Global, regional, and national trends and patterns in physical activity research since 1950: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: National, regional and global scientific production and research capacity for physical activity - PA may contribute to improving public health PA policies and programs. There is an uneven distribution of research productivity by region and country income group, where countries with the highest burden of non-communicable diseases attributable to physical inactivity having low research productivity. A first step towards improving global research capacity is to objectively quantify patterns, trends, and gaps in PA research. This study describes national, regional and global trends and patterns of PA research from 1950 to 2019. METHODS: A systematic review using searches in PubMed, SCOPUS and ISI Web of Knowledge databases was conducted in August 2017 and updated between January and May 2020. The review was registered at the PROSPERO database number CRD42017070153. PA publications per 100,000 inhabitants per country was the main variable of interest. Descriptive and time-trend analyses were conducted in STATA version 16.0. RESULTS: The search retrieved 555,468 articles of which 75,756 were duplicates, leaving 479,712 eligible articles. After reviewing inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23,860 were eligible for data extraction. Eighty-one percent of countries (n = 176) had at least one PA publication. The overall worldwide publication rate in the PA field was 0.46 articles per 100,000 inhabitants. Europe had the highest rate (1.44 articles per 100,000 inhabitants) and South East Asia had the lowest (0.04 articles per 100,000 inhabitants). A more than a 50-fold difference in publications per 100,000 inhabitants was identified between high and low-income countries. The least productive and poorest regions have rates resembling previous decades of the most productive and the richest. CONCLUSION: This study showed an increasing number of publications over the last 60 years with a growing number of disciplines and research methods over time. However, striking inequities were revealed and the knowledge gap across geographic regions and by country income groups was substantial over time. The need for regular global surveillance of PA research, particularly in countries with the largest data gaps is clear. A focus on the public health impact and global equity of research will be an important contribution to making the world more active.

Effect of laser photocoagulation, antiangiogenic therapy or a combined treatment on refractive outcomes of newborns with ROP.

PURPOSE: To determine the refractive outcome after treatment with laser photocoagulation, intravitreal antiangiogenic injection or both, for the treatment of type 1 ROP and/or aggressive posterior ROP using defocus equivalent terms. These results will be compared with the spherical equivalent (SE) notation in an initial refraction (during the first 3 years after treatment) and in a final evaluation (three years after treatment). METHODS: Clinical charts review of preterm patients who developed type 1 ROP and/or aggressive posterior ROP who were treated with laser photocoagulation, intravitreal antiangiogenic injection, or both, between January 2007 and December 2014 at Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander were reviewed. Refractive error was evaluated at two different time points in three different treatment groups. RESULTS: Seventy-seven eyes (56 patients) with ROP diagnosis treated with laser, antiangiogenics or in a combined scheme were included. Median gestational age was 29 weeks (IQR = 3), median birth weight was 1100 (IQR = 335) and mean corrected age at the time of treatment was 37.3 weeks (SD 2.2). Refractive outcomes in SE terms for the first refraction had a median of -0.50 diopters and in defocus terms, 4.00 diopters (D). For the second refraction, -3.00 diopters and 4.00 diopters (D), respectively. Pearson correlation test result for the first measurement was 93% (p = 0.000) and for the second evaluation was 99% (p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Low birth weight had a statistically significant association to the increase of the refractive outcome. The high correlation between SE and DE for refractive errors allows us to confirm that DE is an appropriate metric to report refractive outcomes in this group of patients due to the presence of combined refractive ametropias.