SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF REHABILITATION MEDICINE
Year:2016 | Volume:5 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:25

Background and Aim: Today, investigation of the health related to the quality of life of caregivers of the patients with chronic disease is among the mail objectives of trereatment teams, due to the key role they play in maintaining patients in the community. Given the wide range of spinal cord injury patients in need of assistance, usually by their relative or caregivers, to perform their daily and professional activities, the huge physical, psychological, emotional and economic burden may be reflected on the quality of life of their caregivers. The aim of the present study was to translate Caregiver Burden Scale into Persian and to study its content and face validity with the goal of creating a useful tool for evaluating and providing effective treatment strategies to reduce the burden of care and improvement of quality of life of caregivers and care recipients.Materials and Methods: In order to be able to use the caregiver burden scale among Iranian caregivers, forward-backward translation procedure was followed to develop the Persian version of the scale. Face validity was evaluated by 14 caregivers and content validity by 14 specialists in rehabilitation.Results: Generally, the items were viewed to be acceptable from the viewpoint of caregivers and some items were suggested by the caregivers to undergo revisions. These items were discussed and revised in an expert panel. The results of the face validity in the view of caregivers indicate that the scale enjoys good validity in terms of relevance, clarity, and simplicity for all the items on a 4-point diagram. The results related to the necessity of CBS items in a three-point scale based on the opinions of 14 specialists in rehabilitation indicate a high content validity.Conclusion: The results show that the Persian translation of "caregiver burden scale" is acceptable and it has acceptable content and face validity.

Background and Aim: Writing is one of the important functions of the hand. Holding a writing instrument properly needs tripod pinch which is also considered as a prerequisite for writing. Since the quality of writing function depends on tripod pinch strength and also regarding the current assumptions about the effect of different positions such as prone and sitting on pinch strength, therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare tripod pinch strength in three different positions of sitting, standard prone, and preferred prone so that it would be possible to help children with dysgraphia to be positioned in an appropriate position in order to have good control on writing instrument and improve their handwriting abilities.Materials and Methods: The present inquiry was an observational cross-sectional study which was performed in eight ordinary elementary schools of four areas of educational system in the city of Shiraz. The population consisted of the primary school students. Participants were randomly assigned from the selected schools. Measuring the tripod pinch strength was done by pinch gauge. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (v.20) and the statistical test of Repeated Measures ANOVA was the choice for analyzing the data.Results: A total of 123 seven-year old (84-95 months) first grade school students including 57 boys and 66 girls were evaluated. Tripod pinch strength in preferred prone position was significantly higher in comparison with that in the other two positions (p<0.0005).Conclusion: Considering the contraindications of preferred prone position in some neurologically ill children, it could have the potentials to be used in rehabilitation interventions as a proper position while the intention of the therapy is to improve the handwriting function.

Background and Aim: Although play seems to be a simple concept, it is complex and varies according to individual experiences. Play is a process that follows no rule. It is a spontaneous, funny, flexible, completely attractive, vital, and challenging behavior that aims at no goal. Pretend play starts in childhood since 18 months. The play is a potential source for assessment of academic skills and pretend play is more related to preacademic skills. The purpose of the present study was translation and examination of the face and content validity of Persian version of the Child Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (CHIPPA).Materials and Methods: The translation of the test was carried out based on the International Quality of Life Assessment. Then, face validity was determined by 5 and content validity was evaluated by 10 specialists in occupational therapy. Next, Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were calculated.Results: In the process of translation, some phrases were changed with regard to cultural considerations. CVI was foud to be 1 and CVR was 0.8 to 1 in all the items.Conclusion: The Persian version of Child Initiated Pretend Play Assessment has an acceptable face and content validity.

