Scientific Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
Year:2022 | Volume:11 | Issue:2|Papers Count:11

Background and Aims One of the biggest challenges of the health systems in the 21 century is the increasing burden of chronic diseases. To address this challenge, many developed countries have begun to adopt self-management education programs. There are various tools for measuring the effectiveness of these programs in patients with chronic diseases. Some of these tools are designed to measure selfmanagement in a particular disease, while some tools are used generally for a wide range of chronic diseases. This study aim to review the general tools used for measuring self-management in chronic diseases. Methods This is a narrative review. To find the studies used the tools for assessing self-management, a searched in online databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar on related studies published from 2000 to 2020. Results The general tools available for assessing self-management in chronic diseases were: Self-Management Screening (SeMaS) Scale, Self-Management Ability Scale (SMAS), Self-Control and Self-Management Scale (SCMS), Partners in Health Scale (PIH), and Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ). Conclusion There are various general tools for self-management evaluation in chronic diseases. It is necessary to select the appropriate tool based on the goals.

The purpose of this review study is to review the studies that have assessed the interaction between surface stiffness and lower limb stiffness. There is a general hypothesis that with the increase of surface stiffness, the lower limb stiffness decreases or vice versa. These interactions take place with the aim of maintaining the dynamics of the center of mass and reducing the energy consumption during movement. One of the mechanisms for these interactions is the change in joint stiffness and leg geometry. Some studies suggested that the stretch reflex has no role in changing the lower limb stiffness. Although interactions between lower limb stiffness and surface stiffness has been recognized, there is little evidence about neuromuscular mechanism of these interactions. More studies is needed in this filed.

Background and Aims This study aims to compare the effectiveness of two computerized cognitive training applications, “, Brain Train”,and" CogniPlus”, , in improving the response inhibition, selective attention, and visual-spatial processing speed of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods This is a quasi-experimental. Participants were 45 elementary school students diagnosed with ADHD who were selected by a convenience sampling method. The students were divided randomly into three groups: intervention group 1 (n=15, receiving training by Brain Train), intervention group 2 (n=15, receiving training by CogniPlus) and control (n=15). Each intervention group separately received training for two months, three session per week, each for 50-60-minutes. Performance of three groups were evaluated in response inhibition, selective attention, and visual-spatial processing in pre-test and post-test phases using Stroop test, the integrated visual and auditory continuous performance test (IVA+Plus), and visual-spatial processing subscale of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales. Collected data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance. Results Results showed a significant difference between the two intervention groups in the study variables (P<0. 05), but there was no significant difference between two intervention groups in improving selective attention and response inhibition (P>0. 05). However, in visual-spatial processing, the group received training by Brain Train application showed a significant improvement more than the group received training by CogniPlus (P< 0. 05). Conclusion Computerized cognitive training applications can improve the cognitive skills of children with ADHD, where the Brain Train application is more effective than Cogniplus regarding the visual-spatial processing ability.

Background and Aims Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is one of the third wave of behavior therapies. One of its main goals is to improve psychological flexibility which can increase the life expectancy and promote the mental health. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of ACT on mothers' life expectancy and academic resilience of children with physical-motor disabilities. Methods The quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design was conducted from October 2019 to March 2020. Participants were 30 children with physical-motor disabilities and their mothers, who were selected by a purposive sampling method. Participants were assigned into two groups of intervention and control using the block randomization method. The intervention group received ACT at 10 sessions of 120 minutes per week. Participants completed a demographic checklist, Miller Hope Scale, and Academic Resilience Scale at pre-test, post-test and one-month follow-up phases. The collected data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance in SPSS v. 23 software. Results The effectiveness of ACT in improving the mothers’,life expectancy and children’, s academic resilience was statistically significant in post-test phase (P<0. 01). The effects of ACT remained stable in the one-month follow-up period (P<0. 05). Conclusion The ACT is effective in improving the psychological characteristics of children with physicalmotor disabilities and their mothers. It can be used for clinical treatment of children with special needs.

