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PurposeThe prediction of student attrition is critical to facilitate retention mechanisms. This study aims to focus on implementing a method to predict student attrition in the upper years of a physiotherapy program.Design/methodology/approachMachine learning is a computer tool that can recognize patterns and generate predictive models. Using a quantitative research methodology, a database of 336 university students in their upper-year courses was accessed. The participant's data were collected from the Financial Academic Management and Administration System and a platform of Universidad Autónoma de Chile. Five quantitative and 11 qualitative variables were chosen, associated with university student attrition. With this database, 23 classifiers were tested based on supervised machine learning.FindingsAbout 23.58% of males and 17.39% of females were among the attrition student group. The mean accuracy of the classifiers increased based on the number of variables used for the training. The best accuracy level was obtained using the “Subspace KNN” algorithm (86.3%). The classifier “RUSboosted trees” yielded the lowest number of false negatives and the higher sensitivity of the algorithms used (78%) as well as a specificity of 86%.Practical implicationsThis predictive method identifies attrition students in the university program and could be used to improve student retention in higher grades.Originality/valueThe study has developed a novel predictive model of student attrition from upper-year courses, useful for unbalanced databases with a lower number of attrition students.

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Introduction: Human motor control requires a learning process and it can be trained by means of various sensory feedback sources.Objective: To determine variations in glenohumeral movement control by learning in young adults exposed to an auditory feedback system while they perform object translation tasks classified by difficulty level.Materials and methods: The study involved 45 volunteers of both sexes (22 women), aged between 18 and 32 years. Glenohumeral movement control was measured by means of the root mean square (RMS) of the accelerometry signal, while task execution speed (TES) was measured using an accelerometer during the execution of the task according to its difficulty (easy, moderate and hard) in four stages of randomized intervention (control, pre-exposure, exposure-with auditory feedback, and post-exposure).Results: Statistically significant differences (p<0.001) were found between the pre-exposure and exposure stages and between pre-exposure and post-exposure stages. A significant increase (p <0.001) in TES was identified between the pre-exposure and exposure stages for tasks classified as easy and hard, respectively.Conclusion: The use of an auditory feedback system in young adults without pathologies enhanced learning and glenohumeral movement control without reducing TES. This effect was maintained after the feedback, so the use of this type of feedback system in healthy individuals could result in a useful strategy for the training of motor control of the shoulder.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is zed by achieving similar effects to conventional physical and physiological training in a shorter time, allowing its dissemination in the sports field. The present study was aimed to analyze the effects of a HIIT program on body composition and general and specific physical fitness in Chilean female field hockey players. Experimental, repeated measures, simple blind, parallel groups, and a quantitative approach were used. The participants were randomized, and distributed into a control group (CG; n= 10) that maintained regular field hockey training and an experimental group (EG; n= 10) that also received complementary training with HIIT. Body composition (muscle mass and adipose mass), general physical fitness (jump performance with countermovement jump [CMJ] and maximum oxygen consumption [VO2max] were evaluated with the test Course-Navette), and specific physical fitness (pushing speed, dribbling speed, and shooting accuracy) were assessed with established protocols. Pre-and post-intervention comparisons were made with Student's t and Wilcoxon tests, considering p<0.05. The main results indicate that the EG presented a significant increase in muscle mass (p = 0.024; d = 0.62), CMJ (p = 0.005; d = 1.10), VO2max (p = 0.001; d = 1.58) and a significant reduction in adipose mass (p = 0.023; d = 0.36) and time in pushing speed (p = 0.028; d = 0.79). The CG did not present significant changes in any of the variables analyzed, and no significant differences were reported between the groups. In conclusion, eight weeks of HIIT significantly increases muscle mass, jump performance, and VO2max and significantly reduces adipose mass and time in pushing speed in Chilean female field hockey players.