Browsing by Author "Silva-Santos, Sandra"
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- Associations between Coronavirus and Immune Response, Cardiorespiratory Fitness Rehabilitation and Physical Activity: A Brief ReportPublication . Silva-Santos, Sandra; Monteiro, A.M.; Barbosa, Tiago M.; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Branquinho, Luís; Ferraz, Ricardo; Forte, PedroCOVID-19 has serious effects on cardiorespiratory capacity. In this sense, physical activity has been identified as beneficial in the treatment of cardiorespiratory diseases due to its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive benefits. To date, no study has been found on cardiorespiratory capacity and rehabilitation in patients cured after COVID-19. Thus, this brief report aims to relate the benefits of physical activity to cardiorespiratory function after COVID-19. It is important to know how different levels of physical activity can be related to the different symptoms of COVID-19. In view of this, the objectives of this brief report were to: (1) explore the theoretical associations between COVID-19 symptoms and physical activity; (2) compare the cardiorespiratory function of non-COVID-19 participants and post-COVID-19 patients; and (3) propose a physical activity program to improve the cardiorespiratory fitness of post-COVID-19 patients. Thus, we note that moderate-intensity physical activity (i.e., walking) has a greater beneficial effect on immune function, whereas vigorous activity (i.e., marathon running) tends to temporarily reduce immune function through an imbalance of cytokine types I and II in the hours and days after exercise. However, there is no consensus in the literature in this regard, since other investigations suggest that high-intensity training can also be beneficial, not causing clinically relevant immunosuppression. Physical activity has been shown to be beneficial in improving the clinical conditions most frequently associated with severe COVID-19. Thus, it is possible to infer that physically active individuals seem to be less exposed to the dangers of severe COVID-19 compared to non-active individuals through the benefits of physical activity in strengthening the immune system and fighting infections. The current study demonstrates that physical activity appears to be beneficial in improving the clinical conditions most often associated with severe COVID-19.
- Asthma prevalence in adolescent students from a Portuguese primary and secondary schoolPublication . Flores, Pedro Miguel; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Leal, Anna Kosmider; Branquinho, Luís; Fonseca, Rui Brito; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Batista, Amanda; Encarnação, Samuel; Monteiro, A.M.; Ribeiro, Joana; Forte, PedroAsthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide, with a considerable increase, especially in children. It is considered the main cause of childhood morbidity, school absenteeism, and limitations in sports practice. The causes are multifactorial, and their prevalence varies from region to region, thus verifying a great disparity in the estimates of the prevalence of asthma. In this sense, the objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of asthma, its control, as well as the frequency of associated symptoms, in adolescents who attended the 3rd cycle of basic education and secondary education in schools in the municipalities of Paços de Ferreira, Paredes, and Penafiel. The sample consisted of 1222 (587 males and 635 females) (p = 0.17) aged between 12 and 17 years. The instruments used to diagnose asthma-associated symptoms were the standard questionnaire of the “International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood—ISAAC” and to check whether asthma was controlled, the “Test for Asthma Control” questionnaire was used. The results reveal a high prevalence of adolescents with asthma (8.9%) with a significant percentage that did not have the disease under control (38%). There was also a considerable percentage of adolescents who, despite not having asthma, have many symptoms associated with the disease. These results may be associated with environmental factors.
