MSP is highly prevalent in music students. Neck and upper limb disability were slight to moderate and both were associated with poorer mental health. The main factors associated with MSP were being female, hours spent practicing, and physical activity. Physical and psychological factors should be taken into account in the prevention of MSP in student-musicians.

Background Anthracyclines and monoclonal antibodies against human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) are frequently used to treat breast cancer but they are associated with risk of developing cardiotoxicity. Implementation of cardioprotective strategies as part of breast cancer treatment are needed. To date, a limited number of studies have examined the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation programs or exercise programs in the prevention of cardiotoxicity through an integral assessment of cardiac function. The ONCORE study proposes an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program as a non-pharmacological tool for the management of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity. Methods The study protocol describes a prospective, randomized controlled trial aimed to determine whether an intervention through an exercise-based CR program can effectively prevent cardiotoxicity induced by anthracyclines and/or anti-HER2 antibodies in women with breast cancer. Three hundred and forty women with breast cancer at early stages scheduled to receive cardiotoxic chemotherapy will be randomly assigned (1:1) to participation in an exercise-based CR program (intervention group) or to usual care and physical activity recommendation (control group). Primary outcomes include changes in left ventricular ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain as markers of cardiac dysfunction assessed by transthoracic echocardiography. Secondary outcomes comprise levels of cardiovascular biomarkers and cardiopulmonary function through peak oxygen uptake determination, physical performance and psychosocial status. Supervised exercise program-related outcomes including safety, adherence/compliance, expectations and physical exercise in- and out-of-hospital are studied as exploratory outcomes. Transthoracic echocardiography, clinical test and questionnaires will be performed at the beginning and two weeks after completion of chemotherapy. Discussion The growing incidence of breast cancer and the risk of cardiotoxicity derived from cancer treatments demand adjuvant cardioprotective strategies. The proposed study may determine if an exercise-based CR program is effective in minimizing chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity in this population of women with early-stage breast cancer. The proposed research question is concrete, with relevant clinical implications, transferable to clinical practice and achievable with low risk. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03964142. Registered on 28 May 2019. Retrospectively registered. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03964142

Functional disability due to lumbar pain should be considered from the biopsychosocial model. There is inconclusive evidence as to whether the key determining factors in this form of disability are psychosocial or physical. Our aim is to identify variables that cause functional disability due to lumbar pain amongst shellfish gatherers in Galicia by means of a cross-sectional survey. Participants (N = 929) completed a self-administered, paper-based questionnaire including sociodemographic and lifestyle issues, as well as the nature of the lumbar pain, the presence of musculoskeletal pain in other regions of the body, the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and SF-36. Univariate examination, ROC curve and logistic regression analyses were performed. Most of these workers are women (98.7 %), with a mean age of 50.6 years. The point-prevalence of lumbar pain stands at 65.5 %. The RMDQ mean was 4.9 (SD = 4.7). In the logistic regression analysis, the variables associated with disability (RMDQ > median) were age (OR = 1.04), physical exercise (OR = 0.57), pain intensity (OR = 1.16), the number of regions of musculoskeletal pain (OR = 1.24) and mental health (SF-36) (OR = -0.95). Functional disability is determined by the physical nature of the pain and mental health attributes, although the former has a greater impact. In decreasing order of importance, functional disability is attributable to the presence of lower back pain, the number of regions of musculoskeletal pain, the intensity of that pain and age. Regular physical exercise and better mental health have a protective effect on disability.

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an exercise therapy program on pain and physical dimension of health-related quality of life for young adults with musculoskeletal pain. Design. This is a randomized controlled single-blind trial. Fifty-seven subjects (58% women) were randomly assigned to experimental [n = 28, 21.4 (2.9) yrs] and control [n = 29, 21.0 (4.2) yrs] groups. The experimental group participated in a 9-wk stabilization exercise therapy program, 60 mins/wk, whereas the control group did not exercise, with a preintervention and postintervention assessment. Primary outcome was Physical Component Summary of SF-36. Secondary outcomes were Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale, Oswestry Disability Index, Neck Disability Index, and Trunk Flexor Endurance Test. The Shapiro-Wilk, independent t test or Mann-Whitney U test, X 2 , or Fisher's exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results. After intervention, the experimental group improved by 3.2 (4.5) points on the Physical Component Summary (P = 0.01), decreased prevalence of low back pain in the last month (P = 0.02) and cervical disability (P = 0.02), and increased flexor trunk endurance (P = 0.005). Conclusions. This study confirmed that a 9-wk progressive exercise therapy program can improve physical health and reduce the prevalence of cervical disability and low back pain in the last month in young adults with musculoskeletal pain.