Background and aim: Anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs in females 2 to 8 times more than it does in males. One of the reasons for this is existing deficits in neuromuscular system of females. So, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the differences between male and female volleyball players in pattern and electromyography activity of quadriceps and hamstring muscles in jump-landing task.Materials and Methods: In the present study 18 collegiate volleyball players (9 men and 9 women) participated on a voluntary basis. The results of muscles activity and onset time in landing were compared between male and female athletes.Results: Feed forward activity of quadriceps muscles in females are significantly more than that in males (p<0.001). In the hamstring activity, there is no significant difference between men and women. Hamstring to quadriceps activity ratio in women was observed to be significantly less than that in men in feed forward phase (p<0.05).Conclusion: The results of studies in the field of gender differences are inconsistent and this can be related to our few samples or differences in the samples' physical fitness and sport type. The only common result of all studies is improvement of neuromuscular system and reinforcement of hamstring.

Background and Aim: Since impairment in body alignment affects dynamic stability during sport movements and skills, the purpose of the present study was to compare center of pressure changes to center of mass during forward and backward walking among elite male karatekas with Genu varum and normal angle.Materials and Method: Twenty elite male karatekas (two groups of Genu varum and normal) participated in the current semi-experimental study. Center of pressure changes to center of mass was calculated using force plate data during forward and backward walking.Results: The results showed that center of pressure changes to center of mass was significantly different in medial-lateral direction in non-dominant limb between forward and backward walking (p=0.005), while it was not foud to be significantly different in anterior-posterior direction. Also, the difference between Genu varum group and normal group was significant in the center of pressure changes to center of mass in anterior-posterior direction in both limbs during forward walking (p=0.010), but no significant difference was observed in medial-lateral direction. Moreover, no significant difference could be observed between dominant and non-dominant limbs in the center of pressure changes to center of mass in none of the directions.Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the pattern of the center of pressure changes to center of mass during forward walking was different from that of backward walking. However, in both directions, gait stability in Genu varum participants was observed to be less than that of the normal karatekas.

Background and Aim: Postural control is the base of body movements and is required for most daily and sports activities. Several factors can affect the performance of postural control system and reduce postural stability. According to the previous studies, the cold is one of the factors that can influence the neuromuscular system and thus increase postural sway. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the postural sway of college soccer players following a protocol of local cold application by cold spray at ankle joint.Materials and MethodIn the present quasi-experimental study, 30 male college soccer players were purposefully selected with a mean age of 23.2 ± 1.29 years, mean weight of 69.5 ± 6.73 kg, and mean height of 177.11 ± 5.92 cm. Postural sway characteristics of the participants were measured by the pressure distribution detecting device and the data was recorded as pre-test scores. Next, the cold spray was simultaneously applied on both medial and lateral aspects of the ankle joint of the dominant leg. Immediately then, the postural sway characteristics were measured again and the data was recorded as post-test scores. T-test was used to compare the means.Results: The results showed that despite the relative increase in postural sway characteristics of the participants after using the cold spray, there was no significant difference between these characteristics before and after cryotherapy.Conclusion: It seems that using cold spray for local cooling of ankle joint has no significant effect on the postural sway in college soccer players. Nonetheless, because of the slight increase in postural sway characteristics after cryotherapy, the results of the study should be interpreted with caution.

Background and Aim: Accommodative esotropia is the most common strabismus among children and its initial treatment is optical correction of the full refractive error. Considering the fact that emmetropization is controlled by refractive status of the eye and visual acuity, early correction of hyperopia in childhood may impede emmetropization. The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between age when spectacles wear initiated and refractive error changes in children with accommodative esotropia.Materials and Method: In the present cross-sectional study, medical records of 1- to 8-year-old patients diagnosed with refractive accommodative esotropia (esotropia decreased to within 10Δ with full hyperopic correction) were reviewed and the refractive data was analyzed for 3 groups of children based on their age when spectacles wear initiated.Results: A total of 62 patients were included in the study. The mean age when spectacles wear initiated was 2.5 years and the mean of follow-up period was 1.9 years. The relationship between age when spectacles wear initiated with changes in spherical equivalent and hyperopia was statistically significant (p<0.05), but with astigmatism it was not revealed to be significant (p>0.05). There is a negative relationship between spherical equivalent and hyperopia with the age when spectacles wear initiated.Conclusion: The age when spectacles wear initiated is significantly correlated to the changes in spherical equivalent and hyperopia in children with accommodative esotropia. The lower the age when spectacles wear initiated, the higher the spherical equivalent and hyperopia. The possibility that full correction of hyperopia impedes emmetropization must be considered.

