Instruments used by physiotherapists to assess functional capacity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: An online survey.

Background: Assessing functional capacity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 may have been neglected due to a great demand for resources at the height of pandemic and the lack of specific assessment instruments for this population.

Objectives: To identify the instruments used to evaluate functional capacity in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in COVID-19 wards and ICUs and the associations between use of assessment instruments and physiotherapist characteristics METHODS: The survey was conducted using REDCap web-based application, following the Consensus-Based Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies guidelines. A non-probability recruitment approach aimed at physiotherapists who had treated hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Brazil.

Prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy worldwide: A systematic review.

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to systematically review the literature of the prevalence of systemic antibacterial use during pregnancy and to perform a descriptive analysis focused on methodological characteristics.

Materials And Methods: This study was registered in PROSPERO under protocol number CRD42022376634. Medline, Embase, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Web of Science databases were searched (published studies until November 3rd, 2022).

Examining the haemodynamic repercussions of ventilator hyperinflation in elderly patients: An explanatory study.

This study assessed the cardiovascular repercussions of two VHI (ventilation hyperinflation) protocols using the volume-controlled mode, one with an inspiratory pause (VHI-P) and the other without an inspiratory pause (VHI-NP), in mechanically ventilated elderly patients. The patients underwent both VHI protocols in a randomized order, and impedance cardiography was used to record cardiovascular variables. During VHI-P, the diastolic blood pressure was lower than during VHI-NP (Δ = 10%; p = 0.

Chest physiotherapy techniques administered by certified specialists to hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Brazil: A look towards future practice.

Background: Chest physiotherapy for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has been poorly reported. Although recommendations were published to guide physiotherapists, practice might have differed depending on education and training.

Objective: To analyze the differences in chest physiotherapy applied for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 between certified specialists and non-certified specialists.

Post-COVID-19 functional status scale: Cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version.

Background: The Post-COVID-19 Functional Status (PCFS) scale was created to assess the functional status of patients after hospital discharge due to COVID-19.

Objective: To perform cross-cultural adaptation of the PCFS Scale and Manual into Brazilian Portuguese and evaluate its measurement properties in patients post-COVID-19.

Methods: For the cross-cultural adaptation, independent translations and back-translations were performed.

Gait speed, muscle strength, and functional status predict 30-day unplanned hospital readmission of critical care survivors.

Background And Purpose: Despite intense efforts, predicting hospital readmission risks remains an imprecise task. Growing evidence suggests that unmeasured patient-related factors, such as functional impairment, seem to be strongly associated with acute readmission and have yet to be extensively explored. We hypothesized that gait speed, hand grip strength, and the Functional independence measure (FIM) might be associated with acute rehospitalization rates after an ICU stay.

The five times sit-to-stand test: safety, validity and reliability with critical care survivors's at ICU discharge.

Background: The Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test (FTSST) has been found reliable, safe and valid for measuring healthy adults' lower limb muscle strength and for determining balance control, fall risk, and exercise capacity among older examinees. We believe that the FTSST has the potential to be a straightforward, low cost and valuable tool for identifying muscle disability and functional status following critical illness. The aim of our study was to establish the applicability, safety, and psychometric qualities of FTSST in patients at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) discharge.

Physiotherapy practice for hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To identify the indications for physiotherapy and to evaluate physiotherapy practices in patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU (on mechanical ventilation) or to the ward (spontaneously breathing).

Methods: An online, 50-item survey was completed by physiotherapists who had been treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Brazil.

Results: Of the 644 physiotherapists who initiated the survey, 488 (76%) completed it.

[Use of anti-bacterial agents in pregnant women before and after regulation in Brazil: Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohorts of 2004 and 2015].

Indiscriminate use of anti-bacterial agents during pregnancy can increase antimicrobial resistance and endanger both the mother's and the children's health. Currently, Brazil has the Collegiate Directive Resolution n. 20/2011, which controls prescription and dispensation of anti-bacterial agents.

Cough peak flow to predict extubation outcome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This systematic review was designed to assess the usefulness of cough peak flow to predict the extubation outcome in subjects who passed a spontaneous breathing trial.

Methods: The search covered the scientific databases MEDLINE, Lilacs, Ibecs, Cinahl, SciELO, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science and gray literature. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies was used to assess the methodological quality and risk of study bias.

Kinematic evaluation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during the 6-min walk test.

Background: A better understanding of gait kinematics during the 6-min walk test (6MWT) may facilitate the development of rehabilitation strategies for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Aim: To evaluate gait kinematics during the 6MWT in patients with COPD.

Method: Thirty-six patients with COPD and 19 healthy controls underwent a full-body kinematic analysis during the 6MWT.

[Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors related to violent behaviors among university students].

