Background: Firefighting is a strenuous occupation, which necessitates that firefighters stay in good physical condition and maintain adequate cardiovascular and musculoskeletal fitness to perform their duties with minimal health and safety risks. The aim of this review is to determine the effects of cardiovascular disease risk factors, musculoskeletal health, and physical fitness on the occupational performance of firefighters. Methods: PubMed/Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, EBSCOHost, and ScienceDirect were searched without time-restriction. The appraisal tool for cross-sectional studies and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme toolkit were used to conduct the methodological assessment. Data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.3, and MedCalc^® statistical software. Results: Age had a moderate effect on occupational performance (Z = 5.15, p < 0.001), whereas gender had a large effect size on occupational performance (Z = 4.24, p < 0.001). A significant moderate negative correlation was found between cardiorespiratory fitness and occupational performance (R = −0.584, p < 0.001). Significant low negative correlations were found between upper body endurance (R = −0.344, p < 0.001), abdominal endurance (R = −0.308, p < 0.001), grip strength (R = −0.421, p < 0.001), upper body strength (R = −0.318, p < 0.001), and lower body strength (R = −0.216, p = 0.020) and occupational performance. Conclusions: Aged firefighters with poor body composition and lower levels of physical fitness performed worse on all occupational performance tasks.

Cricket is a dynamic sport, making the selection of key performance indicators (KPIs) challenging. Objective: The study aims to identify KPIs in Twenty-20 (T20) cricket affecting match outcomes. Methods: Cricket performance data was analysed from three seasons of male T20 matches, identifying 136 performance indicators (PIs). The random forest algorithm and lasso logistic regression were used to develop a model to predict match outcomes. Results: The hybrid model achieved 85.9% accuracy with leave-one-out cross-validation statistical analyses. Sixteen KPIs were identified and ranked by importance including wickets lost in the last six overs, two or more wickets in the second innings, run rate in the last six overs, wickets by seam and spin bowling, batting strike rate, singles percentage in the second innings, sixes in the first innings, overs bowled by seam, runs in last six overs, sixes in middle overs, total catches in second innings, dot ball percentage, opening partnership runs, dot balls in the opening six, and singles in the last six. Conclusions: Cricket match performance in the final overs, especially bowling strike rate and scoring runs, were crucial for successful match outcomes. These KPIs offer insights into team strategy, player selection, and match performance evaluation in T20 cricket.

Background: Firefighters’ duties include fire response, emergency medical treatment and rescue operations. Noncompliance with physical activity (PA) guidelines increases adverse health behaviours and the risk of on-duty fatalities. While PA is known to treat cardiovascular disease (CVD), its impact on risky health behaviours in firefighters is under-researched. Aim: This scoping review aimed to evaluate PA’s effects on firefighters’ cardiovascular health. Method: The review followed PRISMA-ScR and PRISMA Protocol standards, involving a comprehensive search across databases like Cochrane, PubMed, Medline, EbscoHost, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL (EBSCO), SAGE Journals, ScienceDirect and Scopus, covering publications up to June 2023. The purpose was to compile evidence on PA programs’ effects on fire and rescue services (FRS). Results: Five intervention studies were included, examining PA effects on firefighters with smoking habits, poor diet, alcohol consumption and sedentary lifestyles. These interventions recommend 150 minutes per week of aerobic, flexibility and strength activities. Firefighters should be guided to initiate and maintain 150 minutes of PA weekly to promote health strategies. Conclusion: The study concludes that integrating lifestyle changes with low- and moderate-intensity PA into fire services is crucial for improving health risk behaviours (HRBs). Implementing multilevel interventions is necessary to drive policy changes supporting firefighters facing HRBs. Contribution: Educating firefighters about these behaviours is essential, fostering an understanding of healthy alternatives.

Background: Falls among older adults are a major concern, frequently resulting in injuries and a decreased quality of life. While medication use is known to be a key contributor to fall risk, the specific medications have not been thoroughly investigated. This study is vital to investigate the relationship between specific medications and fall risk, aiming to strengthen safety measures and minimise falls among the elderly in care facilities. Objectives: To determine the relationship between medication use and the risk of falling among the elderly living in Long Term Care (LTC) facilities. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design to investigate males and females, aged 60 years and older, living in retirement facilities in the City of Cape Town. A convenient sampling method was utilised to recruit a total of 258 participants from multiple long-term care facilities in Cape Town, South Africa. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to determine associations between falls, fall risk factors, and various medications used. Results: Majority of participants were at low risk (81%; n=211), 15.1% (n=39) at moderate risk and 3.1% (n=8) at high risk for falling. Antidepressant [χ2 (1)=4.941; p=0.026; OR=2.083 (95% CI: 1.082, 4.012)] and anti-diabetic [χ2 (1)=4.097, p=0.043, OR=2.070 (95% CI: 1.013, 4.228)] medications were the only drugs significantly associated with falling. Conclusion: These findings highlight the significant association between antidepressant and anti-diabetic medications and an increased risk of falls. Effective medication management and fall prevention strategies are essential among this vulnerable population. Clinicians should carefully assess the risks of these medications when prescribing to older adults and consider alternative treatments when necessary.

Understanding the determinants of success in International One Day (ODI) and Twenty20 (T20) cricket is essential for optimising team and player performance. This review aimed to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with successful outcomes in elite international ODI and T20 matches. The review also examines performance analysis (PA) methods and trends across male and female cricketers. Comprehensive searches were conducted across PubMed, SPORTDiscus, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital library, Ebscohost and Web of Science, covering literature published between 2000 and the present. Studies were included if they reported on KPIs or PA techniques contributing to the success in cricket. Following a rigorous screening process, nine studies met the inclusion criteria. This review revealed that most PA studies focused on distinguishing KPIs between winning and losing teams. Although video technology and statistical models are increasingly applied, relatively few investigations have incorporated contextual variables or gender-inclusive perspectives. Notably, only one study examined female cricketers, which limited the ability to draw strong conclusions on sex-specific performance differences. Furthermore, gaps remain regarding the consistent application of PA methods across formats. This review provides an overview of success determinants in international cricket and highlights the need for holistic, inclusive and ecologically valid approaches.