Being Physically Active Leads to Better Recovery Prognosis for People Diagnosed with COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The regular practice of physical activity helps in the prevention and control of several non-communicable diseases. However, evidence on the role of physical activity in mitigating worsening clinical outcomes in people with COVID-19 is still unclear. The aim of this study was to verify whether different levels of physical activity provide protection for clinical outcomes caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 509 adults (43.8 ± 15.71 years; 61.1% female) with a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 residing in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were interviewed by telephone to determine the severity of the infection and the physical activity performed. Binary logistic regression was used to indicate the odds ratio (OR) of active people reporting less harmful clinical outcomes from COVID-19. Active people had a lower chance of hospitalization, fewer hospitalization days, less respiratory difficulty and needed less oxygen support. The results suggest that active people, compared to sedentary people, have a lower frequency of hospitalization, length of stay, breathing difficulty and need for oxygen support. These results corroborate the importance of public policies to promote the practice of physical activity, in order to mitigate the severity of the clinical outcomes of COVID-19.

Normalizing calf circumference to identify low skeletal muscle mass in older women: a cross-sectional study / Normalización de la circunferencia de la pantorrilla para identificar la masa muscular esquelética baja en las mujeres mayores: un estudio transversal

Introduction: functional limitation is a result of sarcopenia and is associated with loss of skeletal muscle mass (SMM). Cost-effective methods are important for the identification of sarcopenia. Objective: to propose cutoff points for normalized calf circumference (CC) in order to identify low SMM in older women based on their functional limitation.Methods: in this descriptive, cross-sectional study the CC values of a young female sample (n = 78) were used to establish cutoff points (-2 SD) for low SMM in older women (n = 67). Functional limitation was identified by the six-minute walk test (≤ 400 m). CC was normalized by body mass, height, and BMI. The diagnostic accuracy of CC was calculated with a ROC curve, using functional limitation as standard. Results: cutoff points and area under the curve (AUC) were: CC (≤ 28.5; 0.62); CC·body mass-1 (≤ 0.40; 0.63); CC·height-2 (≤ 8.52; 0.55) and CC·BMI-1 (≤ 1.10; 0.73). Only CC·BMI-1 achieved a desirable accuracy (AUC > 0.7) to distinguish functional limitation. Conclusion: the accuracy attained supports the use of CC·BMI-1 to identify low SMM in older women. In the clinical context it is possible to predict the risk of sarcopenia when sophisticated methods for determining SMM are not available. (AU)

Introducción: la limitación funcional es consecuencia de la sarcopenia y se asocia con la pérdida de masa muscular esquelética (MME). Los métodos rentables son importantes para la identificación de la sarcopenia. Objetivo: proponer puntos de corte para la circunferencia de la pantorrilla (CP), normalizada para identificar un MME bajo en mujeres mayores en función de su limitación funcional. Métodos: en este estudio descriptivo de carácter transversal se utilizaron los valores de CP de una muestra de mujeres jóvenes (n = 78) para establecer los puntos de corte (-2 DS) de la MME baja en las mujeres mayores (n = 67). La limitación funcional se identificó mediante la prueba de la marcha de seis minutos (≤ 400 m). La CP se normalizó por la masa corporal, la altura y el IMC. La precisión diagnóstica de la CP se calculó con la curva ROC, utilizando como estándar la limitación funcional. Resultados: los puntos de corte y el área bajo la curva (AUC) fueron: CP (≤ 28,5; 0,62); CP·masa corporal-1 (≤ 0,40; 0,63); CP·altura-2 (≤ 8,52; 0,55) y CP·IMC-1 (≤ 1,10; 0,73). Solo el CP·IMC-1 logró la precisión deseable (AUC > 0,7) para distinguir la limitación funcional. Conclusión: la precisión alcanzada respalda el uso de CP·IMC-1 para identificar la MME baja en las mujeres mayores. En el contexto clínico es posible predecir el riesgo de sarcopenia cuando no se dispone de métodos sofisticados para determinar la MME. (AU)