewal processes hold significant implications for those educators responsible for implementing the curriculum. Currently little is known about how health professions educators across disciplines understand a responsive curriculum and how this understanding might influence their practice. We looked at curricula that aim to deliver future health care professionals who are not only clinically competent but also critically conscious of the contexts in which they serve and the health care systems within which they practice. We conducted a qualitative study across six institutions in South Africa, using focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews to explore (i) how do health professions educators understand the principles that underpin their health professions education curriculum; and (ii) how do these understandings of health professions educators shape their teaching practices? The transcripts were analysed thematically following multiple iterations of critical engagement to identify patterns of meaning across the entire dataset. The results reflected a range of understandings related to knowing, doing, and being and becoming; and a range of teaching practices that are explicit, intentionally designed, take learning to the community, embrace a holistic approach, encourage safe dialogic encounters, and foster reflective practice through a complex manner of interacting. This study contributes to the literature on health professions education as a force for social justice. It highlights the implications of transformative curriculum renewal and offers insights on how health professions educators embrace notions of social responsiveness and health equity to engage with these underlying principles within their teaching.

Factors associated with team sport participation in South African children.

The study purpose was to determine if sex, anthropometry, age or birth period are associated with team sport participation in children aged 9-11 years. Data from the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment were used (n=550, 59% girls). Anthropometric measurements included height, body mass, waist circumference, mid-upper arm circumference and body fat percentage. Birth period and team sport participation were measured using a questionnaire. Girls had a 69% lower odds (OR=0.31, 0.19-0.49, p<0.001, n=528) of participating in team sport. For every centimetre of waist circumference, the OR for participating in team sport was 0.94 (0.88-1.00, p<0.05, n=528).

Addressing change in physiotherapy education in South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Recent demands for the decolonisation of curriculum in South Africa present challenges to students, academics and other stakeholders. This resulted in tensions in tertiary institutions, cumulating in student-led protests. The authors hypothesised that the lack of shared understanding of what this unexplored process may entail contributed to the dilemma. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this opinion article is to highlight some of the possible contributors to the uncertainties in addressing this critical issue, especially as it relates to the demands for change in physiotherapy education. METHOD: To formulate our opinion, the authors reviewed literature relating to transformation in education in South Africa generally, and physiotherapy education specifically. RESULTS: While there is an opportunity to address the demand for change in physiotherapy education in South Africa, there is the possibility that the use of words, such as transformation, decolonisation and decoloniality, present different connotations to students and academics. CONCLUSION: It is of vital importance to create formal discourse which includes students, academics and other stakeholders that will facilitate shared understanding about what the previously unexplored and unmapped processes of engagement entail. The change process in physiotherapy education is envisaged to be a partnership between students and academic staff having common understanding about the processes and responsibilities, and must be addressed comprehensively. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Aligning the change process in physiotherapy education with the decolonisation agenda will strengthen the South African health care system by ensuring that physiotherapy students are adequately prepared to provide service to patients within a context that acknowledges the uniqueness of South African communities.

Health Promotion in a Low-income Primary School: Children with and Without DCD Benefit, but Differently.

UNLABELLED: Poor motor performance and reduced physical fitness are characteristic of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). These features have also been identified more frequently among children living in low socio-economic circumstances. AIMS: To evaluate the outcomes of a nine-week health promotion program (HPP) on the motor performance and fitness levels of children (6-10 years) with and without DCD attending a low-income primary school. METHODS: The HPP was designed and implemented by undergraduate physiotherapy students using guidelines from the World Health Organization School Health Initiative and their physiotherapy curriculum. Children with DCD (n = 22) and a control group without DCD (n = 19) participated in the evaluation. Motor skill, functional strength, aerobic capacity, and anaerobic power were measured at baseline and after nine weeks. RESULTS: Both groups of children improved on all measures at the conclusion of the HPP. Children with DCD showed greater improvement than the control group in motor performance and the control group showed greater improvement on one of the anaerobic fitness outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: A school-based HPP that focuses on increasing opportunities for physical activity may be effective in improving motor performance in children with DCD and can increase fitness levels in general.