Long-Term Trends in Changes in Physical and Motor Development Observed among Physiotherapy Students from Bydgoszcz in 2011-2020.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to assess the changes in somatic and motor characteristics in adolescents studying physiotherapy from 2011-2020. It was hypothesized that there was no secular trend of morphological features, its maintenance in endurance, increased sexual dimorphism and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the observed characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Young people studying at the Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz were examined. Basic somatic features, endurance and coordination were measured. WHR, BMI and dimorphism indices were calculated based on the results from 538 female and 217 male examined students. RESULTS: There was a decrease in body height with an increase in body weight in relation to the values recorded in the years 2001-2010 (BMI: women D = 0.49, Z = 2.9192; men D = 0.93, Z = 3.5746; WHR women D = 0.01, Z = 2.88491; men D = 0.02, Z = 3.5746), an increase in sexual dimorphism and a significant increase in the waist circumference of women (R2 = 0.008, p (F) = 0.0353) year by year by 0.3099 cm (p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results and the comparisons made allow us to assume that some people studying physiotherapy may have problems with meeting the standards that require physical effort.

10-Year Longitudinal Changes in Fitness Parameters in Physiotherapy Students.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to examine changes in the chosen morphological characteristics, motor conditioning, and coordination skills in physiotherapy undergraduates at a medical university in Bydgoszcz in the first decade of the millennium. We assume prevalence of a secular trend in values of morphological characteristics; however, characteristics of motor skills, particularly fitness levels, will remain relatively unchanged. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included young people studying physiotherapy at the medical university of Bydgoszcz 2001-2010. Basic morphological features, including waist and hip circumferences, were measured, and BMI and WHR were calculated. The Cooper test and marching over a distance of two kilometers were employed to determine endurance; right and left spinning coordination was assessed by Starosta test. Calculated Mollison indicators were used in the evaluation of dimorphic differences in subsequent observation time. Statistics. Data are presented as mean with the standard deviation. Groupwise comparison was performed with Student's t-test and linear relationships with Pearson's r. Linear covariance models (ANCOVA) were built as theoretical models. Statistical significance was set at alfa = 0.05. Based on the correlation between the data and the corresponding normal score used, the Shapiro-Wilk test is the best choice for testing the normality of data. Variables were excluded if they exceeded the tolerance level for multicollinearity. Analysis was performed with Statistica 10. RESULTS: The study demonstrated a rising number of male students (from 13,3% to 39,2%, chi2 = 10, 13; p = 0,001) and a decrease in age of students overall but no significant changes (from 22, 25 ± 0, 75 to 20, 42 ± 1, 7; F = 32, 9; p < 0,001) in their morphological characteristics and their dimorphic differences (average results for males: BMI, from 22, 25 ± 1, 94 to 26, 27 ± 3, 56; WHR index, from 0, 78 ± 0, 06 to 0, 85 ± 0, 06; average results for females: BMI, from 20, 79 ± 2, 11 to 22, 19 ± 3, 83; WHR index, from 0, 7 ± 0, 04 to 0, 75 ± 0, 15). An overall improvement in endurance was found; however, coordination, especially amongst women, had deteriorated (turn right, from 377,1 ± 48, 1 to 343,1 ± 23, 3; turn left, from 375,0 ± 5, 61 to 345,6 ± 43, 1). We observed multidirectional changes in the analyzed motor skills and most of them were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal study of physiotherapy students revealed no differences in morphological and dimorphic characteristics and multimodal changes in assessed motor skills, thus highlighting a need for further research into the identification of their causes. Moreover, a requirement for entry motor skills assessment and curriculum reorientation towards delivery of a broader scope of physical education was suggested.