Despite an abundance of evidence that exercise benefits cognition and mood, physical activity levels among older adults remain low, with time and inaccessibility posing major barriers. Interval stair climbing is an accessible time-efficient form of physical activity demonstrated to benefit cognition and mood in young adults, but effectiveness in older adults remains unknown. To address this, 28 older adults (Mage = 69.78 years, 16 females) undertook cognitive and mood assessments twice, 1 week apart, once preceded by interval stair climbing. A fairly large, albeit only marginally significant, effect size () indicated improved cognition following the moderate- to high-intensity intervention; however, rather than improving mood, older adults reported feeling more tired (g = 0.51). These outcomes provide initial indications that this mode of exercise that can easily translate to naturalistic settings offers promise as an intervention strategy, but more research is needed to optimize the protocol to suit aged populations (ACTRN1261900169014).
The relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia has been a matter of dispute for ages. This study aimed to investigate the differences between schizophrenia with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and schizophrenia without OCS in positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Methods: Study participants comprised 30 patients with schizophrenia with OCS and 30 patients with schizophrenia without OCS which were enrolled through convenience sampling method from Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Diagnosis was made by a psychiatrist using SCID-I and the data were gathered using positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOC). MANCOVA test was used for analyzing data. Results: Results indicated that there was not any difference between schizophrenia with OCS group and schizophrenia without OCS group with regard to positive symptoms, but the difference in negative symptoms between two groups was significant. Conclusion: The present study reveals that OCS may be a protective factor for schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to investigate other factors and mediators involved in this association.
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