Degree of association between the body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-height ratio (WHtR), body adiposity index (BAI) and conicity index (CI) in physically active older adults.

BACKGROUND: Aging is the main factor in the eventual development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) the prevalence of which is increasing progressively along with life expectancy. Therefore, it is essential to identify the most effective indicators for predicting the possible development of CVD. Anthropometric indices provide useful information for CVD risk evaluation. These are widely used for the simplicity of their estimates and their high correlation in the positive identification of CVD. The most used in the general population are the body mass index (BMI), the waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR), body adiposity index (BAI) and conicity index (CI). However, the behavior and association of such indices in physically active people over 65 years of age is not well established. PURPOSE: To analyze the behavior and association of the BMI, WHR, WHtR, BAI and CI in a group of active people over 65 years of age. METHODS: A group of 608 European participants with a mean age of 68.05 ± 5.43yrs, composed of 74.2% female and 28.5% male, was randomly selected and evaluated for anthropometric parameters and body composition by a bio-impedance measuring device with four electrode sensor systems. A descriptive analysis was completed via measures of central tendency (mean and standard deviation) and percentage analysis. As the distribution of the sample was normal (parametric), an association analysis was carried out through the Pearson correlation coefficient (r), in order to determine the relationship between anthropometric and body composition indices. A P value of <0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: The results show that BMI, BAI and WHtR are significantly related to % body fat (Fat %), with BMI reaching the highest correlation (r = 0.612), followed by BAI (r = 0.556) and WHtR (r = 0.521). When the association between indices is considered, the WHtR and BAI and WHtR and BMI are those with the highest significant correlation (r = 0.981 and r = 0,789, respectively). As for the effects of gender, good to strong correlations were found between the BMI and the WHtR (r = 0.731 for female, r = 0.568 for male) and between the WHtR and the BAI (r = 0.989 for female, r = 0.985 for male). CONCLUSION: The most accurate anthropometric index for indicating the level of body fat present in an active population of 65 years of age or over seems to be the BMI, followed by the BAI and WHtR. However, the degree of association between body fat and anthropometric parameters seems to be conditioned by gender.

Therapeutic Aquatic Exercise in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess evidence on the effects of aquatic exercise in pregnant women. The search included the following databases: Medline-PubMed, Web of science, PEDro, Scopus and SPORTDiscus databases. Seventeen randomized controlled trials were included (n = 2439, age 20-39 years; 31.30 ± 1.30 years). The systematic review carried out has indicated that aquatic exercise in pregnant women appears to have positive effects on preventing excessive maternal weight gain, improving maternal body image, as well as promoting healthy behavior, decreasing medical leave due to lower back pain during pregnancy, preventing gestational depression by improving maternal glucose tolerance levels, and reducing O'Sullivan test values. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database was used to evaluate the quality of the methodology of the selected studies, which were found to present an average methodological quality (PEDro scale: 5.05 points). Meta-analysis showed that aquatic exercise in pregnant women appears to have positive effects in the prevention of excessive maternal weight gain (mean difference -1.66 kg, 95% CI -2.67 to -0.66) and also to reduce birth weight mean differences (-89.13 g, 95% CI -143.18 to -35.08). The practice of aquatic exercise is appropriate throughout pregnancy. However, more research is needed to build more solid knowledge on the benefits of aquatic physical exercise on physical fitness (endurance, flexibility, agility and strength).

Exercise, physical fitness, and Parkinson's disease: an 8-year follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: The progression of Parkinson's Disease is variable, leading to a poor pharmacological response, as the effect of medication is reduced due to adaptation. Physical therapy is established as adjuvant treatment on physical conditions. The aim of this study was to monitor the level of physical fitness and anthropometric parameters of patients diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, who had participated in physical exercise programs for 8-years. METHODS: Seventy-one patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (53.50% males), mean age 71.19±9.04 years old, with a mean disease stage of 2.52±0.77 (Hoehn and Yahr Scale). All patients underwent an assessment of fitness and body composition at baseline (2011), 4-years, and 8-years. RESULTS: The study of the anthropometric parameters showed that throughout the 8 years of follow-up, the BMI has not undergone significant changes and shows a small upward trend for both men (0.30%, sig=0.938) and women (-0.10%, sig=0.817). This same behavior was reflected by the weight in men (1.36%, sig=0.315) and in women (-0.35%, sig=0.787). In terms of physical fitness, men showed a trend towards a deterioration in this parameter over the 8 years of follow-up (ΣFitness=-1.82%, sig=0.930), while women showed a trend towards improvement (ΣFitness=0.96%, sig=0.821). The same is recorded for strength and flexibility, where the data suggest that these are two of the variables that deteriorated the most over the 8 years of the study. CONCLUSIONS: After an 8-year follow-up, no significant changes in FC parameters affected by the progression of a neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease have been identified. The 8-foot up and go test has shown correlations with the other physical tests used.

Effect of physical exercise on cognitive function in older adults' carriers versus noncarriers of apolipoprotein E4: systematic review and meta-analysis.

The presence of apolipoprotein (Apo) E4 is a genetic risk factor in cognitive impairment. Physical exercise contributes to slowing cognitive impairment in older adults, but little is known about the influence of exercise on ApoE4 carriers and noncarriers. The objective of systematic review is to study the role of physical exercise in older adults' ApoE4 carriers and noncarriers. A systematic literature search was carried out in five international databases: PubMed, Web of Science, PeDro, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus. A total of nine randomized controlled trials were included with a sample size of 2,025 subjects (901 ApoE4 carriers). The exercise reported a significant improvement on cognitive performance in older adults' ApoE4 noncarriers (standardized mean difference [SMD]=0.653; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-1.00; chi2=35.36; degrees of freedom [df ]=7; P<0.0001; l 2=80%). It was also reported that a total program duration greater than 50 sessions generated different and significant effects on cognitive performance in older adults' ApoE4 noncarriers (SMD=0.878; 95% CI, 0.14-1.61; chi2=31.82; df=3; P<0.0001; l 2=91%). The results reported that high intensity generated a differential effect on cognitive performance in older adults' ApoE4 carriers versus noncarriers (SMD=0.963; 95% CI, 0.25-1.67; chi2=18.11; df=3; P<0.0004; l 2=83%). The effect of physical exercise on cognitive performance in older adults is conditioned by the presence or not of ApoE4.