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The short report aims to examine differences in self-rated general health across racialized post-secondary students at a university in Ontario, Canada. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine poor health as an outcome among racialized students as whole, as well as across Asian, South Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Middle Eastern student groups in comparison to white Caucasian post-secondary students. After adjusting for several covariates, racialized students as a whole had 2.43 times the odds of reporting poor general health compared to white Caucasian students. Asian (OR = 2.77; CI = 1.84-4.18; p < 0.05) and South Asian (OR = 2.52; CI = 1.56-4.08; p < 0.05) students were significantly more likely to report poor health compared to white Caucasian students. The findings call for further attention to the health needs of racialized post-secondary students living in Canada and creating campuses where diverse student populations feel safe and systemically included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical Relevance: While the clinical focus of performance metrics is traditionally based on visual acuity, research from the field of visual impairment has demonstrated that metrics such as reading speed and critical print size correlate much more strongly with subjective patient reported outcomes and assessed ability in real-world tasks.Background: More recently, digital device use has increasingly replaced many paper-based tasks. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the correlation between standard acuity/contrast metrics and functional reading ability compared to real-world performance on an iPad-based reading task with astigmatic patients corrected wearing toric and mean spherical equivalent contact lenses.Methods: Thirty-four adult participants, with -0.75 to -1.50-D of refractive astigmatism, were enrolled in a double-masked cross-over study and fitted with toric and spherical equivalent contact lenses, in random order. A digital application was developed to assess zoom, contrast modifications, the distance at which the tablet was held, blink rate, and time to complete the reading task. High and low contrast near logMAR visual acuity were measured along with reading performance (critical print size and optimal reading speed).Results: The amount participants chose to increase tablet font size (zoom) was correlated with their high-contrast visual acuity with toric correction (r = 0.434, p = 0.010). With best sphere correction, zoom was associated with reading speed (r = -0.450, p = 0.008) and working distance (r = 0.522, p = 0.002). Text zoom was also associated with horizontal (toric: r = 0.898, p < 0.001; sphere: r = 0.880, p < 0.001) and vertical scrolling (toric: r = 0.857, p < 0.001; sphere: r = 0.846, p < 0.001). There was a significant negative association between the selection of text contrast and zoom (toric: r = -0.417, p = 0.0141; sphere: r = -0.385, p = 0.025).Conclusion: Real-world task performance allows more robust assessment of visual function than standard visual metrics alone. Digital technology offers the opportunity to better understand the impact of different vision correction options on real-world task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Ruesi Dadton (RD) group exercise on oxidative stress (OS) levels and health conditions in healthy elderly individuals. This quasi-experimental study evaluated 23 healthy elderly participants, with evaluations at baseline, and 4 and 12 weeks after RD program initiation. RD consisted of 15 postures performed three times a week. OS was measured through levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase (CAT). Blood pressure (BP) and balance were also observed. The results revealed that RD yielded significantly improved balance and CAT activity and decreased MDA level at 4 weeks. At 12 weeks, significant improvements in BP, balance, and SOD, CAT, and GPx activities and decreases in MDA and 8-OHdG levels were observed. These results suggest that RD can improve BP and balance by decreasing OS and increasing antioxidant levels in healthy elderly individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]