Browsing by Author "Sookan, Takshita."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Effects of a resistance exercise intervention programme on body composition, chronic disease risks and strength scores in people living with HIV and Aids (PLWHA) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Zimbabwe.
(2017) Mbayo, Victor.; Sookan, Takshita.
Introduction People living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) increases their life expectancy. Receiving ART coupled with physical inactivity results in increase in prevalence of hyperlipidaemia, obesity and overweight, type 2 diabetes mellitus, lipodystrophy, decrease in mineral bone density and hypertension among others. Resistance exercise (RE) interventions address chronic disease risks affecting PLWHA receiving ART. Aim The study investigated the effect of RE on body composition, chronic disease risks and strength scores in PLWHA receiving ART. Methods The study followed an experimental, pre-and-post-test design. The sample constituted 128 PLWHA, of black African ethnic groups, aged between 18-45 years and receiving ART. The participants were recruited from Glenview and Mabvuku suburbs in Harare. The participants from Glenview were randomly allocated to an experimental group i.e. the EXP group (n=64) performing REs three days per week and those from Mabvuku to a control group i.e. the CON group (n=64) for 12 weeks following a pre-test session. Body composition (waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index, percentage body fat, fat mass, lean body mass), chronic disease risks (fasting blood glucose, fasting total blood cholesterol, blood pressure) and strength (1RM tests) scores were pre-and-post-test measured in all participants observing standard protocols. Chi-square, Fisher’s test, linear regression, Binomial test, Spearman’s and Pearson’s correlations were conducted. SPSS statistical package version 22 was used and significance set at p<0.05. Results Post-test body composition scores remained high in the CON group (n=64), but improved significantly (p<.0005) in the EXP group (n=64). Significant differences (p<.0005) were noted in post-test chronic disease risks between the EXP group (n=64) and the CON group (n=64). Post-test fasting blood glucose and fasting total blood cholesterol scores in the CON group (n=64) were significantly higher (p<.0005) than in the EXP group (n=64). A 100% of the CON group (n=64) participants remained with pre-hypertension at post-test, while 66% of the EXP group (n=64) with hypertension 2 improved to hypertension 1. Strength scores in the EXP group (n=64) participants significantly increased (p<.0005) for bench press, squat, bicep curl and leg curls than in the CON group (n=64). There were no effects of gender in respect of fasting blood glucose and total fasting blood cholesterol scores in both groups at post-test. Conclusion The results showed that the 12 week RE intervention programme improved body composition, chronic disease risk and strength scores in PLWHA receiving ART. Resistance exercise is safe and beneficial for PLWHA in resource-constrained settings. Policy makers may utilise this information to include RE programmes for PLWHA as a healthy lifestyle intervention in Zimbabwe. Keywords HIV, ART, Chronic disease risks, Resistance exercise, Body composition, Strength.
Five minute recordings of heart rate variability in physically active students : reliability and gender characteristics.
(2011) Sookan, Takshita.; McKune, Andrew James.
Introduction Heart rate variability (HRV) is regarded as a useful, non-invasive method for investigating the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of HRV investigations in the disciplines of medical, sport and exercise science. Despite the extensive use of HRV in investigations of ANS functioning, there are questions relating to the reliability of the technique. Therefore, HRV reliability studies for different population groups have been advocated. Furthermore, research on gender differences in HRV is contradictory. This has resulted in the need to investigate gender characteristics in HRV. Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of short-term (5min) recordings of HRV, and to determine the association between HRV and gender. Methods Forty four physically active students (n= 21, age= 21.17 (1.55) males and n=23, age= 19.75 (1.76) females) participated in the study. Heart rate variability parameters were determined from five minute recording of interbeat intervals (IBI) using a Suunto t6 heart rate monitor (HRM). Testing was repeated over 4 consecutive days under the same conditions. The following HRV time and frequency domain measures were calculated using Kubios HRV Software Version 2.0: mean heart rate (HR), standard deviation of normal to normal intervals (SDNN), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), percentage of beats that changed more than 50 ms from the previous beat (pNN50), low frequency in normalized units (LFnu), high frequency in normalized units (HFnu) and low frequency to high frequency ratio in normalized units (LF/HFnu ratio). The data was summarized using routine descriptive statistics. Relative reliability was calculated using interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) (ICC of >0.80 indicated good to excellent reliability) and absolute reliability using typical error of measurement (TEM) and TEM as a percentage of the mean score (TEM%). This statistical measures were computed for days 2 vs 3 (REL 1), 3 vs 4 (REL 2). Day 1 was used as a familiarization day. An unpaired T-test was used to determine whether there were any differences between males and females for the above HRV parameters. Significance was set at p .0.05. Results The ICCs for both REL 1 and REL 2 indicated good to excellent (ICC >0.8) reliability for IBIs and pNN50 for the time domain results. In general, the time domain results had a higher relative reliability than the frequency domain results. Males had an overall lower relative reliability than females for frequency domain parameters. Absolute reliability for REL 2 showed a slightly lower TEM value as compared