- A Deep Learning Neural Network to Classify Obesity Risk in Portuguese Adolescents Based on Physical Fitness Levels and Body Mass Index Percentiles: Insights for National Health PoliciesPublication . Forte, Pedro; Encarnação, Samuel; Monteiro, A.M.; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Hattabi, Soukaina; Sortwell, Andrew; Branquinho, Luís; Amaro, Bruna; Sampaio, Tatiana; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Ribeiro, Joana; Batista, Amanda; Ferraz, Ricardo; Rodrigues, FilipeThe increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults is a risk factor for many chronic diseases and death. In addition, obesity among children and adolescents has reached unprecedented levels and studies show that obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese adults. Therefore, both the prevention and treatment of obesity in adolescents are critical. This study aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) neural network (NNET) model that identifies the risk of obesity in Portuguese adolescents based on their body mass index (BMI) percentiles and levels of physical fitness. Using datasets from the FITescola® project, 654 adolescents aged between 10–19 years old, male: 334 (51%), female: n = 320 (49%), age 13.8 ± 2 years old, were selected to participate in a cross-sectional observational study. Physical fitness variables, age, and sex were used to identify the risk of obesity. The NNET had good accuracy (75%) and performance validation through the Receiver Operating Characteristic using the Area Under the Curve (ROC AUC = 64%) in identifying the risk of obesity in Portuguese adolescents based on the BMI percentiles. Correlations of moderate effect size were perceived for aerobic fitness (AF), upper limbs strength (ULS), and sprint time (ST), showing that some physical fitness variables contributed to the obesity risk of the adolescents. Our NNET presented a good accuracy (75%) and was validated with the K-Folds Cross-Validation (K-Folds CV) with good accuracy (71%) and ROC AUC (66%). According to the NNET, there was an increased risk of obesity linked to low physical fitness in Portuguese teenagers.
- Obesity status and physical fitness levels in male and female portuguese adolescents: a two-way multivariate analysisPublication . Encarnação, Samuel; Rodrigues, Filipe; Monteiro, A.M.; Gouili, Hatem; Hattabi, Soukaina; Sortwell, Andrew; Branquinho, Luís; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Ferraz, Ricardo; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Ribeiro, Joana; Batista, Amanda; Forte, PedroObesity and decreasing fitness levels among the youth are growing concerns in Portugal, similar to other developed countries, with implications for health and psychomotor development. Understanding the influence of health determinants such as sex and age are crucial for developing effective public health strategies. This study aimed to analyze the association between sex and chronological age with obesity status and physical fitness in Portuguese adolescents. A total of 170 adolescents (85 males and 85 females) were evaluated for body mass index, abdominal adiposity, aerobic fitness, abdominal resistance, upper limb resistance, lower limb power, and maximal running speed in a 40 m sprint using the FITescola® physical fitness battery, a Portuguese government initiative. The general model, analyzed using Pillai’s trace, showed a significant effect of age and sex on body mass index, abdominal circumference, aerobic fitness, abdominal resistance, upper limb resistance, lower limb power, and maximal running speed (V = 0.99, F (7) = 10,916.4, p < 0.001, partial η2, sex = 0.22; age = 0.43, sex and age interaction = 0.10). Boys had higher physical fitness levels than girls in most tests, but both sex groups had a significantly higher proportion of non-fit adolescents, with boys showing the highest number of participants classified as non-fit.
- Physical activity and sedentary behavior in adults from Penafiel, Portugal: a cross-sectional studyPublication . Batista, Amanda; Forte, Pedro; Ribeiro, Joana; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Neto, Elmiro Silva; Rodrigues, Filipe; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Ferraz, Ricardo; Branquinho, LuísThe aim of this study was to compare the physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) levels of young and middle-aged adults living in and around the municipality of Penafiel and to determine whether they meet PA recommendations. The researchers used the "International Physical Activity Questionnaire" (IPAQ) to measure moderate to vigorous PA and time spent on sedentary behavior (high vs. low). A prospective observational cross-sectional sample of 1105 adults aged 18-63 years, living in the municipality of Penafiel and its surroundings (45% women, 55% men), was used. The results indicated that more than half of the population was inactive (53.8%) and sedentary (54.0%). Men were more likely to be sedentary (59.2%) and inactive (55.6%) than women (inactive: 51.7%, high SB: 47.7%). Regarding daily PA and SB levels, women had higher levels of walks (3.8 & PLUSMN; 2.3; p = 0.034) and vigorous PA (2.2 & PLUSMN; 1.8 min; p = 0.005) per days/week, as well as vigorous PA per minutes/week (75.4 & PLUSMN; 82.1 min; p = 0.034). The time spent on vigorous PA per day was also higher in women (26.2 & PLUSMN; 22.8 min; p = 0.030). However, men had higher values in walking minutes per day (26.3 & PLUSMN; 17.1 min; p = 0.030), SB for weekdays (429.2 & PLUSMN; 141.2 min; p = 0.001), SB for weekends (324.7 & PLUSMN; 163.7 min; p = 0.033) and time spent on SB per minutes/week (2795.6 & PLUSMN; 882.0 min; p = 0.001). The results also showed that the older the adults, the lower the frequency and total time of vigorous PA per week. Young adults (18-28 years) had higher levels of vigorous PA (p = 0.005) than the other age groups (29-39; 40-50 and 51-63 years). Finally, the study found no significant correlation between individual level factors, such as number of children, marital status and monthly income, and PA or SB. Conversely, a significant and negative correlation between SB and levels of PA was found, indicating that the higher the level of PA practice, the lower the SB level. The authors suggest that promoting new PA habits and healthy lifestyles is an important future challenge for sustainability and improving the quality of life in public health.
