Physical Treatments: Specific Physical Therapy Journal
Year:2015 | Volume:5 | Issue:2|Papers Count:7

Purpose: To assess the reliability of neurocognitive and functional performance tests in athletes with and without functional ankle instability (FAI).Methods: In this methodological study, 20 athletes with unilateral functional ankle instability (mean age [SD]: 23.40 [2.58] y; mean height [SD]: 1.77 [0.11] m; mean weight [SD]: 67.00 [13.18] kg) and 20 uninjured athletes (mean age [SD]: 23.05 [2.72] y; mean height: 1.77 [0.13] m; mean weight: 66.35 [12.21] kg) matched by sex, sports type and level, age, limb dominance, height, and weight were sampled by convenient method from Karaj volleyball and basketball super league members. Functional performance tests (FPTs) included the star excursion balance test (SEBT), figure-of-8, side, square, and single hop tests. Neurocognitive function was assessed with the Deary-Liewald reaction task (DLRT) including simple and choice reaction times and error rate.The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) tests were calculated using SPSS software version 16.Results: There were no statistically significant differences between 2 groups with regard to age (P=0.641), weight (P=0.872), height (P=0.989), and duration of physical activity (P=0.94).Generally, high to very high level of reliability were determined with ICC ranging from 0.74 to 0.99, and 0.91 to 0.99 and SEM ranging from 0.03 to 0.69, and 0.00 to 0.03 for hop tests and SEBT, respectively. Furthermore, ICC values ranged from 0.78 to 0.96 and SEM values from 0.24 to 23.77 for neurocognitive test.Conclusion: Reliability of the FPTs was found to be high to very high in this study. SEBT seems to be a highly reliable and applicable test to use in clinical and research practice. Although not as reliable as the SEBT, hop test seems also to be a reliable tool to assess the dynamic performance of patients with FAI. The results suggest that DLRT has an acceptable reliability for the measurement of neurocognitive function in patients with FAI.

Purpose: The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders is increasing worldwide.This research surveys the prevalence of pain among female hairdressers in Shiraz in 2010.Methods: This is a survey study and a total number of 239 hairdressers were selected in Shiraz, Iran by available sampling method. Data were collected by interview and filling out questionnaires about their age, body mass index (BMI), marital status, work experience, total work time, positions during work, types of shoes worn during work, and use of arch support.Also, different diseases such as hallux valgus, hallux rigidus, turf toe, hammer toe, arch foot, plantar fasciitis, posterior tarsal tunnel syndrome, metatarsalgia, metatarsal neuralgia, and cuboid syndrome were evaluated among them. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test through SPSS software (version 16) to estimate the prevalence of pain and structural disorders among hairdressers.Results: The results showed that 30.1% of subjects had a BMI lower than 18 and 56.1% of them were married. Also 38.9% of subjects worked more than 8 hours per day and 69.5% of them worked in the standing position. According to the results, 53.1% of the subjects worn ordinary sandals and only 8.4% of them used arch support. Hallux valgus was found as a common deformity (54.9%) among study subjects, also 34.8% of them had hallux rigidus and 31% calf pain and metatarsalgia. The result also revealed a significant correlation between prevalence of structural deformity and variables of BMI, marital status, total work time per day, work experience, use of arch support, and type of shoes worn during the work.Conclusion: Several factors can cause discomfort in the legs and feet in hairdressers. Therefore, hairdressers should be trained in correct work procedures. Furthermore, modifying work conditions such as designing a proper chair, reducing working hours, and using medical shoes and sandals can reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in this occupational group.

Purpose: Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by social and communicative problems as well as movement skills. Anxiety is one of the widespread problems among the people affected by autism. The aim of the present research was to survey the effect of one period of selected spark motor program on the anxiety of children with autism.Methods: Twenty autistic children (Asperger symptom) participated in this study. They were divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group participated in selected spark motor program for 4 weeks. The anxiety level was measured by using Spence children’s anxiety scale questionnaire before and after the exercise program. Data were analyzed by using the dependent and independent t test with SPSS 21 and the α value was considered 0.05.Results: The results showed that after the exercise program, the level of obsessive-compulsive disorder (P<0.001), separation anxiety (P<0.001), social phobia (P<0.001), general anxiety (P=0.02), physical injury fears (P=0.01), and agoraphobia (P=0.01) decreased significantly in the experimental group. While the control group showed no significant difference.Conclusion: Training and exercise not only reduce anxiety in autistic children but also can be used as useful nonpharmaceutical method to reduce anxiety.

