SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF REHABILITATION MEDICINE
Year:2013 | Volume:2 | Issue:3|Papers Count:7

Background and Aim: Elderly are exposed to risk of poor balance, falling ground, gait dysfunction and the subsequent damage, loss of independence and premature death. Given the importance of balance to prevent falls and gait performance in daily activities, this study attempts to investigate effectiveness of Pilates trainings on improvements of dynamic balance and gait performance in elderly individuals with a history of falling ground.Materials and Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research which was done by pre-test and post-test method. The statistical population of study was elderly people of Tabriz (60 years and older). They were selected on a voluntary basis. Thirty people were randomly assigned to two groups (experimental and control) after entering the study. Prior to training, balance and gait performance and walking were tested using Berg balance test and functional evaluation of gait, respectively. Experimental group performed the Pilates training for eight weeks and Control group did their daily activities. Upon completion of training, both groups were assessed. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics by using T test analysis were used for data analysis.Results: The results showed that there is no significant difference between experimental and control groups in the Berg Balance and walking performance tests, but the experimental group outperformed the control group in post- test.Conclusion: The obtained results confirm the role of Pilates exercises to improve balance and gait performance in older men with a history of falls. Because of no improvement in balance and gait performance of control subjects, we can attribute the improvement in balance and gait performance of the experimental group to the effect of these exercises.

Background and Aim: Exposure to two languages would lead to further development of auditory system. Studies show a relationship between anatomical and functional changes in the bilingual scerebral cortex and learning a second language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the amount of auditory capacity of bilinguals compared to monolinguals using the consonant - vowel dichotic test.Materials and Methods: 80 normal individuals, age ranged between 18 to 35 years, were divided in to two groups of monolingual and bilingual (19 people with Turkish language and 21 people with Kurdish language were in the bilingual group). Consonant - vowel dichotic test was utilized to investigate the auditory capacity of individuals.Results: The results indicated that the auditory capacity was greater in bilingual group. In general, higher scores were gained by bilinguals in both ears compared with monolinguals (p<0.001). Comparison between the three language groups (monolingual, bilingual Kurdish and bilingual Turkish) showed that monolinguals had tangible differences compared to both bilingual Kurdish and Turkish (p<0.001); whereas, there were no significant differences between bilingual Kurdish and Turkish group (p=0.871).Conclusion: Since the results of the current study suggest higher auditory capacity in bilinguals, further research would be conducted on the effect of learning the second language on auditory processing of monolinguals.

Background and Aim: Studying the various aspects of stuttering is necessary for better understanding of complex and multi -factorial nature of stuttering. Therefore, researching stuttering from a linguistic perspective and the effect of linguistic factors on it has particular importance. The goal of this study was to investigate non- fluency frequency of words and non- words in Persian speaking adults who stutter and who do not stutter.Materials and Methods: In this research, 15 Farsi speaking adults who did not stuttered (+17 years old) were matched in age (±7 months) and sex, with 15 adults who stutter. For this study, two lists of words and non- words were prepared. 60 words containing 2 6-syllables with various frequency of occurrence in Farsi were selected. Then, 60 non- words were made based on words that at least 50 percent of their phonemes were changed. Participants repeated words and non- words and data was collected and analyzed.Results: Findings from this study showed that non- fluency frequency on words and non- words in adults who stutter was significantly higher than adults who do not stutter. Other findings indicate that the ratio of non- fluency occurrence on words and non- words was significantly different on words and non- words (P<0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study indicate a significant increase in non- fluency frequency on non- words compared to words in adults who stutter and who do not stutter. Comparison between stuttering and non- stuttering shows that in repeating both lists, a non- fluency increase in adults who stutter is remarkably higher. In addition, the ratio of non- fluency occurrence on words and non- words is significantly higher in adults who stutter.

Background and Aim: Anisometropia is considered to be a causative factor in the pathogenesis of amblyopia and strabismus. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anisometropia in patients examined in optometry clinic of Faculty of Rehabilitation of Shahid Beheshti Medical University from March 2008 to March 2009.Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 600 files of patients examined in the optometry clinic of Rehabilitation Faculty of Shahid Beheshti Medical University in year 2008/2009 were analyzed. Variables included age, sex, anisometropia, type and amount of refractive error and eye health of anterior and posterior segment. Anisometropia was defined as spherical equivalent (SE) refraction difference 1.00D or more between two eyes.Results: The prevalence of anisometropia was 12.5 %(75 of 600patients). Out of 75 anisometropic patients, 40 were male (53.3%) and 35 were female (46.6%). From 75 anisometropic patients, 13.3 % (10 of 75) were amblyopic, 1.3% (1 of 75) was esotropia and 1.3% (1 of 75) was exotropia. The highest frequency of anisometropia was in age groups of 10-20 and 50-60 old years. The frequency of antimetropic anisometropia, anisoastigmatism, isomyopic and isohypermetropic were 33.3%, 46.7%, 13.3% and 6.7%, respectively.Conclusion: The results of this research showed that anisometropia results in Amblyopia in the different age groups which were in accordance with previous studies.

