Assessment of lipoedema awareness among polish women- online survey study.

BACKGROUND: Lipoedema is an adipose tissue disorder that is still not fully understood. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the state of knowledge and understanding of lipoedema among Polish women. The secondary aim is to investigate the possible association between knowledge and factors such as BMI, self-reported symptoms, and age. METHODS: One hundred seventy polish women took part in an online survey study that was posted to social media groups and forums in January 2022. The survey consisted of 12 questions and aimed at assessing the basic knowledge about lipoedema. RESULTS: The least proportion of participants (4%) could correctly indicate the methods of lipoedema treatment. The accurate definition of lipoedema was indicated only by 7% of women, 12% identified characteristic features of lipoedema, and 37% correctly evaluated lipoedema curability. The greatest proportion of respondents knew the differences between obesity and lipoedema (50%). CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of lipoedema among women is deficient. A significant proportion of the respondents report the occurrence of lipoedema symptoms. In order to improve the situation of lipoedema patients, it is crucial to increase the knowledge about this condition both among medical professionals and the general public.

Feasibility of Chest Wall and Diaphragm Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Techniques in Mechanically Ventilated Patients.

Physical therapy is part of the treatment for patients admitted to ICU. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is one of the physiotherapy concepts including manual techniques and verbal stimulation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of PNF techniques in mechanically ventilated (MV) ICU patients. Another aim is to verify whether the technique using resistance during the patient's inhalation will have a different effect than the technique used to teaching the correct breathing patterns. METHODS: Patients admitted to tertiary ICU were enrolled in this study, randomly divided into two groups, and received four 90-second manual breathing stimulations each. The following vital signs were assessed: HR, SBP, DBP, and SpO2. RESULTS: 61 MV ICU adult patients (mean age 67.8; 25 female and 36 male) were enrolled in this study. No significant differences in HR, SBP, and DBP were observed both for two techniques measured separately and between them. Statistically significant differences were noticed analysing SpO2 in the rhythmic initiation technique (RIT) group (p-value = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Short-term PNF interventions did not influence clinically relevant vital parameters among MV patients and seem to be feasible in this group of ICU patients.