Background: The quality of life in osteoporosis is studied for men rather than for women. Aim of the study was to determine how bone mass density (BMD) relates to life quality components and the severity of pain felt by men affected by osteoporosis. Methods: Presented research is a cross-sectional study. The cohort of 62 men aged 65 to 85 years was divided into a group with osteoporosis (N = 27) and a group without osteoporosis (N = 35). The participants’ quality of life was measured with the Qualeffo41 Questionnaire, BMD was quantified by densitometry, and pain intensity was assessed on the Visual Analogue Scale. Results: We found that lower BMD was strongly correlated to participants’ quality of life (r = −0.72), especially the quality of leisure and social activities (r = −0.66), general health perception (r = −0.59), and mobility (r = −0.57). Pain significantly affected general health perception in older men with osteoporosis. General health assessment and pain were highly correlated with each other (r = 0.888). Conclusion: BMD and the overall quality of life of the study participants were related to each other. The strongest relationship occurred between reduced BMD and leisure and social activities component. The pain significantly affected participants’ general health perception. The results may be employed to create new prophylactic strategies to improve life quality in men with osteoporosis.

Artykuł jest dostępny na zasadzie dozwolonego użytku osobistego. Dalsze rozpowszechnianie (w tym druk i umieszczanie w sieci) jest zabronione i stanowi poważne naruszenie przepisów prawa autorskiego oraz grozi sankcjami prawnymi.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to learn the influence of treatment resort extended with modern exercises with feedback using virtual reality for postural control and reducing the risk of falls in people aged 65+. Material and Methods: Seventy four people (46 women, 28 men; aged 65-84) participated for three weeks in spa therapy, which was extended with physical exercises using feedback based on virtual reality to improve postural control and reduce the risk of falls. Postural control tests, “get up and go” test (TUG) and test standing up from the chair for 30 seconds were performed to assess the progress of the therapy. Results: After treatment in the Romberg trial performed on the stabilometric platform with open and closed eyes, a statistically significant improvement in most parameters indicating improved postural control was noted, including reduction of path length and surface area of center of foot pressure (COP), reduction of the length and speed of bowel movements COP in the frontal and sagittal planes. A statistically significant reduction in the time of the TUG test and increase the number of repetitions of standing up from the chair in 30 seconds were also noted. Statistical significance was assumed at the level of p≤0.05. Conclusions: Treatment resort enriched with exercises using virtual reality and feedback contributes to improving postural control and reducing the risk of falls in people aged 65+. The results of the study should be confirmed in high-quality therapeutic experiments, including control groups.

The study aimed to investigate the effect of 3-year swimming training on selected biological variables in prepubescent male swimmers and to determine the best predictors of absolute (VSa) and relative (VSr) swimming velocity for 50 m and 400 m front crawl. Twenty-one 10-year old boys subjected to endurance swimming training (4 x 70 min per week) and 18 boys consisting a control group were assessed semi-annually for basic anthropometric and respiratory characteristics, breath-hold time (BHT), VO2max, leg explosiveness (HJ), and abdominal strength endurance (ASE). After three years of training, BHT (p < 0.001), VO2max (p < 0.01), HJ (p < 0.01) and ASE (p < 0.01) were greater in the swimmers than in the controls. VSa and VSr expressed as a percentage of baseline velocity increased more for the 50 m than for the 400 m distance (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). The 50 m VSa and VSr positively correlated with those obtained for the distance of 400 m (in both cases p < 0.001). Baseline VSa was negatively correlated with the increase in absolute swimming velocity for both distances (50 m: r = -0.684, p < 0.001 and 400 m: r = -0.673, p < 0.001). The best predictors of VSa for 50 m and 400 m front crawl were HJ (r2 = 0.388; p < 0.001) and VO2max (r2 = 0.333; p < 0.001), respectively. The key predictors of VSr for both distances were age (50 m: r2 = 0.340, p < 0.001 and 400 m: r2 = 0.207, p < 0.001) and, after excluding it from analysis, HJ (50 m: r2 = 0.176, p < 0.001 and 400 m: r2 = 0.104, p < 0.001). These results suggest that regardless of prepubescent boys’ initial abilities and exercise capacity, improvement in their swimming performance mainly depends on increases in power and neuromuscular coordination.