Employment of People with Disabilities and Ergonomic Risk Factors at Workplace

The importance of employment to people with disabilities has been increasing in recent years. Participation in working life as active producers has been the main factor in community integration of people with disabilities. It has been proven that if people with disabilities are given the opportunity to develop and use their working capacity, they can be as successful as those who do not have any disabilities, and nowadays the most rational way of helping people with disabilities is to provide them with profession and work. Vocational rehabilitation is a process that helps someone to overcome the barriers when beginning to work, continuing to work, or returning to work after any accident, illness, or disorder. Although the employee is selected according to his/her ability according to the work to be done, it is very important that the place to work matches the physical and psychological characteristics of the employee. Ergonomics is important at working life as it affects productivity. Many different ergonomic risk factors are available to affect the quality of life of a person at workplace. This chapter focuses on the employment of people with disabilities, the risk factors they may face at workplace and assessment of risk factors

Pain coping strategies and related factors including demographics, pain characteristics, functional mobility in postmenopausal women with chronic musculoskeletal pain

This cross-sectional study investigated pain coping strategies and their relationship to demographic and clinical characteristics in postmenopausal women (PMWs) with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMSP). PmW (n = 60) who presented to receive physiotherapy from a rehabilitation center participated. McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) was used to assess pain intensity and characteristics, Pain Coping Inventory (PCI) was used to assess strategies of coping with pain, and Timed Up and Go-Test (TUG) was used to assess functional mobility. Data were analyzed using descriptive analyses, paired-samples t-test, independent-samples t-test, Mann Whitney U-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation analysis. There was no significant difference in terms of marital status, educational status, and exercise habits between the participants' statuses of using active and passive strategies of coping with pain. Younger women (50-59 years of age) preferred active strategies more than passive strategies to cope with pain (p = .047). There were significant differences among the age groups in terms of pain transformation subdomain of active strategies (p = .007) and sensory subdomain of MPQ (p = .053). Strategies of coping with pain and functional mobility of participants were not significantly related (p > .05). Results indicated that age is a significant factor in coping with pain and pain characteristics. Healthcare providers should consider PmW's preferences and experiences with pain management when recommending pain management strategies

Dalfampridine as a promising agent in the management of hereditary spastic paraplegia: a triple-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial

Limited but encouraging results support the use of dalfampridine in patients with hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). Our aim was to investigate the effects of dalfampridine on walking speed, muscle length, spasticity, functional strength, and functional mobility in patients with HSP. In this triple-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial, four patients with HSP received dalfampridine (10 mg twice daily) in addition to physiotherapy (twice a week), and four patients received placebo in addition to physiotherapy for eight weeks. The group allocation was masked from the assessor, treating physiotherapists, and patients. The primary outcome was the Timed 25-foot Walk Test (T25FWT) at the end of the eight-week treatment. The secondary outcome measures were functional mobility, functional muscle strength, muscle length, and spasticity. The improvement in the T25FWT values was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group (p 0.05). No adverse events or side effects were noted. This pilot trial yields encouraging evidence that the combination of dalfampridine and physiotherapy may enhance muscle parameters and improve walking speed in patients with HSP. However, further research involving larger sample sizes and more comprehensive assessments is needed to validate these results and establish the clinical benefits of this treatment approach. Trial registration ID: NCT05613114 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/), retrospectively registered on November 14, 2022