Background and Aim: Multiple sclerosis is the most common chronic autoimmune disease. Given the importance of independence in daily activities and its relationship with balance, the goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between balance and independence in basic and instrumental activities of daily life of the patients with multiple sclerosis in Tehran.Materials and Method: Participants of the present cross-sectional study were 40 MS patients (20 males and 20 females) with a mean age of (7.455) 39.25 and duration of illness for (15.488) 35.85. All the participants could walk independently and could perfrom their daily acitivities. They were evaluated using Balance Berg Scale, Barthel Index, Instrumental Activity of Daily Living Lawton version, and Functional Independed Measure in a single session and with intervals.Results: According to pearson correlation coefficient, with confidence certainty set at 0.95, correlation coefficients were found to be 0.396 between balance and Barthel index with a significant level of 0.011, 0.415 between balance and with Latown index and significant level of 0.008, and 0.484 between balance and equilibrium FIM and 0.002 confidence level. Considering P<0.005, the relationship between balance and Barthel Index, Latown, and FIM, was significant in these patients.Conclusion: It seems that balance can affect independence of these patients in their daily activities and social participation. Considering the fact that all the participants had some degrees of independence in their daily activities and balance, it is recommended that further studies be carried out among a larger population in a longitudinal study.

Background and Aim: The ability of emotional face perception is an essential capability for social interaction specially in the earl stages of life. The purpose of the present study is evaluation of developmental trajectory of emotional recognition among Iranian children.Materials and Method: The sample included 242 elementary school students, ranging from the first to the sixth grade. Participants were chosen based on cluster sampling in 4 region of Tehran. Data was collected using Ekman facial recognition test. One way Anova and Tukey test were used for analysis.Results: Results showed that there is a significant difference between the first graders and the sixth graders in emotion recognition performance. Also, girls were found to have better performance in emotion recognition than boys (p<0.05).Conclusion: It can be stated that accompanied by child development, the ability to emotional recognition developed through age in school age children and girls have better performance in emotional recognition in that age.

Background and Aim: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second common neuro-degenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Tremor at rest, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural control impairments are the four main diagnostic symptoms of PD. However, people with PD reported several non-motor symptoms. Among non-motor symptoms, fatigue is the most widespread with the prevalence rates of 40-65 percent that can have impacts on the quality of life of these people. The purpose of the present study was to translate and evaluate face and content validity of Parkinson Fatigue Scale (PFS-16) in patients with Parkinson' s.Materials and Method: Translation of this scale was done in two phases according to international quality of life assessment (IQOLA). Then, face validity was checked by 15 patients with Parkinson's disease and content validity was evaluated by 15 occupational therapists. To determine the content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI), Lawshe’s method was used.Results: In the translation phase, only one question was changed because of conceptual problem. Face validity was very high for this measure. According to Lawshe, content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were in the acceptable range.Conclusion: Persian version of Parkinson Fatigue Scale (PFS-16) has high face and content validity which is good for assessing fatigue in people with Parkinson' s.

Background and Aim: The purpose of the present study was to examine the reliability of an isometric knee muscle force measurement device.Materials and Method: Thirty-four healthy non-athlete subjects (17 males and 17 females, aged between 19-25) participated in the study. The maximal isometric muscle strength of the knee extensor muscles were measured at different times and on different days using a newly designed knee muscle force measurement apparatus. On each occasion, participants performed three maximum voluntary contractions in each direction of knee extension movement. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard deviation within subjects (Sw) were computed to evaluate the reliability and magnitude of measurement error between measurements.Results: The results of the intra-rater, test-retest, and inter-rater reliabilities (ICCs ≥0.90, Sws ≤ 9.1 N) indicate that the knee muscle force measurements were highly repeatable and varied slightly between measurements. There were no statistically significant difference in knee muscle force measurements between times, days, and raters. Maximal isometric muscle strengths were significantly higher in males compared with that in females (p<0.000). Women's right and left knee muscle strengths were 52.28% of that in men in knee extension, respectively.Conclusion: The isometric muscle force measurement device used in the present study appears to be a reliable and useful instrument for measuring the force of the knee extensors. It could also be suitable for the assessment of a physiotherapeutic or rehabilitation program.