Purpose: Little information is available on joint kinematic adaptations during walking on crossslope surfaces (i.e. a surface incline perpendicular to the direction of locomotion). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of cross-slope surfaces on three-dimensional (3D) kinematics of hip, knee, and ankle joints during stance phase of walking.Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study. Ten healthy adult male students were selected through available sampling method and walked along an inclinable walkway in both level (0°) and cross-slope (10°) configurations. The 3D angles of hip, knee, and ankle along with their time of occurrence (the time reaching to the maximum values for each specific joint angle) were analyzed using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) by SPSS 17.P<0.05 was considered significant.Results: Knee and ankle joints had the most kinematic adaptations on cross-slope conditions in the sagittal plane, while in the transverse plane angles of hip and knee joints were mainly altered (P<0.05). These adaptations are necessary to adjust the functional leg-length during different stance phases to both maintain a subtle gait pattern and medio-lateral balance. Though significant differences in timing of the joints kinematic events between level and cross-slope walking were observed (P<0.05), their temporal aspects of the kinematic adaptations were more consistent than their magnitude.Conclusion: The information obtained from this study enriches our understanding about the kinematic adaptations of the lower extremity joints in stance phase during level and cross-slope walking.

Purpose: Doing plyometric training with and without the vessel occlusion is an effective practice for rapid increase of muscles strength their hypertrophy. We evaluated the effects of plyometric training with and without the vessel occlusion on electromyographic parameters.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 22 females were selected through convenience sampling method. They were randomly categorized into 2 groups of plyometric training enforcing blood current limitation (30% 1RM) and plyometric training without enforcing blood current limitation (80% 1RM). The volunteers undertook 3 days per week training for 8 weeks.Before and after training, electromyographic parameters of the participants were evaluated.Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate changes in maximal elbow extension and flexion forces from pre-exercise session to the post-exercise session. The level of significance was set at P≤0.05.Results: Plyometric training with vessel occlusion increased electromyographic parameters compared to the plyometric training without the vessel occlusion.Conclusion: Plyometric training with enforcing current limitations by low intensity is similar to plyometric training by high intensity on electromyographic parameters. Therefore, this kind of training may replace classic plyometric training.

Purpose: The present study aimed to find reliability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with lumbar disk herniation.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 110 individuals aged 20-50 years with chronic low back pain (LBP) of more than 3 months were enrolled by nonprobability convenient sampling method. Only disk herniated patients of L4-L5 and L5-S1, diagnosed by physicians on the basis of MRI, were included in the study. Sagittal and axial MRI scans were taken and examined to rule out acute pathology. Two examiners interpreted the MRI results without knowing the results of clinical tests and questionnaires. Reliability at intra- and inter-level was done twice with the interval of 5 days. Reliabilities of findings such as affected disk level, extent of disk herniation, nerve root involvement, dehydration, and ligamentum flavum involvement were also assessed.Results: Intra- and inter-test values for disk level were 0.87 and 0.80, for disk grade were 0.81 and 0.76, for lateral canal stenosis were 0.81 and 0.75, for dehydration were 0.81 and 0.72, for spondylolisthesis were 0.88 and 0.81, and for ligamentum flavum involvement were 0.79 and 0.75.Conclusion: Repeatability of MRI results in patients with lumbar disk herniation at intra- and inter-level was good to excellent.

Purpose: Proprioception is a part of the somatosensory system responsible for sending information to the central nervous system to monitor the status of various body parts relative to each another. One of the main causes of impaired proprioception is fatigue. In the following study, the effects of fatigue on quadriceps muscle and hence on knee proprioception in healthy subjects was studied.Methods: This is a pretest-posttest study. By available sampling, 34 healthy young subjects with a mean (SD) age of 22.15 (1.97) years, a normal knee motion range and muscle strength, with no skeletal muscle nerve damage, volunteered for this study. The subjects tested the target angle reconstruction (45o flexion) of their knee joints while contracting the quadriceps muscles.We used a digital inclinometer to assess proprioception before and after fatigue. Then, by using the paired t-test, the rate of constant error and absolute error were compared. For the statistical analyses, SPSS (version 16) was used.Results: quadriceps muscle fatigue causes a significant increase in the error rate of the knee joint reconstruction angle at 45o (absolute error and constant error) (P<0.05).Conclusion: Quadriceps muscle fatigue decreases accuracy and increases absolute error and constant reconstruction angle of the knee joint in healthy individual.