Background and Aims Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder. Weakness in social interactions and sensory disorders are the problems of children with ASD. These children are weak in social interactions with other children and their therapists. Robots may be used as a friend or assistive therapist to teach different social and cognitive skills to them. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy with and without an assistive robot on social interaction of children with ASD. Methods This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest/posttest/follow-up design using a control group. The study population consists of all children with ASD aged 7-9 years in Tehran, Iran. Of these, 45 children with a moderate level of ASD were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group. Data collection tool was the social interaction subscale of the second edition of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale. Both experimental groups received sensory integration therapy at 15 sessions, while only one group received the therapy with an assistive robot at 15 sessions. The data were collected before, immediately after, and two months after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed using a mixed analysis of variance in SPSS v. 22 software. The significance level was set at 0. 05. Results The results showed that the sensory integration therapy with and without the use of an assistive robot were significantly effective in improving the social interactions of children with ASD, where the sensory integration therapy with an assistive robot had a greater effect (P<0. 05). Conclusion The sensory integration therapy with an assistive robot is more effective in improving the social interactions of children with ASD compared to the sensory integration therapy without the use of an assistive robot.

Background and Aims This study aims to investigate the effect of motor rehabilitation training on working memory and attention/concentration in male school students with reading disorders. Methods This is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test/post-test design. The study population included all male students in elementary schools (6 grade) of Kerman, Iran in the academic year 2019-2020. Samples were 30 eligible students who were selected by a convenince sampling method and were randomly divided into two groups of 15 people. Both groups underwent N-back test for working memory test and the continuous performance test before and after the intervention. Data were described using the mean and standard deviation, and were analyzed using the analysis of covariance in SPSS v. 22 software. th Results The motor rehabilitation training had a significant effect on working memory and attention/ concentration of male students (P<0. 001). Conclusion The motor rehabilitation training can improve working memory and attention/concentration of male students with reading disorder. Therefore, the training can be used to reduce the reading problems of these students.

Background and Aims Understanding the involved mechanisms in muscle atrophy can help develop new treatment methods for atrophic conditions. Skeletal muscle atrophy via biochemical and transcriptional pathways can increase the expression of some muscle atrophy related genes. The present study aims to assess the effect of reduced physical activity by the spinal nerve ligation (SNL) after a period of resistance, endurance and combined exercises on the expression of MuRF-1 and Atrogin-1 genes in male rats. Methods In this experimental study, 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control+SNL, combined exercise+SNL, endurance exercise+SNL, and resistance training+SNL. The exercises were performed for six weeks. After this period, the protocol of reduced physical activity by the SNL was implemented for four weeks. At the end, soleus muscle was isolated and the expression levels of MuRF-1 and Atrogin-1 genes were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. To examine the gene expression differences between the groups, analysis of variance and Tukey’, s post hoc test were used. The significant level was set at 0. 05. Results The results showed that the expression of MuRF-1 gene in the combined exercise+SNL and resistance training+SNL groups was significantly lower than in the control group (P<0. 05). The Atrogin-1 gene expression was significantly reduced only in the combined exercise+SNL group compared to the control group (P<0. 05). Conclusion It seems that the rats with resistance training are more resistant to SNL-induced atrophy than the group with endurance exercise.

Background and Aims Osteoporosis is called a “, silent disease”,because it has no symptoms until a bone is fractured. Therefore, its early detection before occurrence of fracture is important. Using data mining algorithms can help access the information hidden in the data. This study aims to compare two simple decision tree and random forest algorithms to predict osteoporosis in active middle-aged men. Methods A total of 256 middle-aged men referred to Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2017-2020 participated in this study. Data analysis was carried out in MATLAB software version 2020. Evaluation was performed using the confusion matrix and based on accuracy and precision criteria. Results Out of 103 factors related to personal information, lifestyle, and disease, 11 were selected as inputs to the algorithms. The results showed that the random forest algorithm had a better performance (73. 4% accuracy and 68. 07% precision) compared to simple decision tree. Conclusion The data mining algorithms can be effective in predicting osteoporosis in active middle-aged men. These algorithms can be used for early treatment and rapid diagnosis of osteoporosis and prevent the occurrence of bone fractures and their irreparable complications.