Background and Aim: The present study examines planning ability as one of the most important executive functions in learning daily tasks as well as behavioral and motion reactions. This executive ability, as a cognitive skill, requires continuous exhibition, assessment, and correction.Materials and Methods: In the current cross-sectional study, 30 children aged between 6-12 were selected and then randomly divided into two groups. The means of age in autism and normal groups were 7.86 (1.38) and 8 (1.68), respectively. Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children were used to collect data. Data was then analyzed using t-test.Results: High functioning children with autism showed significant differences in planning in comparison with that in normal children particularly in initial thinking time, time, and the number of motions for solving problems.Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that high functioning children with autism have poor capability in planning, and this is besides other reports on poor ability of these children in other executive functions.

Background and Aim: National screening program on amblyopia in preschool-aged children is one of the current health programs in Iran. The present study aimed to evaluate the process of visual therapy and its effectiveness in amblyopic children detected in this program.Materials and Methods: In the current study, all optometric centers in Mashhad city as referral centers in the national program were visited to collect information and documentations regarding children with amblyopia diagnosed in 2012. Informed consent of parents was acquired and then they were interviewed. Also, visual acuity and refractive error of children was measured. From among 168 children with amblyopia diagnosed in 2012, 71 could be accessed through their files.Results: From among 66 parents who agreed to participate, 58 (88% (had been informed of the importance of early intervention by optometrists, and 57 (87% (had 1 to 4 follow-up visits during the first year after diagnosis and commencement of intervention, through which their visual acuity and refractive error status were documented.However, none were checked for any effect of treatment on daily activities and quality of life. About 63.6% of parents had received counseling from optometrists regarding solving problems of compliance with treatment. About 90% of the files contained no documentation whatsoever on efforts to provide parental awareness, as well as to monitor or guide parents for solving compliance problems. Within a year from the beginning of therapy 66.6% of children completely recovered and 10.6% partially recovered from amblyopia. Visual acuity was not changed in the other children (22.8%) Discussion: In the absence of guidelines and obligations for documentation of patient information, a considerable portion of children diagnosed to have amblyopia were missed for further follow-up. Designing therapeutic guidelines and frameworks may help increase program coverage, especially in terms of parental awareness and alleviation of compliance problems.

Background and Aim: Perceptual abilities like visual reaction time are indicative of cognitive and motor performance in many daily activities. Simple reaction time is a type of reaction time that covers a large part of daily life. The purpose of the present study was to compare simple visual reaction time to red light and green light stimuli.Materials and Methods: Simple visual reaction time of 63 female volunteers to red and green light stimuli were measured by speed anticipation reaction test software. Paired T-test was used for analyzing data.Results: The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between simple visual reaction time of red light stimulus and green light stimulus (P=0.094, t=1.699).Discussion: The present study showed that participants respond similarly to red light and green light stimuli.

Background and Aim: Despite extensive research on the relationship between anthropometric factors associated with flat foot deformity, still there is no consensus on its relationship with these factors and how to measure it. Thus, the present study was conducted to study the relationship between flat foot and BMI (body mass index) and body fat levels in 10-12 year-old school children.Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 243 school children in Qom, with an average age of 11.47±0.82 years, weight 39.4±10.86 kg, and height 145.94±7.91 cm. To assess the foot condition, the foot arch index Staheli, Arch Index (AI or Arch Index), and anthropometric factors were used to assess the amount of fat (by Jackson Pollock) and BMI. To calculate the relationship between variables, the chi-square test (Ci-square), with confidence interval of 95% and to check the repeatability of the data, the correlation coefficient (Interclass correlation coefficient) was run. Data was analyzed via SPSS (v.18) (p ≤ 0.05).Results: The prevalence of flat foot was observed to be 27.6 percent. Also, it was found that there is a significant relationship between flat foot and overweight and obesity as well as the amount of fat in the two groups (P=0.05) and BMI (P=0.05). Also, the results of the statistical analyses revealed that no significant relationship existed between the arch on the right and left foot.Conclusion: The present study showed that the prevalence of flat feet in children with overweight and obesity, according to both methods of measuring body fat percentage and BMI, was high. Therefore, it can be concluded that overweight children are at risk of flat foot. Due to the susceptibility of overweight and obese children to infections regarding the flat foot and thus the future problems, more serious attention to screening, prescription of corrective exercises, and providing facilities for them to increase physical activity seem to be necessary measures to take.

