Dictation errors among students of primary schools in Iranian populations

Introduction: Dictation as an important academic ability involves divers cortical processes so that any problem in one of them may lead to a dictation error. Identifying current dictation errors helps specialists to understand its causes more comprehensively and to use the most effective interventional approaches. The aim of this study was to compare the most common dictation errors between primary students of Semnan and Babol cities in Iran. Material and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, dictation samples of 2215 Semnan’s primary students and 1664 Babol’s primary students were collected. All of participants had normal I.Q, hearing skills and cranial nerves functions. Dictation materials were chosen from their books and dictated by their teachers. All of errors were categorized according to error kinds. Results: There were significant differences between Semnan’s and Babol’s primary students according to the frequency of dictation errors and their grades. Some of errors such as visual memory, educational and dysgraphia errors were significantly common between groups and all grades. Semnan’s primary students had more dictation errors in first and second grades than Babol’s primary students, although this condition reversed in other grades. Conclusion: Dialect may influence dictation and its errors so there should be various therapeutic and educational focuses for different dialects. The highest levels of visual memory, educational and accuracy errors mean that it is necessary to pay more attention on their prerequisites developmental skills to prevent and to treat them

The effects of spaced transcranial Direct Current Stimulation combined with conventional dysphagia therapy in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that is characterized by a set of motor and non-motor symptoms. Impaired swallowing or dysphagia is one relatively common motor symptom in patients with PD. We investigated whether neuroplasticity induction by spaced transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) combined with conventional swallowing therapy leads to long-lasting effects on swallowing ability in patients with PD. We present a case of a 61-year-old male PD patient with dysphagia. Conventional Swallowing Therapy (CDT) combined with tDCS (bilateral anodal, 1 mA, 20 min, 10 online sessions, twice daily with a 20 min interval in between for five days over two weeks) was applied over the pharyngeal motor cortex. Our findings suggest that anodal tDCS combined with CDT is feasible, safe, and well-tolerated, and leads to a clinically relevant improvement of swallowing functions

Internal evaluation of speech therapy department of Semnan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Using students' view for teacher evaluation is a common method. This study was designed to investigate the view of faculties and medical students about faculty teaching experiences. Materials and Methods: 100 medical students and 35 faculties from Jahrom University of Medical Sciences were participated in this study. Two separate questionnaires were designed for this purpose and after determining validity and reliability completed by teachers and students. Results: 70.9 percent of faculties reported that they are satisfied with evaluation by students. 48.6 percent of them reported that feedback from this evaluation improved their teaching. 48.8 percent of them thought that some students behave spitefully. 60 percent reported self assessments as a useful method for evaluation of their own teaching. The majority of medical students (76.6%) reported that teachers' communication skills are one of the important factors in teacher evaluation. 67.4 percent of them reported that they completed the teachers' evaluation forms carefully and 60.9 percent of them asserted that teachers, who take difficult examinations, have lower grades in evaluation forms. Conclusion: In general, most teachers are agreed with teacher evaluation. Since students' opinion about their teachers is influenced by some factors which have no close relationship with the evaluation subject and is merely related to other factors, using other evaluation methods such as self evaluation and peer evaluation seems to be necessary. In addition, we should establish a single national and standard method for teacher evaluation all over the country

Iranian clinical practice guideline for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegeneration involving motor neurons. The 3–5 years that patients have to live is marked by day-to-day loss of motor and sometimes cognitive abilities. Enormous amounts of healthcare services and resources are necessary to support patients and their caregivers during this relatively short but burdensome journey. Organization and management of these resources need to best meet patients' expectations and health system efficiency mandates. This can only occur in the setting of multidisciplinary ALS clinics which are known as the gold standard of ALS care worldwide. To introduce this standard to the care of Iranian ALS patients, which is an inevitable quality milestone, a national ALS clinical practice guideline is the necessary first step. The National ALS guideline will serve as the knowledge base for the development of local clinical pathways to guide patient journeys in multidisciplinary ALS clinics. To this end, we gathered a team of national neuromuscular experts as well as experts in related specialties necessary for delivering multidisciplinary care to ALS patients to develop the Iranian ALS clinical practice guideline. Clinical questions were prepared in the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) format to serve as a guide for the literature search. Considering the lack of adequate national/local studies at this time, a consensus-based approach was taken to evaluate the quality of the retrieved evidence and summarize recommendations

