Purpose
A single bout of aerobic or resistance exercise improves executive function. We sought to determine whether menstrual cycle variations in ovarian hormone concentrations differentially influence the expression and/or magnitude of a postexercise executive benefit.
Methods
Eumenorrheic female participants completed 20-min single bouts of aerobic exercise (via cycle ergometer) at a moderate intensity (i.e., 80% of estimated lactate threshold) during the early follicular and midluteal phases of their menstrual cycle. Pre- and postexercise executive function was examined via antisaccades—an executive task requiring a saccade mirror-symmetrical to a visual stimulus. Antisaccades are an ideal tool for examining postexercise executive changes because the task is mediated via the same frontoparietal networks as modified following single-bout and chronic exercise.
Results
Antisaccade reaction times decreased from the pre- to postexercise assessments by an average of 22 ms (P = 0.003), and this benefit was independent of changes in directional errors or end point accuracy (P’s > 0.26). In other words, participants did not decrease their postexercise reaction times at the cost of increased planning times or execution errors. Most notably, the postexercise antisaccade benefit did not vary in magnitude across follicular or luteal phases (P = 0.33) and a two one-sided test statistic (i.e., equivalence testing) provided support for the null hypothesis (P = 0.008).
Conclusions
A postexercise executive benefit is independent of hormonal variations in the menstrual cycle. Further, our results evince that the phase of a female participant’s menstrual cycle should not be a limiting factor in determining their inclusion in exercise neuroscience research.
Background
The burden of pain in nursing homes is substantial; however, pain assessment for both acute and chronic conditions remains inadequate, resulting in inappropriate or inadequate treatment. Complexities in assessing resident pain have been attributed to factors (barriers and facilitators) arising at the resident, healthcare provider, and healthcare system levels.
Objectives
In this systematic review protocol, we identify our research approach that will be used to critically appraise and synthesize data in order to assess barriers and facilitators to pain assessment in nursing home residents aged ≥65 years.
Methods
This is a Cochrane style systematic review protocol adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Protocols reporting standards. This review will include primary (original) qualitative literature concerning either barriers or facilitators to pain assessment in older adult nursing home residents. A thematic analysis approach will be employed in collating and summarizing included data and will be categorized into resident, healthcare provider, and system-level factors. Database searches will include Abstracts in Social Gerontology, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of Science.
Discussion
The identification of barriers and facilitators to pain assessment in older adult nursing home residents may assist healthcare providers across all platforms and levels of education to improve pain assessment among nursing home residents. Improving the assessment of pain has the potential to improve quality of care and ultimately quality of life for older adult nursing home residents.
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