Preventive fraction of physical fitness on risk factors in cardiac patients:Retrospective epidemiological study

AIM To quantify the preventive fraction of physical fitness on the risk factors in patients with cardiovascular diseases(CVDs).METHODS A total of 249 subjects(205 men and 44 women) suffering from CVD were categorized into four groups, according to their percentage of physical fitness. We calculated the odds ratio to obtain the preventive fraction in order to evaluate the impact of the physical fitness level on the risk factors(i.e., abdominal obesity, depression, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, overweight and smoking).RESULTS It is observed that a normal physical fitness level is sufficient to induce a preventive action on abdominal obesity(38%), diabetes(12%), hypertension(33%), obesity(12%) and overweight(11%). Also, the preventive fraction increases with the level of physical fitness, in particular for hypertension(36%) and overweight(16%). A high physical fitness level does not necessarily induce a preventive action in most risk factors, excluding depression. CONCLUSION This is the first study which demonstrates that reaching a normal physical fitness level is enough to induce a protection for some risk factors, despite having a CVD.

Gambling and Impulsivity: An Exploratory Study in a French Adolescent Population

Pathological gambling can be a serious problem, more so to a vulnerable population such as adolescents and youth. This study aims to investigate the links between gambling behaviours and impulsivity through a multidimensional approach in a French adolescent population. A secondary aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of pathological gambling behaviour amongst adolescents who are not meant to have legal access to such games. We administered the UPPS Impulsive behaviour Scale (UPPS-P) and the Canadian Pathological Gambling Index CPGI to 1800 adolescents aged between 11 to 17 years. Our results indicate that 33% of subjects have gambled at least once during the last year and that girls gamble as much as boys (17% and 16% respectively). Scratch games are the most common games played by adolescents (81.4%). We also notice that 1.6% of our population has problematic gambling behaviour. Although we found that many dimensions of impulsivity (Urgency, Positive urgency and Sensation seeking) are correlated to gambling behaviour, only sensation seeking seems to be a good predictor of pathological gambling severity. These results can be taken into account in the development of prevention programs.