Health Promotion & Physical Activity

Comparison of physical activity levels and musculoskeletal disorders among academicians with different chronotypes

Oguzhan Bahadir Demir, Feride Taskin Yilmaz — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Chronotype is one of the factors affecting individuals’ health behaviors. This descriptive and comparative study aimed to identify the chronotype of academicians and determine their physical activity levels and musculoskeletal disorders according to chronotype. Of the academicians, 23.9% (n = 47) were morning type, 58.4% (n = 115) were intermediate type, and 17.7% (n = 35) were evening type. Academicians with morning chronotype were more likely to have a moderate physical activity level (p < 0.05). Academicians frequently experience pain, aches and discomfort in the upper back, neck and lower back areas. However, there was no statistically significant difference between musculoskeletal disorders of academicians in terms of chronotype (p > 0.05). It is recommended that physical activity be increased in academics with evening chronotype, precautions be taken for common musculoskeletal disorders, and the effects of chronotype on the musculoskeletal system be examined in a larger sample group.

Oral contraceptives do not impact metabolic and cardiorespiratory response during acute high-intensity rowing interval exercise — a pilot study

Sara A. Garcia, Alyssa A. Olenick, Nathan T. Jenkins, Regis C. Pearson — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Purpose: Increasing prevalence of oral contraceptive (OC) use in physically active females highlights the need for sex-specific exercise metabolism research. This pilot study investigated the influence of chronic OC use on the exercising metabolic and respiratory response during a rowing high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) protocol in young, healthy, moderately active females.

Methods: Fifteen females [21.9 (3.7) years] were categorized by OC (n = 6) vs. non-oral contraceptive use (NOC) (n = 9). HIIE was four sets of 3 min maximal effort intervals on the rowing ergometer with 3 min rest between intervals and performed during the follicular phase (days 2–10 or inactive pills) of participants’ menstrual cycles. To confirm comparable physical profiles of participants, we collected body fat percentage, fat-free mass, bone mineral density, blood pressure, aerobic fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and microvascular function.

Results: Groups were similar in all measures of physical profiles (P > 0.05). Our pilot study showed that OC use or NOC use did not influence the exercising metabolic and cardiorespiratory response to HIIE in young, healthy, moderately active females. Fat oxidation, carbohydrate oxidation, metabolic flexibility, blood lactate concentration, blood glucose, and cardiorespiratory response were similar between groups (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that there was no significant difference in exercising metabolic and cardiorespiratory response between OC and NOC users.

Andrzej Maciejczak (1960–2025)

Marek Smoła — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0200

It is with great sadness and a sense of great loss that we bid farewell to Professor Andrzej Maciejczak, an outstanding scientist and academic teacher, a valued neurosurgeon and a wonderful physician. He passed away on March 15, 2025 at the age of 64.

27th Linzer Conference on Travel Medicine Annual Meeting of the Upper Austrian Society for Travel Medicine (Oberösterreichische Gesellschaft für Reisemedizin) Linz, Austria, 26 April 2025

Martin Haditsch, Thomas Küpper — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0200

As usual, the meeting took place at Linz, the beautiful town with its baroque buildings halfway between Vienna and Salzburg (Austria). The topics were sorted according to
the following headlines:
1. Heights and depths.
2. Cause for concern.
3. Time is life.
4. Exceptional…
The abstracts presented here are sorted alphabetically by names of the lecturers.

Hiking fatalities on Angels Landing Trail — factors identified from Zion National Park

Travis W. Heggie, Amanda Hawkes, Thomas Küpper — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Hiking is a popular outdoor activity with approximately 45 million participants in the United States each year. The growing popularity of hiking has given rise to an increasing number of hiking-related deaths. Within the U.S. State of Utah and Zion National Park, the Angels Landing Trail has been identified as a trail recording a high number of hiking deaths. The popular trail ascends 454 m and is lined with slippery edges and steep drop-offs along its 8 km roundtrip trail. The most minor mistakes will easily result in death. Utilizing a case study approach, this study identified unsafe hiking behavior, pre-existing health conditions, the physical environment, and the social environment as primary contributing factors in hiking fatalities on the trail. In the 1950s – 1960s guard rails were added to the trail, in 2010 a total of 55 meters of posts and chains were installed along the trail, and in 2022 Zion National Park instituted a permit system aimed at reducing overcrowding and improving the hiking experience. Since 2022, only a single hiking death has been recorded on the trail. Further monitoring of the trail is warranted so that of the number of fatalities and the factors contributing to any death can be compared from before and after the implementation of the permit system.