Verbal Fluency Performance in Patients with Non-demented Parkinson’s Disease

Objective: While Parkinson’s disease (PD) has traditionally been defined by motor symptoms, many researches have indicated that mild cognitive impairment is common in non-demented PD patients. The purpose of this study was to compare verbal fluency performance in non-demented Parkinson’s disease patients with healthy controls.Method: In this cross-sectional study thirty non-demented Parkinson’s disease patients and 30 healthy controls, matched by age, gender and education, were compared on verbal fluency performance. Verbal fluency was studied with a Phonemic Fluency task using the letters F, A, and S, a semantic fluency task using the categories animals and fruits. The independent t-test was used for data analysis.Results: Overall, participants generated more words in the semantic fluency task than in the phonemic fluency task. Results revealed significant differences between patients and controls in semantic fluency task (p<.05). In addition, PD patients showed a significant reduction of correctly generated words in letter fluency task. The total number of words produced was also significantly lower in the PD group (p<.05).Conclusion: Verbal fluency disruption is implied in non-demented PD patients in association with incipient cognitive impairment

Feasibility, Satisfaction With, and Attitude Toward Telerehabilitation During COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience of Iranian Rehabilitation Professionals

Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences highlighted the importance of using telerehabilitation systems and affected the professional’s attitude toward it. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility, satisfaction, and attitude of rehabilitation professionals toward telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.  Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the feasibility, satisfaction, and attitude of rehabilitation professionals toward virtual training and telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 118 occupational therapists, speech therapists, audiologists, psychologists, and educators completed the study questionnaires. Results: The findings indicate that the correlations among satisfaction, feasibility, advantages, and compatibility were significant (r ranging from 0.418 to 0.717). There were significant but weak positive correlations between years of working experience and scores of feasibility and advantages. In addition, the mean scores of feasibility, advantages, compatibility, and complexity in participants who provided telerehabilitation before the COVID-19 pandemic were higher than other respondents. Discussion: Because of the positive role of telerehabilitation in a situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, health care systems should create mechanisms for its optimal use, protocol preparation, health professionals training, and infrastructure acquisition

Investigation of the Sensitivity and Specificity of the Persian Version of the New Multidimensional Depression Scale in Diagnosing Depressive Disorder

Objectives: The accuracy of diagnosis in mental disorders, such as depression is the basis of correct treatment. The present study aimed to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of the new multidimensional depression scale in diagnosing depressive disorder. Methods: Two groups of participants were assessed by the new multidimensional depression scale (NMDS) and structured clinical interview for axis i disorders (SCID-I). The experimental group included 55 outpatientswith major depressive disorder selected via the convenience sampling method. The control group included 95 university students recruited via a multi-stage cluster sampling method. Data were analyzed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis to achieve the cut-off score. Results: Based on the results of the ROC analysis, the cutoff score of 106 was the intersection of the two sensitivity and specificity indices, where these two indices have an optimal relationship. This score simultaneously provided the lowest number of false positives and false negatives compared to other scores. Discussion: It can be acknowledged that the present study supports the clinical efficacy of the new multidimensional depression scale as a screening instrument for diagnosing depressive disorder

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validation and Reliability of the Northwestern Dysphagia Patient Check Sheet (NDPCS) in Iran

Introduction: Speech and language therapists (SLTs) require proper tools to detect dysphagia in the early stages. One of these screening tools is the Northwestern Dysphagia Patient Check Sheet (NDPCS). However, this tool needs to be adapted, validated, and shown to be reliable for the Persian culture. The aim of the present study was to report the validity and reliability of the Persian NDPCS (P-NDPCS).   Materials and Methods: The NDPCS has 28 items and five sections. Beaton’s guidelines were followed in terms of the translation process. To report the content validity index (CVI) and the content validity ratio (CVR), eight SLTs experienced in swallowing disorders examined the content and face validities of the P-NDPCS in terms of the quality of translation, fluency, understandability, and the cultural context. In total, 140 patients with neurogenic and mechanical dysphagia were evaluated using the P-NDPCS. Internal consistency reliability was investigated using the Kuder–Richardson formula 20. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used for test-retest reliability.   Results: The P-NDPCS preserved the 28 items and the five categories of the original version. However, semantic and food adjustments were applied due to cultural differences. The scoring system was changed from safe/unsafe to yes/no for four subsections and to normal/abnormal for the oromotor section. Food requirements were also changed. The CVR and CVI were both 75%. The P-NDPCS was shown to have good content validity. The internal reliability was 0.95, indicating excellent reliability.   Conclusion: The equivalence between the original version of the NDPCS and the P-NDPCS was preserved. Our findings indicate that the P-NDPCSis a valid and reliable screening tool for the diagnosis of dysphagia in the early phase

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Persian Version of the M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory

Introduction Dysphagia is a common issue in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) and is known to negatively impact their quality of life. To evaluate the impact of dysphagia on the quality of life of HNC patients, the M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) questionnaire was developed