Objetivo: realizar uma análise sobre as consequências na saúde mental advindas do período de isolamento social durante a pandemia de COVID-19 e de prenunciar estratégias de enfrentamento para minimizá-las. Metodologia: trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura, realizada a partir da busca por publicações científicas indexadas nas bases de dados: MEDLINE via PubMed, Europe PMC, Lilacs e SciELO. Os seguintes descritores foram utilizados: COVID-19, isolamento social, pandemias e saúde mental. Ao final das buscas, 49 publicações atenderam aos critérios de elegibilidade e foram selecionadas para compor o estudo. Resultados: diante dos achados extraídos dos estudos selecionados, percebeu-se que os indivíduos submetidos ao isolamento social estão mais suscetíveis a apresentar transtornos de saúde mental, devido à privação e contenção social, surgindo sintomas de sofrimento psíquico, em especial, relacionado ao estresse, ansiedade e depressão. Conclusão: este estudo permitiu refletir sobre a necessidade de garantir uma comunicação clara e informativa sobre estratégias para redução desses sintomas de sofrimento psíquico, além de fornecer o suporte psicológico e social fundamental para esses indivíduos em vulnerabilidade.

Objective: The present study was aimed at analyzing the effect of physical activity on motor coordination in children with ASD. Methods: On 28 June 2021, a systematic review with meta-analysis was performed using the following databases: MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS, PEDro, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Science Direct. We analyzed the methodological quality and risk of bias using the Jadad scale and Cochrane tool, respectively. Motor coordination results were meta-analyzed using the RevMan program. Two independent researchers used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) tool to assess the level of evidence from the meta-analysis. Results: We found four studies in the listed databases and five randomized clinical trials were included in the meta-analysis that included 109 children with ASD. Children with ASD who performed physical activity did not present significantly better motor coordination than control children (p = 0.12). Conclusions: Considering the clinical importance of physical activity for children with ASD, this systematic review with meta-analysis showed that physical activity had no statistically significant effects on coordination in individuals with ASD.

Introduction: In the last decades, different studies have investigated the effects of exercise or physical activity (PA) on cognitive functions and academic performance in children and adolescents. But given the inconsistencies regarding methodologies and the fact that many studies do not have controlled or randomized designs, a more recent review is needed in order to summarize the different outcomes and methodologies employed and correlate them from an applied perspective. Objectives: The purpose of the present review is to systematically review and analyze the effects of acute and chronic PA interventions exclusively from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on cognitive functions and academic performance of children and adolescents. Methods: A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases for all RCTs published between January 2014 and July 2020. Authors searched these databases using controlled vocabularies, keywords, and Boolean logic, and data were later extracted from the studies. Effect sizes were calculated based on means and SDs at posttest using Hedge’s g formula. Results: A total of 20 studies met the inclusion criteria. They were assessed for eligibility and later included in the review. Although most of the articles did not show any robust effect size and had significant methodological differences, 80% of the studies analyzed showed positive results, indicating a significant impact of exercise or PA on cognition. Discussion: Due to the heterogeneity in the design of the interventions and the variables analyzed, most of the studies showed small or medium effect sizes. Studies with big effect size in all variables had in common the fact that they involved team game variations and coordination activities. The combination of physical exertion (high intensity) and cognitive engagement with social interactions seems to have the strongest effect on executive functions. This ecological and attractive model reflects children’s typical PA and might represent an ideal model for exercise in this population. Conclusions: Although grouping different studies based on PA type, control groups, and comparison treatments is a limitation and results should be interpreted with caution, this review suggests that PA interventions, in particular, team game variations and coordination activities, have positive effects on children’s cognitive functions.

Background: Population aging all over the world invites older people to be active, considering physical activity (PA) as associated with reduced anxiety, depression and stress and a high quality of life (QOL) in older people. Objective: To analyze anxiety, depression, stress and QOL as a function of PA in older people. Methodology: Descriptive analytical research. Six hundred and ninety older people answered the instrument composed of sociodemographic questions, followed by questions from the WHOQOL-Old, Baecke-Old, WHOQOL-SRPB, Stress Perception Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. Results: The beneficial effect of PA on the elderly is evident in this sample with such a high QoL (73%) and such a high level of physical activity (84%), and even with an advanced level of education (75%) and high spirituality (99.6%). The influence of PA on the anxiety and stress cluster showed Pearson’s chi-square = 9.9, DF = 4, p = 0.04239, critical value = 9.5. The influence of PA on the anxiety, depression and stress cluster showed Pearson’s chi-square = 6.8; DF = 5; p-value = 0.24; critical value = 11.1. Conclusion: In the elderly, PA has a significant relationship with anxiety, stress and QOL. In addition, the high level of QOL of the elderly in the sample demonstrates the capacity for PA, educational level and spirituality for personal satisfaction.

O processo de envelhecimento é um dos fenômenos que mais se evidencia nas sociedades atuais, sendo esse fenômeno conhecido como transição demográfica. Associada a transição demográfica destaca-se a transição epidemiológica que geram mudanças nos padrões de morte, morbidade e invalidez de uma população especí­fica e que, em geral, ocorre em conjunto com outras transformações como as sociais, econômicas e de saúde. Sendo assim o estudo tem como objetivo analisar os aspectos gerais sobre a transição demográfica e epidemiológica da população brasileira. Para esta revisão foram utilizadas informações de agências especializadas em saúde, como a OMS, OPAS, Ministério da Saúde e IBGE, além de periódicos das bases de dados Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Scielo e Lilacs, utilizando os Descritores em Ciência da Saúde (DeCs) e Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Visto o exposto, ressalta-se a importância sobre práticas integradas e preventivas das doenças crônicas não transmissí­veis na população idosa, além da identificação do seu perfil epidemiológico, facilitando assim a tomada de decisão sobre o planejamento estratégico de modelos de atenção í saúde adequada a essa população.Palavras-chave: idoso, transição epidemiológica, transição demográfica, doenças crônicas não transmissí­veis.

Background Given that, up to date, there is no effective strategy to treat dementia, a timely start of interventions in a prodromal stage such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered an important option to lower the overall societal burden. Although autonomic functions have been related to cognitive performance, both aspects have rarely been studied simultaneously in MCI. Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate cardiac autonomic control in older adults with and without MCI. Methods Cardiac autonomic control was assessed by means of heart rate variability (HRV) at resting state and during cognitive tasks in 22 older adults with MCI and 29 healthy controls (HCs). Resting HRV measurement was performed for 5 minutes during a sitting position. Afterwards, participants performed three PC-based tasks to probe performance in executive functions and language abilities (i.e., Stroop, N-back, and a verbal fluency task). Results Participants with MCI showed a significant reduction of HRV in the frequency-domain (high frequency power) and nonlinear indices (SD2, D2, and DFA1) during resting state compared to HCs. Older individuals with MCI exhibited decreases in RMSSD and increases in DFA1 from resting state to Stroop and N-back tasks, reflecting strong vagal withdrawal, while this parameter remained stable in HCs. Conclusion The results support the presence of autonomic dysfunction at the early stage of cognitive impairment. Heart rate variability could help in the prediction of cognitive decline as a noninvasive biomarker or as a tool to monitor the effectiveness of therapy and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.