Physical health level and osteopathic status of students
Authors: Tyuleneva A. A. , Potekhina Y. P. 
Published: June 2023

Introduction. Many studies have noted negative trends in the state of students′ health in higher education institutions. Consequently, there is a need to monitor the students′ physical health in order to improve the health preserving and strengthening technologies. The concept of somatic dysfunction (SD) is close to the category of pre-disease. It is a borderline condition, in which the functional reserves of the body are depleted, and it cannot be called healthy, but the detectable by routine diagnostic tools organic changes are not determined in such a person. There was not possible to fi nd works in which the level of physical health and osteopathic status were compared.

The aim of the study is to research the physical health level and osteopathic status of the III–IV courses students.

Materials and methods. The cross-sectional study from March to November 2022 involved the 82 III–IV year students from different Universities in Yekaterinburg. 50 of them were women and 32 were men. Inclusion criteria: age 19–21 years, no complaints, no acute diseases, chronic diseases in persistent remission, no pregnancy. So the examined can be called relatively healthy people. Each person was examined once. Students fi lled out a questionnaire developed by the authors, where they noted the presence of chronic diseases, and the motor activity level. Then they underwent an osteopathic examination according to an approved protocol with a description of the osteopathic status and identifi cation of the dominant somatic dysfunction. After that, there was conducted Introduction. Many studies have noted negative trends in the state of students′ health in higher education institutions. Consequently, there is a need to monitor the students′ physical health in order to improve the health preserving and strengthening technologies. The concept of somatic dysfunction (SD) is close to the category of pre-disease. It is a borderline condition, in which the functional reserves of the body are depleted, and it cannot be called healthy, but the detectable by routine diagnostic tools organic changes are not determined in such a person. There was not possible to fi nd works in which the level of physical health and osteopathic status were compared. The aim of the study is to research the physical health level and osteopathic status of the III–IV courses students.

Materials and methods. The cross-sectional study from March to November 2022 involved the 82 III–IV year students from different Universities in Yekaterinburg. 50 of them were women and 32 were men. Inclusion criteria: age 19–21 years, no complaints, no acute diseases, chronic diseases in persistent remission, no pregnancy. So the examined can be called relatively healthy people. Each person was examined once. Students fi lled out a questionnaire developed by the authors, where they noted the presence of chronic diseases, and the motor activity level. Then they underwent an osteopathic examination according to an approved protocol with a description of the osteopathic status and identifi cation of the dominant somatic dysfunction. After that, there was conducted the examination with using the G. L. Apanasenko′s express system for assessing the health level. It consists of a number of indicators that are ranked and each rank is assigned by a corresponding score. The overall health score is determined by the sum of points and allows to distribute all the persons into 5 levels of health.

Results. The study of the physical health level among the students showed that there was no high level of health in this group, the level above average was detected in 19,5 % of the examined, the average level was detected in 35,4 %, below average — 28 %, low — 17,1 %. The average level of health in men is higher than in women. Among the examined the 43,9 % had one diagnosis of a chronic disease in the stage of persistent remission. When comparing the examined patients with and without chronic diseases diagnoses, it turned out that the bulk of the studied indicators in these subgroups did not differ (p>0,05). Osteopathic examination showed that 13 people had no SD at all (15,8 %). 18 people (22 %) had one regional biomechanical SD, and one person had global neurodynamic SD. When comparing the subgroups without SD and/or with regional/global SD with the rest of the subjects (in whom only local SD was detected), it turned out that these three subgroups differed statistically signifi cantly in terms of the main indicators of the health level. In the subgroup without SD, there were observed the best indicators of physical health. In the examined subgroups with local and regional/global SD, the resting heart rate and the heart rate recovery time after 20 squats were statistically signifi cantly higher, and the sum of points and the overall assessment of the health level were less (p<0,0001). At the same time, these subgroups did not differ statistically signifi cantly in terms of physical activity. Conclusion. The study showed that the presence of chronic diseases in the stage of persistent remission in young people does not affect the level of health. The presence of local and especially regional SD is associated with decreased health indicators, and a decreased adaptation to physical activity.><0,0001). At the same time, these subgroups did not differ statistically signifi cantly in terms of physical activity.

Conclusion. The study showed that the presence of chronic diseases in the stage of persistent remission in young people does not affect the level of health. The presence of local and especially regional SD is associated with decreased health indicators, and a decreased adaptation to physical activity