Background and Aims Whole body vibration (WBV) is a safe and effective method to improve balance and muscle strength. Considering to the effect of foot longitudinal arch on dynamic balance, and the effectiveness of WBV in improving balance, the present study aims to assess the effects of WBV on dynamic balance of patients with flexible flatfoot. Methods In this randomized clinical trial, 80 patients with flexible flatfoot,40 aged <18 years (Mean±, SD age= 15. 25±, 1. 24) and 40 aged >20 (Mean±, SD age= 22. 57±, 1. 48). They were randomly divided into two intervention groups of <18 and >20 years and two control groups of <18 and >20 years. The intervention groups received four weeks of WBV. In the control groups, no intervention was carried out. The fatigue was induced by running on a treadmill at different speeds and inclinations according to the Bruce protocol. Dynamic balance was assessed using the Biodex Balance System at anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions and in overall. Results The repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni test results showed that the mean dynamic balance in overall and at anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions were significantly increased in the intervention groups compared to the control groups (P<0. 001). Moreover, the dynamic balance showed a significant increase in the intervention group aged <18 years compared to the intervention group aged >20 years (P<0. 001). Conclusion The WBV can be used to improve the dynamic balance of people with flexible flatfoot even in fatigue conditions.

Background and Aims Nowadays, due to the lifestyle changes and excessive use of communication technologies, postural deformities have increased. The upper-crossed syndrome (UCS) can lead to forward head posture (FHP), rounded shoulders (RS), and hyperkyphosis (HKP). This study aims to investigate the effect of an eight-week corrective exercise program in water on FHP, RS, and HKP, and pain in young men with UCS. Methods n this randomized controlled clinical trial, after initial screening of 200 students, 34 men with UCS, a mean age of 23±, 0. 80 years, a mean weight of 71. 61±, 2. 2 kg, a mean height of 171. 75 1. 24 cm, and a mean body mass index of 23. 60±, . 67 kg/m2 were purposefully selected as the study samples. The sample was determined 30 using G. Power v. 3. 1 software. By considering a possible dropout of 5%, it was increased to 34. These samples were randomly divided into two groups of exercise (n=17) and control (n=17). The exercise group performed corrective exercises in water for eight weeks, while the control group received no intervention during this period. The FHP and RS angles were measured by taking a side profile photo and the HKP angle was measured using a flexible ruler. Paired t-test was used for comparison of pretest and posttest scores, and independent t-test was used to compare the groups. Data were analyzed in SPSS software and the significance level was set at 0. 05. Results The results showed that the exercise group had significant reduction in the angles of HKP (P= 0. 001), FHP (P=0. 001) and RS (P=0. 001) Conclusion The eight-week water-based corrective exercise program can significantly reduce the angles of FHP, RS, and HKP in young men with UCS. This program can be used by specialists for correcting the postural deformities.

Background and Aims Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common destructive diseases of the central nervous system, which leads to disability and impaired mobility and functional capacity in patients. For the rehabilitation of patients with MS, resistance training is considered as a safe and efficient method. In this regard, in recent years, core stability exercise has become one of the common training methods for the rehabilitation of patients with MS. It is defined as the ability to control the position of the trunk over the pelvis to effectively transfer the force to the lower extremities during various activities. This study aims to compare the effects of selected TRX and aerofitness exercises on the core stability of women with MS. Methods In this randomized clinical trial, 30 women with MS aged 20-50 years with expanded disability status scale score <5 referred to MS Association of Isfahan were selected by a purposive sampling method and were randomly divided into two TRX and aerofitness groups. They performed the exercises for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week, each for 60 minutes. Their core stability was measured using the BieringSø, rensen test, isometric lateral trunk endurance tests, and Planck test. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and independent t-test. Results The selected TRX and aerofitness exercises had a significant effect on the improvement of core stability in women with MS (P <0. 05). Patients in the TRX group showed more significant improvement than in the aerofitness group (P <0. 05). Conclusion The selected TRX and aerofitness exercises can improve the core stability of women with MS. However, further studies are needed to use these exercises in patients with MS.