Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the creation of different teaching adaptations shared in health degrees, such as blended teaching methods, including face-to-face learning combined with online learning. Objectives: One objective was to compare the academic performance scores aligned to worked competencies during physiotherapy internships between two groups: one exposed to a blended learning (b-learning) educational model and another exposed to a face-to-face teaching system during internships. Another objective was to study the correlation of the marks of the following year’s internship subject. Design: Analytical study of retrospective cohorts. Settings: Physiotherapy university degree program. Participants: Three hundred students working towards attaining Physiotherapy degrees. Methods: Two groups were studied: the Non-Exposed Cohort, which had 100% face-to-face attendance at the clinical center, and the Exposed Cohort, which experienced b-learning and had 50% attendance at the clinical practice center and 50% completion of asynchronous online complementary training during lockdown. Results: The results show that both in the Exposed Cohort and in the Non-Exposed Cohort, the qualifications and, therefore, the competence development achieved by the students were similar. A stronger correlation with skills activities developed in the Exposed Cohort in relation to the final mark of the following year’s internship subject has been found. Discussion and Conclusions: For all the competencies developed during CS II, participants obtained the same grades in both groups, so it is concluded that the online activities implemented during confinement mixed with face-to-face teaching were useful for the achievement of these skills. Thus, b-learning is a good method for developing clinical practice competencies in physiotherapy students. Contribution of the Paper: Blended teaching (b-teaching) is useful for developing internship competencies. It is necessary to align the activities developed in internships with the evaluated skills.

Background: This cross-sectional observational study aimed to investigate differences in abdominal musculature thickness, pelvic tilt, and trunk mobility between women with primary dysmenorrhea (PD) and a control group (CG). Methods: Participants included 44 women (22 with PD and 22 controls) aged over 18, nulliparous, and of reproductive age. Ultrasound imaging was used to measure the thickness of the transverse abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO), and rectus abdominis (RA) muscles at rest and during contraction. Additionally, anterior pelvic tilt was assessed using the Palpation Meter (PALM), and trunk flexion and extension were measured using an accelerometer (activForce2). Results: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in RA and EO muscle thickness, with lower values in the PD group compared to CG. However, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in TrA and IO muscle thickness, anterior pelvic tilt, or trunk mobility between groups. Conclusions: These findings contribute to understanding the musculoskeletal factors potentially involved in dysmenorrhea. Further research is needed to explore associations between PD and structural and alignment parameters.

This study aimed to investigate if the characteristics of different running shoes could influence intra-abdominal pressure during running. A single-centre, randomized, prospective cross-over clinical trial was performed measuring activity patterns of internal oblique (IO), lumbar erector (LE), and gluteus maximus (GM) muscles in healthy women when running with minimalist shoes (MS). Participants were randomly allocated into two-sequence (MS/TS or TS/MS) treadmill running at six, nine, and eleven km/h. The surface electromyographic activity of IO, LE, and GM muscles were recorded while running. A repeated measures ANOVA explored the interaction effects of three-muscle x three speeds x two shoes. Significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Fifty-one healthy nulliparous women (mean age: 26.55 ± 5.11 years; body mass index: 21.29 ± 2.07 Kg/m²) were included. Our findings revealed lower activations of the LE compared to the internal oblique IO and GM, irrespective of running speed and footwear used. Electromyographic activation significantly increased with higher running speeds (p < 0.001) for all muscles, regardless of the type of footwear. Although electromyographic records with MS consistently showed higher values than those with TS, the differences were not statistically significant for all muscles at all speeds. Our results indicate that electromyographic activation patterns vary according to the muscle group, exhibiting higher values with increased running speed. No significant differences were observed between MS and TS.

Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a common gynecological condition characterized by menstrual pain without underlying pelvic pathology. It has been linked to functional and structural changes in the core musculature, but limited evidence exists regarding its association with diaphragmatic and respiratory mechanics. This study aimed to elaborate on these potential associations by assessing the diaphragmatic structure and respiratory function in women with PD compared to healthy controls, utilizing ultrasound imaging, spirometry and respiratory pressure measurements. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted with 44 female participants (22 with PD and 22 healthy controls). Diaphragmatic structure was evaluated through ultrasound, measuring the intercostal distance, diaphragmatic thickness, and diaphragmatic excursion at rest and during maximum voluntary contraction. Spirometric assessments included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), and the FVC/FEV1 ratio, along with measurements of maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximum expiratory pressure (MEP). Group differences were analyzed using Student’s t-test and effect sizes were reported with Cohen’s d. Results: No significant differences were observed between the groups in diaphragmatic thickness, diaphragmatic excursion, or global respiratory capacity (p > 0.05). However, women with PD presented a significant reduction in the left intercostal distance both at rest (p = 0.035, d = 0.56) and during contraction (p = 0.039, d = 0.54). No other significant group differences were detected. Conclusions: While primary dysmenorrhea does not appear to affect overall diaphragmatic function or respiratory capacity, it is associated with subtle localized changes in the left intercostal dynamics. These findings suggest a potential compensatory mechanical adaptation rather than global respiratory dysfunction. Further longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes are needed to explore the clinical significance of these findings.