Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · May 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEfficacy of face masks and respirators in preventing upper respiratory tract bacterial colonization and co-infection in hospital healthcare workers.
We compared the efficacy of medical masks (MM) and N95 respirators (N95) in preventing bacterial colonization/infection in healthcare workers (HCWs). ⋯ N95 respirators were significantly protective against bacterial colonization, co-colonization and viral-bacterial co-infection. We showed that dual respiratory virus or bacterial-viral co-infections can be reduced by the use of N95 respirators. This study has occupational health and safety implications for health workers.
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Preventive medicine · May 2014
Multicenter StudyMen benefit more from midlife leisure-time physical activity than women regarding the development of late-life disability--results of the KORA-Age study.
Encouraging physical activity is an important public health measure to reduce disability prevalence in the aged. The aims of this study were to determine the association between midlife physical activity and late-life disability and to investigate gender-specific differences. ⋯ Elevated physical activity reduces the risk of becoming disabled and postpones the onset of disability by several years, but we could not show an effect on the severity of disability. In addition, men seem to benefit more from leisure-time physical activity than women.