The scope of this study was to characterize the prevalence of violent behaviors such as aggression, robbery and carrying a weapon, according to sociodemographic and lifestyle variables such as physical inactivity, use of illicit drugs, harmful alcohol consumption, smoking habits and unhealthy food consumption among university students. A cross-sectional, census-type study was carried out with students aged 18 years or older, in face-to-face classrooms at a public higher education institution in southern Brazil. In the data analysis Poisson regression was used to calculate Prevalence Ratios (PR) with adjustment based on a hierarchical conceptual model.

Association between ventilatory efficiency, oxygen uptake, and Glittre-ADL test results in patients with chronic heart failure: a preliminary study.

Objective: The Glittre-ADL test (GA-T) is a functional capacity test that stands out for encompassing multiple tasks similar to activities of daily living. As ventilatory efficiency is one of the variables valued in the prognosis of chronic heart failure (CHF), this study aimed to evaluate associations between functional capacity and ventilatory variables in patients with CHF during the GA-T.

Results: Eight patients with CHF and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification II-III underwent the GA-T coupled with metabolic gas analysis to obtain data by means of telemetry.

Cough peak flow to predict the extubation outcome: Comparison between three cough stimulation methods.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the predictive value of three cough peak flow (CPF) maneuvers in predicting the extubation outcome in a cohort of mechanically ventilated subjects.

Methods: Eighty-one mechanically ventilated subjects who succeeded in the spontaneous breathing trial were included. In a randomized order, CPF was stimulated and measured using three methods: voluntary command (V_CPF), tracheal saline instillation (S_CPF), and mechanical stimulation with a catheter (C_CPF).

Respiratory mechanics of patients with morbid obesity.

Objective: To evaluate the different components of the resistance of the respiratory system, respiratory muscle strength and to investigate the occurrence of expiratory flow limitation (EFL) in patients with morbid obesity (MO) when seated.

Methods: The sample was composed of MO (BMI≥40 kg/m2) and non-obese individuals (NO) with a BMI between 18 and 30 kg/m2. The protocol consisted of the anthropometric assessment and the following measures of respiratory function: spirometry, maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures (MIP and MEP, respectively) and impulse oscillometry.

Handgrip Strength and Pulmonary Disease in the Elderly: What is the Link?

Societies in developed countries are aging at an unprecedented rate. Considering that aging is the most significant risk factor for many chronic lung diseases (CLDs), understanding this process may facilitate the development of new interventionist approaches. Skeletal muscle dysfunction is a serious problem in older adults with CLDs, reducing their quality of life and survival.

Respiratory muscle training in non-athletes and athletes with spinal cord injury: A systematic review of the effects on pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength and endurance, and cardiorespiratory fitness based on the FITT principle of exercise prescription.

Background: Respiratory muscle training (RMT) has been recommended to mitigate impacts of spinal cord injuries (SCI), but the optimal dosage in terms of the frequency, intensity, time, and type (FITT principle) to promote health in SCI individuals remains unclear.

Objective: To discuss research related to the effects of RMT on pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness in athletes and non-athletes with SCI, presenting the FITT principle.

Methods: We performed a systematic review.

The impact of physical activity level, degree of dyspnoea and pulmonary function on the performance of healthy young adults during exercise.

Background: In addition to being simple and requiring minimal technology, the 6-min walk test (6MWT) has been found to be reproducible and well tolerated since its first use. However, the impact of non-anthropometric factors on functional capacity is less clear in healthy young adults because the majority experience no age-related changes in the locomotor system or associated comorbidities.

Aim: To identify the effect of physical activity level, degree of dyspnoea and pulmonary function on functional capacity, evaluated through the 6-min walking distance (6MWD) of healthy young adults, in order to prevent clinical abnormalities.

Clinical and functional variables can predict general fatigue in patients with acromegaly: an explanatory model approach.

Objective: To evaluate whether hormonal profile, arterial function, and physical capacity are predictors of fatigue in patients with acromegaly. Subjects and methods: This is a cross-sectional study including 23 patients. The subjects underwent a Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) assessment; serum growth hormones (GH) and IGF-1 measurements; pulse wave analysis comprising pulse wave velocity (PWV), arterial compliance (AC), and the reflection index (IR1,2); dominant upper limb dynamometry (DYN); and the six-minute walking distance test (6MWT).

Turkish translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and assessment of psychometric properties of the Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit.

To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit instrument to Turkish and investigate its psychometric properties. An expert committee supervised forward and backward translation. Thirteen participants reviewed the pre-final version of Turkish Functional Status Score for the Intensive Care Unit instrument providing minor revisions to improve its readability.

Serial Weekly Measurements of the Timed Inspiratory Effort Index Can Predict Successful Prolonged Weaning.

Background: Patients who require prolonged weaning from mechanical ventilation represent a major challenge in intensive care, and the timed inspiratory effort (TIE) index has been shown to be a clinically valuable tool to predict weaning success.

Objective: To evaluate whether weekly serial measurements of the TIE index can predict the success in prolonged weaning.

Methods: A prospective observational study in which the subjects who started the weaning process off mechanical ventilation underwent weekly measurements of the TIE index.