- The influence of abdominal adiposity and physical fitness on obesity status of portuguese adolescentsPublication . Encarnação, Samuel; Forte, Pedro; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Magalhães, David; Afonso, Gil H.; Pereira, Albino; Fonseca, Rui Brito; Ribeiro, Joana; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Monteiro, A.M.; Ferraz, Ricardo; Branquinho, LuísThe aim of this study was to verify the relationship between abdominal adiposity and physical fitness in the obesity status of Portuguese adolescents. BMI, abdominal adiposity, and physical fitness tests from the FITescola® were evaluated in a total of 654 Portuguese adolescents, aged 10-19 years old—male: n = 334 (51%), female: n = 320 (49%). For the final model, BMI was positively related with age (β = 0.25), abdominal adiposity (β = 0.313), horizontal jump (β = −0.100), 40 m maximal velocity (β = 0.274), and aerobic fitness (β = −0.250, R2 = 0.75, F = 382.2, and p = 0.0001). We conclude that higher age and abdominal adiposity are positively related with a higher adolescent BMI. Furthermore, lower horizontal jump distances and worse times on the 40 m maximal velocity were inversely related with a higher adolescent BMI, and lower aerobic fitness was inversely related with a higher adolescent BMI.
- Variações da carga de treino entre titulares e não titulares durante um microciclo padrão em escalões de formação sub-15, sub-17 e sub-19 de uma academia de futebol subelitePublication . Teixeira, José Eduardo; Ribeiro, Joana; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Leal, Miguel; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Encarnação, Samuel; Barbosa, Tiago M.; Monteiro, A.M.; Ferraz, Ricardo; Branquinho, Luís; Forte, PedroO treino complementar tem sido extensamente aplicado para resolver o diferencial da carga de treino semanal entre jogadores titulares e não titulares. Contudo, pouco se sabe da sua aplicação em contextos de futebol de formação subelite. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi comparar as variações da carga de treino durante um microciclo padrão em escalões de formação sub-15, sub-17 e sub-19 de uma academia de futebol subelite, tendo em conta o status de titularidade. A carga de treino semanal de sessenta jovens futebolistas foi continuamente monitorizada durante seis semanas, através de sistemas de posicionamento global (GPS), cardiofrequencímetros e escalas de perceção de esforço (RPE) e recuperação (TQR). O status de titularidade considerou os jogadores titulares (iniciam pelo menos 55% dos jogos) e não titulares (suplentes em mais de 55% dos jogos). A distância (D) total percorrida apresentou diferenças significativas entre jogadores titulares e não titulares com um tamanho de efeito moderado (t = -2,38, Δ = -428,03 m, p = 0,018, d = 0,26), tendo-se observado um volume de treino maior nos jogadores não titulares (DTitulares = 5105,53 ± 1684,22 vs. D Não titulares = 5533,56 ± 1549,26 m). De igual modo, verificaram-se efeitos interativos e significativos entre as variáveis de carga de treino acumulada, o status de titularidade, o tempo de jogo e a duração da sessão de treino, considerando-se tanto as comparações intraindividuais (F = 140,46; !2 = 0,85; p <0,001) como as interindividuais (F = 11,63 a 160,70; !2 = 0,05 a 0,76; p <0,001). Deste modo, a titularidade parece influenciar também o volume de treino nos escalões de futebol subelite, sendo recomendável priorizar sessões de treino complementar e/ou individualizado para equalizar a carga de treino semanal e, por conseguinte, proporcionar oportunidades de prática similares a jogadores com menos minutos de competição.