Music has been shown to be a useful adjunct for many forms of exercise, and has been observed to improve athletic performance in some settings. Nonetheless, because of the limited availability of practical applications of sound conduction in water, there are few studies of the effects of music on swimming athletes. The SwiMP3™ is a novel device that utilizes bone-conduction as a method to circumvent the obstacles to transmitting high fidelity sound in an aquatic environment. Thus, we studied the influence of music on swimming performance and enjoyment using the SwiMP3™. Twenty-four competitive swimmers participated in a randomized crossover design study in which they completed timed swimming trials with and without use of music delivered via bone-conduction with the SwiMP3™. Each participant swam four 50 meter trials and one 800 meter trial, then completed a physical enjoyment survey. Statistically significant improvements in swimming performance times were found in both the 50 meter (0.32 seconds, p=0.013) and 800 meter (6.5 seconds, p=0.031) trials with music using the SwiMP3™. There was no significant improvement in physical enjoyment with the device as measured by a validated assessment tool. Bone-conducted music appears to have a salutary influence on swimming performance in a practice environment among competitive adult swimmers.
Objective
To establish a valid and reliable battery of measures to evaluate frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in patients with ALS over the phone.
Methods
Thirty-one subjects were administered either in-person or telephone-based screening followed by the opposite mode of testing two weeks later, using a modified version of the UCSF Cognitive Screening Battery.
Results
Equivalence testing was performed for in-person and telephone-based tests. The standard ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS) showed statistical equivalence at the 5% significance level when compared to a revised phone-version of the ALS-CBS. In addition, the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) and Center for Neurologic Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS) were also found to be equivalent at the 5% and 10% significance level respectively. Similarly, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the well-established Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) were also statistically equivalent. Equivalence could not be claimed for the ALS-Frontal Behavioral Inventory (ALS-FBI) caregiver interview and the Written Verbal Fluency Index (WVFI).
Conclusions
Our study suggests that telephone-based versions of the ALS-CBS, COWAT, and CNS-LS may offer clinicians valid tools to detect frontotemporal changes in the ALS population. Development of telephone-based cognitive testing for ALS could become an integral resource for population-based research in the future.
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