Effectiveness of Land- and Water-based Exercise on Fatigue and Sleep Quality in Women With Fibromyalgia: The al-Ándalus Quasi-Experimental Study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of 24 weeks of land- and water-based exercise on fatigue and sleep quality in women with fibromyalgia, and the persistence of changes 12 weeks after exercise cessation. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental study. SETTING: University facilities and fibromyalgia associations. PARTICIPANTS: Women with fibromyalgia (N=250; 50.8±7.6 years old). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were assigned to land-based exercise (n=83), water-based exercise (n=85), or no exercise control (n=82) groups. The intervention groups engaged in a similar multicomponent exercise program for 24 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used. RESULTS: Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that, compared with the control group, at week 24: (i) the land-based exercise group improved physical fatigue (mean difference -0.9 units; 95% confidence interval -1.7 to -0.1; Cohen's d=0.4) and (ii) the water-based exercise group improved general fatigue (-0.8; -1.4 to -0.1, d=0.4), and global sleep quality (-1.6; -2.7 to -0.6, d=0.6). Additionally, compared with the land-based exercise group, the water-based exercise group improved global sleep quality (-1.2; -2.2 to -0.1, d=0.4). Changes were generally not sustained at week 36. CONCLUSION: Land-based multicomponent exercise improved physical fatigue, whereas water-based exercise improved general fatigue and sleep quality. The magnitude of the changes was small-to-medium, and no benefits were maintained after exercise cessation.

Fitness, body composition, and metabolic risk scores in children and adolescents: the UP&DOWN study.

We aimed to analyse the longitudinal association between physical fitness (PF) and body composition (BC) with a metabolic risk score (Met4) in children and adolescents and to elucidate whether the association between PF and Met4 differs when using relativized or absolute fitness variables. A total of 188 children (86 females) and 195 adolescents (97 females) were included. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was determined by the 20-m shuttle run test, and muscular fitness (MF) was determined by hand grip and standing long jump tests. Height and weight were measured, and the body mass index (Kg/m2) was calculated. Triceps and subscapular skinfolds were assessed to compute body fat percentage. Met4 was computed from systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glucose levels. Relative CRF was longitudinally and negatively associated with Met4 in female children (ß = -0.031, p = 0.025), while absolute CRF was positively associated with Met4 in male children and adolescents (ß = 0.000, p < 0.05). Relative upper and lower-body MF were longitudinally and negatively associated with Met4 in female adolescents (ß = -1.347, ß = -0.005, p < 0.05), while absolute lower-body MF was positively associated with Met4 in male children (ß = 0.000, p = 0.019). BC was longitudinally and positively associated with Met4 in male children (ß-ranging from 0.011 to 0.055, all p < 0.05) and male adolescents (ß-ranging from 0.011 to 0.046, all p < 0.05).  Conclusion: BC is more strongly associated with Met4 than PF in children and adolescents. An optimal body weight status should be considered the main objective of health-promoting programs at childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, the way of expressing the fitness variables determines the direction of the association with Met4. What is Known: • Physical fitness is an important health indicator in children and adolescents, with great amount of previous evidence supporting the preventive role of maintaining optimal levels of both cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness for future cardiometabolic issues. What is New: • The way of reporting physical fitness variables can affect the associations between physical fitness features and cardiometabolic outcomes. Since body composition variables have a great impact on both physical fitness and cardiometabolic health, relativizing physical fitness performance by body composition could lead to erroneous conclusions.

Is type of work associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviour in women with fibromyalgia? A cross-sectional study from the al-Ándalus project.

OBJECTIVES: To analyse the association between the type of work (productive vs reproductive work) and the levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in women with fibromyalgia. METHOD: This cross-sectional study involved 258 women with fibromyalgia from southern Spain. Of them, 55% performed reproductive work (unpaid, associated with caregiving and domestic roles) exclusively, while 45% had productive job (remunerated, that results in goods or services). Physical activity of light, moderate and vigorous intensity in the leisure time, at home, at work, and totally were measured through the leisure time physical activity instrument and with the physical activity at home and work instrument, respectively. Sedentary behaviour was measured by the Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, fat percentage, education level and marital status, the multivariate analysis of covariance model informed the existence of significant differences between type of work groups (p<0.001). Women with productive work engaged in more light physical activity at work (mean difference =448.52 min; 95 % CI 179.66 to 717.38; p=0.001), and total physical activity of light (809.72 min; 535.91 to 1085.53; p<0.001) and moderate (299.78 min; 97.31 to 502.25; p=0.004) intensity. Women with reproductive work engaged in more light physical activity at home (379.14; 175.64 to 582.64; p<0.001). Leisure time physical activity and sedentary behaviour were similar in both groups (p>0.05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Women with productive work had greater levels of physical activity compared with those who only did reproductive work, except for physical activity at home. Having productive work might facilitate movement of women with fibromyalgia towards a more active lifestyle.

Social correlates of sedentary behavior in young people: The UP&DOWN study.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to analyze the associations of youths' sedentary behavior (SB) with parents' and siblings' SB and physical activity (PA), as well as the associations of youths' coparticipation with parents, siblings, and friends in PA and SB with youths' SB. Methods: The sample consisted of 1543 youths (12.02 ± 2.51 years; 788 boys) enrolled in the baseline cohort of the UP&DOWN study. SB was assessed by accelerometry and questionnaire. Participants reported the time spent by their parents and siblings watching television, playing videogames, surfing the Internet, sitting/resting, and doing PA. Further, participants reported coparticipation with parents, siblings, and friends in these activities. Linear mixed models, including school and city as random effects, were performed. Results: Parents' television time was positively associated with youths' screen-based SB. Coparticipation with friends in playing videogames (in boys) and in surfing the Internet (in girls) showed a positive association with screen-based SB and a negative association with educational-based SB. Moreover, coparticipation with siblings and friends in PA was inversely associated with accelerometer-based SB in boys and girls. Conclusion: Our results emphasize the important role of social modeling in the development of sedentary lifestyles in youths. Interventions aimed at reducing health risk behaviors in youths could be more effective if they are oriented from a social perspective that involves their families and networks of their closest friends.

Associations between patterns of active commuting and socioeconomic factors in women with fibromyalgia: the al-Ándalus project.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to know whether active commuting behaviour differs between fibromyalgia patients and controls, and to test whether active commuting is associated with socioeconomic factors in this population. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 459 women with fibromyalgia (52.2 years) and 214 female control participants (51.3 years) from Andalusia (southern Spain). Participants reported patterns of active commuting and socioeconomic factors (civil status, accompaniment at home, living with, educational level, and current occupational and professional status). RRESULTS: On the age group <51 years, women with fibromyalgia revealed a significant higher percentage of active commuting for the variable active worker commuters than control group (p<0.05). On the age group ≥51 years, control group displayed a significant higher percentage of active commuting for commuting to local shops, super-market and active commuters variables (all, p<0.05). Women with fibromyalgia who lived alone were more active commuters in comparison to either those living accompanied, or living with both partner and children, only partner and only children (all, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of active commuting was similar in women with fibromyalgia and controls aged <51 years. However, fibromyalgia participants aged ≥51 years displayed differences: fibromyalgia women who lived alone were more active commuters than those living accompanied; family demands were inversely associated with commuting patterns. Policies focused on reducing family demands for fibromyalgia patients (i.e. social help on housework, childcare or overprotection) might facilitate the inclusion of daily active behaviours.