Background and Aim: One of the main causes of death in the elderly is related to the injuries from falls during walking. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of 6 weeks of balance training on kinematic compatibility of hips, knees, and ankles joints during walking in elderly women.Materials and Methods: In the current semi-experimental study, 20 elderly women with the age range of 60-75 (67.72 ± 4.48 ages) were selected based on convenience sampling procedure to participate in the present study. The participants were randomly divided into control and experiment groups. Participants in each group took a walking test in a pre-test session followed by a post-test after 6 weeks. Participants in the experimental group performed the balance training systematically for 3 sessions in a week. Overall, they were trained for 18 sessions of balance training (including various modes of standing and walking) based on the decided protocol. Making use of motion analysis system, Kinematic features of the walking such as range of motion of hip, knee and ankle joints were collected and analyzed using the Cortex software. Repetitive ANOVA (2 × 2) was run for the purpose of data analysis.Results: The results of the present study showed significant improvement in range of motion of hip joint (p=0.03) in elderly women of the experiment group compared with that in the control group. Although the variables range of motion of knee (p=0.12) and ankle (p=0.28) joints increased in the experiment group, these increases were not significant in comparison with that in the control group.Conclusion: The results revealed that kinematic compatibility of hip joint in older women is affected by 6 weeks of balance training. Therefore, it can be suggested that this balance training intervention could be an effective approach to ameliorate the risk factors for falls and to promote safer locomotion in elderly community-dwelling women.

Background and Aim: The previous studies on the effect of statics and dynamics stretching on forthcoming performance have reported various results. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of static and dynamic stretching types of muscles on local dynamic stability in angular displacement of the lower extremity joints in active males during cycling using innovative nonlinear analysis methods.Materials and Methods: A total of 15 male university students of physical education and sport sciences at Kharazmi University voluntarily participated in the current study. Participants referred to the laboratory twice on two days seperated by a 48-hour interval, and the lower extremity kinematics data was collected from 30 pedaling cycles on the stationary cycle in 70 RPM in conditions of of without stretching, and 2, 5, and 10 minutes after stretching by means of motion analysis camera in 50 Hz frequency. The angular displacement of hip, knee, and ankle joints were extracted by constructing time series and Lyapunov Exponent (LyE) calculation.Results: The results of repeated measure ANOVA did not show any significant differences in angular displacement LyE in hip, knee, and ankle joints 2, 5, and 10 minutes post stretching (P>0.05).Conclusion: Considering the results, both static and dynamic stretching types can be used in warm up programs before pedaling on stationary cycle for the pruposes of training or rehabilitation.

Background and Aim: Gait disorder can be considered as one of the main reasons of falls and injuries among patients with Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of specific executive training on gait difficulties in patients with Parkinson's disease.Materials and Methods: The study followed a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test/post-test design and a control group. The participants were 14 patients with Parkinson's disease (mean age 60.21±10.92 years) with freezing of gait (2-5 Hohn and Yahr scale) who were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to experimental (4 males and 3 females) and control (5 males and 2 females) groups. The experimental group received an 8-week specific executive training together with pharmaceutical treatment. However, the control group received pharmaceutical treatment only. Freezing of Gait Questionnaire was used to collect data on gait disorder. Also, an independent t-test was run to analyze the collected data.Results: The results indicated that specific executive training had a significant effect on reducing gait disorder scores for the experimental group compared with that in the control group (p<0.05).Conclusion: It can be concluded that specific executive training can be an appropriate training method to help improve freezing of gait in individuals with freezing of gait.

