Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l'Educació i de l'Esport Blanquerna

Digital Handwriting Kinematics and Physical Performance According to Pentagon-Copy Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Study

2026-05-22T02:01:01Z

Digital Handwriting Kinematics and Physical Performance According to Pentagon-Copy Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Study Ferrer-Ramos, Pau; Faundez-Zanuy, Marcos; Serra Paya, Noemi; Garnacho-Castaño, Manu; Girabent-Farrés, Montserrat Background: Cognitive decline in older adults is often accompanied by subtle motor alterations. Digital handwriting analysis has emerged as a promising noninvasive approach for detecting these changes, but its usefulness in community-based settings remains unclear. Objective: This study aims to examine the association of handwriting kinematics and physical performance measures with pentagon-copy performance classification in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 174 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years or older (mean age 73.9, SD 6.1 years; 108/174, 62% women). Participants completed 10 digital handwriting tasks and a battery of physical performance tests assessing strength, balance, gait, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Group classification was based on pentagon-copy performance and categorized as normal (93/174, 53% participants) or altered (81/174, 46% participants). Adjusted linear regression models included group as the main predictor and age and sex as covariates. Multiple comparisons were controlled using the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, and multiple comparisons, selected handwriting variables remained significantly associated with altered pentagon-copy performance, whereas no physical performance variables remained statistically significant. The most consistent differences were observed in cognitive effort and mechanical tasks, where participants with altered pentagon-copy performance showed longer contact time (β=526.8 ms; P<.001) and time on air (β=1111.5 ms; P<.001), together with lower mean writing pressure (β=–2058.8 au; P=.003). Overall, group differences were more consistently detected in handwriting-derived variables than in conventional physical performance outcomes after adjusted analyses. Conclusions: Selected digital handwriting variables, particularly temporal measures, were more consistently associated with altered pentagon-copy performance than physical performance outcomes. These findings suggest that digital handwriting analysis may represent a sensitive complementary approach for exploring subtle functional differences in community-based settings.

Effects of scapular-focused movement-based exercises on sports performance of athletes with scapular dyskinesis: A systematic review

2026-05-22T02:00:43Z

Effects of scapular-focused movement-based exercises on sports performance of athletes with scapular dyskinesis: A systematic review Solana-Tramunt, Mònica; Fakoor Rashid, Hossein; Norouzi, Narges; Dehghan, Yaser; Khazanin, Hossein; sadegh, Bahareh; Alimoradi, Mohammad; Daneshmandi, Hassan; Alghosi, Mohammad Background Scapular dyskinesis is a common dysfunction among athletes, particularly in overhead sports, leading to pain, reduced range of motion (ROM), and impaired performance. Movement-based exercises are increasingly used to address these issues, but their overall impact on sports performance remains unclear. Objective This systematic review aims to evaluate the effects of movement-based exercises on sports performance in athletes with scapular dyskinesis. Method A comprehensive search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed up to July 30, 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. Data were extracted and assessed for risk of bias using RoB-2 and ROBINS-I tools. A narrative synthesis was performed due to study heterogeneity. Results Fourteen studies (8 RCTs and 6 non-RCTs) involving 412 participants with a mean age of 23.8 years assessed movement-based interventions lasting from a single session to 24 weeks, primarily focusing on scapular stabilization, kinetic chain control, and proprioception over 6–8 weeks with around three sessions per week. Moderate-certainty evidence suggests that exercise likely improves shoulder function, disability, and glenohumeral range of motion over 6–12 weeks. However, the evidence for pain reduction and improvement in rotator cuff/scapular strength is of low certainty, showing mixed effects depending on the specific program. Evidence for improvement in scapular kinematics is also of low certainty. Sport-specific performance outcomes, such as throwing velocity, remain highly uncertain due to small sample sizes and conflicting results from RCTs. Conclusion Movement-based exercises may be considered by athletes with scapular dyskinesis to potentially improve shoulder function and glenohumeral range of motion; however, the certainty of evidence for effects on pain relief, strength, and sports performance is very low. Therefore, strong recommendations cannot be made at this stage. More tailored programs and well-structured RCTs are needed to clarify these effects.

Lifestyle as a Modulator of the Effects on Fitness of an Integrated Neuromuscular Training in Primary Education

2026-05-22T02:01:14Z

Lifestyle as a Modulator of the Effects on Fitness of an Integrated Neuromuscular Training in Primary Education Roman-Viñas, Blanca; Vasileva, Fidanka; Font-Lladó, Raquel; Aznar Laín, Susana; Jiménez-Zazo, Fabio; Lopez-Bermejo, Abel; López-Ros, Víctor; Prats-Puig, Anna The objective was to evaluate changes in fitness after an integrated neuromuscular training (INT) intervention in primary school children and to evaluate how lifestyle behaviors and parental education modulate these changes. One hundred and seventy children (7.45 ± 0.34 years; 52% girls) were included. Cardiorespiratory fitness (half-mile run test), a 10 × 5 m shuttle run test, standing broad jump (SBJ), handgrip dynamometer, body mass index (BMI) and fat mass percentage (FM%) were assessed before and after the 3-month intervention (20 min of INT in the physical education class, twice per week). The Mediterranean diet (MD), sleep time and parental education level (PEL) were evaluated by questionnaires, and adherence to physical activity (PA) recommendations was measured with a triaxial accelerometer before the intervention. After the intervention, there were improvements in the 10 × 5 test and the SBJ. Only girls had improvements in the handgrip test, BMI SDS and FM%. After correcting for confounding variables, only BMI was significantly improved whereas strength improved in the participants non-compliant with the PA recommendations or pertaining to families of high PEL. The INT produced improvements in fitness in a brief period and in different subgroups of pupils (inactive and with diverse sociocultural environments).

Adherencia al patrón de dieta mediterránea: factor protector en el desarrollo de síntomas de depresión, ansiedad y estrés

2026-05-19T02:00:35Z

Adherencia al patrón de dieta mediterránea: factor protector en el desarrollo de síntomas de depresión, ansiedad y estrés Sala Caballeria, Júlia; Andres, Ana; Carrillo Álvarez, Elena Objetivo: Este estudio tiene como objetivo determinar la relación entre la adherencia en el patrón de dieta mediterránea y el desarrollo de síntomas de depresión, ansiedad y estrés, así como evaluar su relación con variables sociodemográficas. Método: Un total de 518 personas (61.20% mujeres y 38.80% hombres) completaron una encuesta online en la que se evaluaron diversas variables sociodemográficas y se incluyeron el cuestionario de Adherencia a la Dieta Mediterránea MEDAS y el DASS-21. Resultados: Existe una correlación negativa estadísticamente significativa entre la adherencia al patrón de dieta mediterránea y el desarrollo de síntomas de depresión (r= -0.148, p < 0.001), ansiedad (r= -0., p < 0.001) y estrés ( r= -0.182, p < 0.001). Los resultados también pusieron de manifiesto una relación estadísticamente significativa entre la adherencia al patrón de dieta mediterránea y las variables edad (r=0.176, p<0.001), género (X2= 7.25, p <.001) y frecuencia de actividad deportiva (r=0.315 p < 0.05). Conclusión: Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que la dieta mediterránea tiene un efecto protector frente al desarrollo de síntomas de depresión, ansiedad y estrés.