Background and Aim: learning disorders is one of the most common disorders in school children. These children usually have problems in various areas such as attention and motor skills, cognition. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of weighted vest on continuous attention (by using continuous performance test) and motor skills (by using Bruininks osetotsky motor Proficiency Test) in children with Learning Disabilities (LD).Materials and Method: A quasi experimental method was designed for the study. A sample of 16 children with L.D were selected and observed during 3stages.During stage 1 and 3 the participants received 12 school-based occupational therapy (OT) sessions. During phase 2, participants received occupational therapy sessions and wore a weighted vest (OT/WV) during sessions. Finally, the data were compared with each other.Results: this study demonstrated:-Significant differences between attention scores during stage 2were indicated) p= 0,001 t=6, 443(-Significant differences between motor skills scores during stage 2were indicated (t=- 11,212, p=0,001).No significant differences between attention and motor skills scores during phases 1 and 3 results were indicated.Conclusion: This study provides evidence that use of weighted vests for students with LD may increase continuous attention and improve motor skills. All children benefited from the weighted vests; the effects were strong and consistent. Weighted vest may be a component of intervention for children with LD, and the results do not support the use of weighted vests in isolation to improve continuous attention or motor skills.

Background and Aim: The aim of constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is improving use of the upper limb that is functionally impaired after stroke. In CIMT to treat the use of upper limb impairment, application of the less severely affected arm is restricted for many hours each weekday over 2 consecutive weeks. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of constraint-induced movement therapy on improvement of upper limb and hand function in stroke patients by integrative review of published articles since 2000- 2013.Materials and Methods: An integrative review of published articles regarding the effectiveness of constraint- induced movement therapy in promotion of hand function in stroke patients since 2000- 2013 was used in this study. We reviewed Iranian databases such as SID and MagIran and foreign databases such as Pedro, OT Bib Sys, OT seeker, OTD base, Sciencedirect, Pubmed, Elsevier. We used a qualitative approach for content analysis.Results: Over 268 papers were found regarding stroke and upper limb function, 200 articles of those used different ways to improve upper limb function, such as medication, physiotherapy, occupational therapy approaches and were rejected, the remained 68 articles were dedicated to the study of constraint- induced movement therapy. Among these articles, 43 papers were about the effects of constraint induced movement therapy on development of upper extremity. 9 articles were excluded due to using of Constraint Induced Movement Therapy on head injury patients and lab rat. Finally, 36 articles were selected according to the criteria of entry.Conclusion: The aggregate results of a review of studies showed that constraint induced movement therapy improves function of upper extremity at every stages of stroke (acute, sub-acute and chronic) with a prerequisite of having active extension of wrist and finger, passive 90o flexion and abduction and 45oexternal rotation of the shoulder, 45o pronation and supination and having good cognitive function (MMSE =20 to 24). This method is more effective than traditional rehabilitation method in improving upper extremity functional abilities of stroke patients and overcoming the learned nonuse syndrome. But its impact on quality of life and movement kinematics requires further investigations.

Background and Aim: This study examined the characteristics of workplace ergonomics factors and equipment and its relationship with musculoskeletal disorders from the viewpoint of librarians women of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 1392.Material & Methods: Descriptive survey research is a correlation and study population included 78 librarian women who work in Library hospital, medical Faculties and research centers Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Data from the questionnaires was collected in three parts: demographic, Nordic, equipment and workplace and they were analyzed by SPSS software, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation and the validity and reliability were also confirmed.Findings: The findings indicate that most of the physical damage caused by the working in age group of 31-40 (mean 11 and standard deviation 32.5). Minimal physical damage based on relevant work experience that is related to those with 11-15 years of experience is %7.7. Most of the damages that are related to those with 16-20 years of work experience and have higher work pressure are %12.5. The findings also showed that during different times (last 7 days 95/3%, now %, last 12 months 97.7%) is in the neck. The respondents 46.5% doesn’t have any sports and physical activity. They use book carrier for replacing books 23.3% and 25.6% of low and very low.Results: The most common complaint is pain in the neck and knees. Based on the results of the research there is no significant relationship between work-related musculoskeletal disorder, age, work experience, hours worked and library equipment and environmental conditions and there is significant relationship between the second job and work-related musculoskeletal disorder.