Background and Aim: Real Ear Measurement is a well-known method to evaluate hearing aid output by which all of a person's personal characteristics of ear in hearing aid fitting can be calculated to reach the prescriptive target. The purpose of hearing aid fitting and prescriptive target matching is improvement of speech intelligibility in routine communication. The current project was carried out to assess the effect of fitting based on real ear measurement on word recognition score.Materials and Methods: A clinical trial study was designed in which monosyllabic word recognition test was performed before and after real ear measurement. The test was performed on 21 participants with moderate to severe hearing loss, aged between 20-65. The results were analyzed using paired t-test and a significance level of p<0.05 was defined as statistically significant.Results: Verifying with Real ear measurement increased monosyllabic word recognition score and this increase was statistically significant (p value=0.012).Conclusion: Considering the impact of real ear measurement on improvement of speech intelligibility, which is the ultimate goal of the prescribed hearing aid, the implementation of real ear measurement in hearing aid fitting is recommended.

Background and Aims: The most common type of cerebral palsy is spastic hemiplegia, which can lead to functional limitations, especially in the upper limbs. The proposed rehabilitation method in the treatment of this group of children is using splints to improving range of motion, adjusting tone, and improving hand function. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of Paddle splint in range of motion, tone, and dexterity of upper extremity spastic hemiplegia in 5-11 year-old children with.Materials and Methods: The current study followed a randomized clinical trial, double-blind, and parallel design using paddles static splint in two groups on 30 5-11 year-old children with spastic hemiplegia. The control group used routine occupational therapy programs (Neuro-Developmental Treatment) and the intervention group, in addition to the routine treatment interventions, used Paddle splint for two months (4 hours daily and 4-6 hours at night). The assessments in the affected side included evaluation of tone using Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), active and passive range of motion of wrist, Purdue-Pegboard and Box-Block tests to assess fine and gross hand dexterity before and two months after the treatment was administered.Results: The results showed a significant difference in gross hand function using box and block test (p=0.001), active wrist range of motion (p=0.005), and spasticity of wrist and elbow flexors muscles in intervention group compared with those in the control group. The data did not show any significant difference in passive wrist range of motion (p=0.14) and fine hand dexterity using Purdue Pegboard test (p=0.18) between the two groups.Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that using splints paddles with Neuro-Developmental Treatment approach can improve the gross hand dexterity and active wrist extension range of motion and reduce spasticity in the flexor muscles of the wrist and elbow effective.

Background and Aim: Occupational performance Coaching is an intervention to work with parents to achieve the goals of their occupational performance as well as their children. The present study intends to define and review the studies carried out in this area.Materials and Methods: To carry out the present descriptive review article, a comprehensive search was performed using the key word coaching, occupational performance coaching, and occupational therapy in the following databases: CINAHL, Medline, Science Direct, Pubmed, Wiley Online Library, ProQuest, ProQuest Dissertations, and Google scholar, during the period 2009 to 2014.Results: Three articles and a Master’s thesis, examining the impact of implementing Occupational Performance Coaching by occupational therapists on clients with various conditions, were identified. Because of the small number of studies in this area, regardless of the methodology, based on the inclusion criteria, all the four interventional studies were selected. The remaining articles were used to support the findings.Conclusion: Occupational performance Coaching is according to the core of occupational therapy and since it a family-centered method, it is an appropriate intervention for parents. However, due to the shortcoming of the existing studies, more studies should be conducted with stronger methodologies.

Background and Aim: Considering the importance of spasticity in the treatment of the patients with upper motor neuron lesion, the present study was conducted to review the studies concerning measuring spasticity assessment and also methods of spasticity assessment in the patients with cerebrovascular accident so as to recommend the best method for assessment of the spasticity according to the advantages and disadvantages of each method.Materials and Methods: A literature search for the period of 1995-2013 was performed in the databases of PubMed, Mdconsult, Sciencedirect, Pedro, SID, and Google scholar. Also, Spasticity, Ashworth, Hemiplegia, Measurement devices, Stroke, Assessment were used as key words.Conclusion: Sixty nine articles were selected according to the inclusion criteria of the study. There was a wide variation among studies in terms of methodology, main outcome measures, and muscles that were evaluated. It can thus be suggested that to recognize spasticity, a combination of the different methods of spasticity measurement is required.