to REL 1.The largest gender differences in TEM were seen in the frequency domain parameters. Specifically, for males, the TEM was higher than females for the LF/HFnu ratio (REL 2: 116%), the HFnu (REL 1: 90%) and the LFnu (REL 1: 68%). Overall the TEM% was relatively high in most HRV parameters specifically for LF/HFnu (REL 1: 31.4% females and 48.1% males; REL 2: 29.7% females and 40.4% males). These findings indicate that males have decreased absolute reliability compared to females and that random error is greater in men for the frequency domain parameters. Gender differences illustrated significant differences for resting HR (16% higher in females (p < 0.0001)), IBIs (21% higher in females (p <0.0001)) and LF/HFnu ratio (41% higher in males (p = 0.003)). The findings indicate that females have higher total HRV. Conclusions Short term recordings of HRV over consecutive days using the Suunto t6 HRM and Kubios custom HRV software are reliable depending on the HRV parameter being analysed. Overall, the relative reliability results suggest that HRV using the Suunto t6 and Kubios is good. However, the absolute reliability results suggest low reliability. In particular, males demonstrated a poorer absolute reliability (high TEM and TEM%) than females, suggesting a larger day to day random error in males. Furthermore, specific HRV measures differed between males and females demonstrating that females have higher parasympathetic modulation compared to men. The overall higher HRV in females could explain the possible cardio-protective mechanism observed in premenopausal women. Key words: Heart rate variability, Parasympathetic, Reliability, Interbeat Intervals
Weight, chronic disease risk and physical activity levels of rural and urban women in Zimbabwe.
(2017) Mhlanga, Sinikiwe.; Sookan, Takshita.
Introduction: In developing countries there is a shift from traditional diets and lifestyles to western diets and lifestyles particularly in rapidly growing urban populations. This is a major cause of overweight and obesity. Obesity is a well-recognised risk factor for various chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are the largest cause of death in the world. They include cardiovascular disease, some cancers, chronic lung diseases and raised blood pressure. Maintaining a physically active lifestyle by doing regular moderate physical activities helps to keep a healthy weight and lower the risks of chronic diseases. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare weight, chronic risk diseases and physical activity levels of rural and urban women in selected Zimbabwean communities. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive and comparative design was followed in the study. The study population included all black Zimbabwean women aged 18 to 60 years residing in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province (Urban) and Matabeleland North Province (Rural). A sample size of 280 women participated in this study. One hundred and forty were urban residents from high density suburbs and 140 were rural residents. Anthropometric variables (mass, stature, waist and hip circumferences) were measured. Three questionnaires were administered; International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ), Quality of Life, and Nutritional questionnaires. Descriptive statistics including means and standard deviations were used. The Chi-square goodness-of-fit-test, a univariate test was used for categorical variables to test response options and the independent t-tests and Chi-square test of independence were used to compare group cases and the significance was set at p≤0.05. The SPSS version 22 statistical package was used to conduct data analysis. Results: The average weight for urban women 71.19±15.23kg was significantly higher than that for rural women 66.58±13.74kg, t (278) = -2.657, p=0.008. When considering Body Mass Index (BMI) classification, a significant number were either normal (117) or overweight (96), χ2 (4) =181.500, p˂0.0005. There was a significant difference between rural and urban women in terms of BMI (p = 0.009). There was a significant relationship between age and BMI (p < 0.05). Older women 30 years and above were classified as overweight and obese compared to the younger women. There was a significant difference between urban and rural women 0.80± 0.60 and 0.78± 0.68), t (278) = -2.055, p= 0.003 in terms of waist to hip ratio (WHR). On chronic disease risk the urban women were at high and very high risk, while rural women were not at risk (χ2 (4) = 11.762, p=0.019). There was no significant difference in blood glucose levels between urban and rural women. A significant difference was shown across age groups of blood glucose levels (Welch (3, 51.868) = 3.205, p=0.031). A significant difference across age groups of cholesterol was noted; levels (F (3, 133) = 7.123, p < 0.0005). There was a significant relationship between location and blood pressure p=0.025, with rural women having a higher raised blood pressure than urban women. Both rural women and urban women were physically active and a significant difference was noted in the transport domain, t (278), 2.002, p=0.46. There was no significant difference in quality of life between rural and urban women. There was a significant difference between energy consumption and location, t (278) = -5.202, p<0.0005. Urban women had significantly high protein consumption p=0.007, and fat consumption p<0.0005. Conclusion: The study findings highlight a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban women compared to rural women in terms of BMI and waist to hip ratio. The Zimbabwean women show an increased risk for chronic health problems with higher prevalence in urban women than rural women especially raised blood pressure. There was a low prevalence of raised blood glucose in both the groups. Raised blood cholesterol prevalence was higher in urban than rural women. Both rural and urban women had good quality of life scores. Urban women had high consumption of macronutrients than rural women. Both urban and rural women showed high levels of physical activity.