Objective:To describe workers' life quality and physical activity level. Complementarily, the employees' working time in the company was associated to their physical activity level and compared to their life quality. Materials and Methods: The sample was composed by 375 workers of both genders from a national company of electrical energy in Pernambuco. Then, those workers were subdivided into two groups according to their working time in the company: up to 15 years (n=166) with age mean of 36.08±6.80 years and more than 15 years (n=209) with age mean of 55.37± 5.17 years. Statistical analysis was made using Mann Whitney and Chi-square tests with p <0.05. Results: The employees having more working time presented better levels in the physical (p<0.05), psychological (p<0.01) and environmental (p<0.05) domains. The associative analysis between the physical activity level and the working time has revealed that the workers having more working time were more physically actives (X 2 =4.617; p=0.03). Conclusion: It is concluded that most of the investigated sample has showed satisfactory levels in the quality of life and level of physical activity. As a result contrary to expectations is the fact that workers having more working time in the company have proven to be more physically active, contradicting the findings of the literature. DESCRIPTORSPhysical activity. Quality of life. Workers.http://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/rbcs

Background: Respiratory symptoms after exercise are frequently reported by asthmatic patients, and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is a frequent cause, which requires objective testing for diagnosis. Eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) is recommended as a surrogate stimulus for this purpose. Its short-term reproducibilityis not yet established in children and young adolescents with asthma.Objective: To evaluate the short-term test-retest agreement and reproducibility of FEV 1 changes after EVH in this population.Methods: Asthmatic patients aged between 10 and 20 years underwent EVH for EIB diagnosis on two occasions 2-4 days apart at a specialized university clinic. FEV 1 was measured at 5, 15, and 30 min after EVH with a target ventilation rate 21 times the baseline FEV 1 . EIB was diagnosed as a decrease ≥10% in FEV 1 from baseline.Results: A total of 26 of 62 recruited individuals tested positive for EIB on both visits (positive group) and 17 on one visit only (divergent group), while 19 tested negative on both visits (negative group). The overall agreement was 72.5% (95%CI 61.6%, 83.6%), and Cohen's kappa coefficient was 0.452. Low bias (0.87%) and high intra-class correlation coefficient (0.854, 95%CI 0.758,0.912; p < .001) for FEV 1 response between test days were found, but with wide limits of agreement (±20.72%). There were no differences in pre-challenge FEV 1 or achieved ventilation rate between visits either between groups (p = .097 and p = .461) or within groups (p = .828 and p = .780). There were no safety issues.Conclusions: More than one EVH test should be performed in children and young adolescents with asthma to exclude EIB and minimize misdiagnosis and mistreatment.

IntroductionExercise‐induced bronchospasm (EIB) is common in young asthmatics and obesity is becoming an epidemic in this population. Both conditions can give rise to or worsen respiratory symptoms upon exercise and may interfere with recreational and sports activities.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between obesity and the risk and severity of EIB in asthmatic children and adolescents.MethodsThis study included data from asthmatic patients aged between 7 and 19 years undergoing treadmill running tests to evaluate EIB, defined as a reduction greater than or equal to 10% in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) compared to baseline. Eutrophic, obese, and overweight individuals were categorized according to body mass index z‐score (eutrophic, −0.5 < z ≤ 1; overweight, 1 < z < 2; and obese, z ≥ 2).ResultsOf the 156 individuals studied (42% female), 58% were eutrophic, 22% overweight, and 19% obese. Seventy‐three individuals (47%) presented with EIB, with higher risk among obese (OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.00‐8.14; P = .05). Asthma severity was another independent risk factor for EIB (OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.36‐6.42; P = .006). The number of patients in whom FEV1 returned to baseline values (difference less than 10% from baseline) at the 13th minute after challenge was lower in obese individuals compared to eutrophic and overweight ones (P = .04). Baseline FEV1, gender, or age were not found to be risk factors for EIB in any of the groups.ConclusionObese youngsters with asthma present a greater risk for EIB with slower recovery than their nonobese peers. Clinicians should be aware of this association, especially in those with more severe disease, for adequate recognition and treatment.

RESUMOIntrodução: A relação entre o tipo físico e o risco cardiovascular vem sendo estudada em diversas populações do mundo. No Brasil, estudos que avaliam esta relação são escassos, principalmente quando se trata de indivíduos que praticam atividades físicas. Objetivo: Analisar a relação do somatotipo com fatores de risco cardiovascular e razão cintura-estatura (RCEst) em praticantes de atividade física. Métodos: Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva com delineamento transversal. A amostra foi constituída por 280 sujeitos, usuários da pista de Cooper da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, na cidade de Recife, PE, Brasil. Para identificação do nível de atividade física, utilizou-se a versão curta do International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Os indivíduos classificados como muito ativos, ativos ou irregularmente ativos A ou B, foram incluídos na amostra. Excluíram-se os sujeitos inativos fisicamente. O somatotipo foi estimado através do protocolo antropométrico de Carter e Heath (1990). Determinaram-se como fatores de risco cardiovascular o tabagismo, o consumo de bebida alcoólica e a pressão arterial (PA). Empregou-se a estatística descritiva para caracterização da amostra, em seguida, utilizou-se a Análise de Variância Multivariada (MANOVA), com nível de significância de p < 0,05. Resultados: Não foi identificada relação significativa para as variáveis tabagismo e consumo de bebida alcoólica. Na análise da PA (Pillai's trace = 0,082; F = 8,187; p < 0,05) e da RCEst (Pillai's trace = 0,298; F = 39,081; p < 0,05), verificou-se significância estatística com o somatotipo. Conclusão: O tipo físico foi positivo e significativamente relacionado com a PA e com a RCEst, demonstrando que esse indicador antropométrico pode ser utilizado para predizer precocemente o risco de desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares. Palavras