Background and Aim: In the recent years, ultrasonography has widely been used to measure skeletal muscle architecture parameters such as fascicle length, fascicle angle, and muscle thickness, that provide an opportunity to be able to objectively estimate muscle force production capacity in biomechanical and biophysiological researches. The current review article aimed to systematically reviw the investigations of reliability and validity of ultrasonography in measurement of muscle structure parameters during isometric and isotonic contractions in the existing studies.Materials and Methods: A literature review was conducted on studies published between 1995-2014 in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google scholar, and Springer Link databases. The following terms were used as key word Ultrosonography, muscle architecture, reliability, validity, fascicle length, and contraction.Result: A total of 109 articles were obtained from which 40 were chosen based on their titles. After studying the abstracts and full texts, 28 were considered to be congruent with the inclusion criteria. Several statistics were run to quantify reliability and validity (CMC, ICC, r, CV, SEM, criterion, and contract validity). The majority of studies reported high reliability estimates (0.75-0.99). In one case, ICC of 0.06 was reported for dynamic activity. Evidence of validity of ultrasonography for measuring muscle structure features during contraction was obtained from 7 articles and it was revealed that ultrasonography has high to very high consistency.Conclusion: Review showes that ultrasonography is a reliable and valid method to measure the changes of skeletal muscle structure during contaction in healthy people and patiants.

Background and Aim: Handwriting is defined as a visible trace of spoken language. This is an essential skill for success in school and university performance, most jobs, and individual and social activities. Dysgraphia is defined as difficulty in school student’s writing expression while he or she is expected to have proper performance with regard to age, intelligence, and educational state. The objective of the present study was to review the aspects and factors affecting dysgraphia and to introduce appropriate means for assessment and treatment to therapists and educational specialists.Methods and Materials: The databases of Google scholar, Scopus, Pub med, Science direct, MAGIRAN, and SID were searched using the keywords Handwriting, Poor Writer, Dysgraphia, RCT, Evaluation, and Intervention for the period between 1992-2014. A total of 99 related papers and three text books were found at first. Based on a purposeful selection method, 51 articles were selected, which besides the three books, make up the study references.Results: Many standard assessment instruments are available, however, there is no standardized Persian instrument to assess student's handwriting. Treatment is done in several ways, yet task-oriented interventional studies are limited.Conclusion: Assessments with appropriate instruments and using combination of different approaches for clinical trial interventional studies are recommended to therapists and professionals in education.

Background and Aim: Cerebral palsy is the most common movement disorder that is associated with life-long disability and movement impairment and leads to “disabilities” such as impairment, function limitation, and participation restrictions. Developing of the psychomotor disturbances results in the loss of ability to use the limbs, more weakness and paralysis, disability in performing activities of daily living, more dependence and ultimately, lowering quality of life. Therefore, because of developing of such disturbances, early rehabilitation is essential for patients with cerebral palsy. Kinesio taping technique is a relatively new technique applied in rehabilitation programs. The aim of the present review was a discussion about the effects of Kinesio taping techniques on improving motor skills in children with cerebral palsy Materials and Methods: Using the keywords Cerebral palsy, Taping, Kinesio tape, and Kinesio taping electronic databases including Scopus, Pubmed, ISI, and Google Scholar were searched. Finally, 14 articles, based on the inclusion criteria were selected, up to April 2015. The articles were then classified according to the type and site of Kinesio taping application on the body.Results: Review of the literature demonstrated that Kinesio taping technique is more effective on gross and fine motor function and dynamic activities than postural and static activities. Also, it was found that this technique has more effect on the children in higher developmental and motor stages (1st and 2nd levels of Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS)).Conclusion: It is concluded that Kinesio taping technique, as an adjunctive treatment and in combination with other treatment techniques, can be effective in the neurological rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy to improve motor function and dynamic activities, especially in higher developmental and motor stages (1st and 2nd levels of GMFCS).