Prevalence of Balance Impairment and Factors Associated with Balance among Patients with Stroke. A Cross Sectional Retrospective Case Control Study

Stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide, and balance impairments are common disabling factors in patients with stroke, leading to falls. Thus, the study objectives were as follows: (i) To find the prevalence of balance impairment among patients with stroke. (ii) To find out the factors associated with balance impairment in patients with stroke. This cross-sectional retrospective case control study involved eighty-one post stroke patients with a mean age of 58.36 ± 14.06, recruited from six hospitals, who underwent an assessment of balance, walking speed, depression and isometric strength of the ankle and knee. These patients were later categorized into subjects with good balance (<45) in the Berg balance scale (BBS) and those with poor balance (≥45), as cases and controls, to assess the factors associated with balance impairment using binary logistic regression. The prevalence of balance impairment among patients with stroke was 48.1%. The reduction in power of knee flexors (OR = 0.858), knee extensors (OR = 0.880) and ankle dorsiflexors (OR = 0.820) was found to be significantly associated with balance impairment, along with speed (OR = 1.187 (95% CI = 1.100, 1.280)), depression (OR = 1.331 (95% CI = 1.055–1.679)) and activities of daily living (OR = 0.313 (95% CI = 0.150–0.650)). In summary, around half of the patients with stroke exhibited balance impairments, with females being more prone

INTEGRATION BETWEEN MRI AND PHYSICAL THERAPY TO IMPROVE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH SHOULDER PAIN

Background: Shoulder pain is the second most common musculoskeletal disorder treated by physical therapists. The cause for the shoulder pain is multifactorial. However, a specific diagnosis is crucial in the right management of shoulder dysfunction. Therefore, the aim of this study was to find out the efficacy of integrating the MRI for the accurate diagnosis and impact of this on rendering the effective physical therapy interventions in shoulder dysfunction patients. Methods: A retrospective study conducted on 14 patients who undergone an MRI with a 1.5 T unit MAGNETOM Symphony (Siemens), for their shoulder pain, where the diagnosis might be Muscle tears like, subscapularis, infraspinatus,supraspinatus and teres minor muscles; subacromial or subdeltoid bursitis and labral tears were included. All the subjects were then continued with usual physical therapy treatments for four weeks depending on their diagnosis which includes; advice, stretching, mobilization and strengthening exercises, manual therapy, massage, strapping, and electrotherapy . The outcome measures documented from the case sheet were; Visual Analogue Scale grade and passive range of motion of shoulder external / internal rotation and abduction. Results: Paired t test was used to compare the PROM between pre rehabilitation and post rehabilitation testing and the non parametric test, Mann Whitney U test was used for the comparison of VAS. All patients showed a significant improvement in VAS and PROM of abduction, internal and external rotation following physical therapy (P≤ 0.05). Conclusion: MRI is found to be a reliable method of diagnostic procedure for the shoulder pain and the integration of MRI and physical therapy to treat shoulder dysfunction leads to a better outcome

Physical Therapists’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Artificial Intelligence Applications in Health Care and Rehabilitation: Cross-sectional Study

BackgroundThe use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of rehabilitation is growing rapidly. Therefore, there is a need to understand how physical therapists (PTs) perceive AI technologies in clinical practice. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the knowledge and attitude of PTs regarding AI applications in rehabilitation based on multiple explanatory factors. MethodsA web-based Google Form survey, which was divided into 4 sections, was used to collect the data. A total of 317 PTs participated voluntarily in the study. ResultsThe PTs’ knowledge about AI applications in rehabilitation was lower than their knowledge about AI in general. We found a statistically significant difference in the PTs’ knowledge regarding AI applications in the rehabilitation field based on sex (odds ratio [OR] 2.43, 95% CI 1.53-3.87; P<.001). In addition, experience (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.11-2.87; P=.02) and educational qualification (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.05-2.70; P=.03) were found to be significant predictors of knowledge about AI applications. PTs who work in the nonacademic sector and who had <10 years of experience had positive attitudes regarding AI. ConclusionsAI technologies have been integrated into many physical therapy practices through the automation of clinical tasks. Therefore, PTs are encouraged to take advantage of the widespread development of AI technologies and enrich their knowledge about, and enhance their practice with, AI applications

Facilitators and Barriers of Artificial Intelligence Applications in Rehabilitation: A Mixed-Method Approach

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in physical therapy diagnosis and management for various impairments. Physical therapists (PTs) need to be able to utilize the latest innovative treatment techniques to improve the quality of care. The study aimed to describe PTs&rsquo; views on AI and investigate multiple factors as indicators of AI knowledge, attitude, and adoption among PTs. Moreover, the study aimed to identify the barriers to using AI in rehabilitation. Two hundred and thirty-six PTs participated voluntarily in the study. A concurrent mixed-method design was used to document PTs&rsquo; opinions regarding AI deployment in rehabilitation. A self-administered survey consisting of several aspects, including demographic, knowledge, uses, advantages, impacts, and barriers limiting AI utilization in rehabilitation, was used. A total of 63.3% of PTs reported that they had not experienced any kind of AI applications at work. The major factors predicting a higher level of AI knowledge among PTs were being a non-academic worker (OR = 1.77 [95% CI; 1.01 to 3.12], p = 0.04), being a senior PT (OR = 2.44, [95%CI: 1.40 to 4.22], p = 0.002), and having a Master/Doctorate degree (OR = 1.97, [95%CI: 1.11 to 3.50], p = 0.02). However, the cost and resources of AI were the major reported barriers to adopting AI-based technologies. The study highlighted a remarkable dearth of AI knowledge among PTs. AI and advanced knowledge in technology need to be urgently transferred to PTs

IMPACT OF REFLEXOLOGY ON MECHANICAL LOW BACK PAIN

Background: Low-back pain (LBP) is one of the highest common and costly musculoskeletal conditions in current society. Seventy to 85% of the populations will exhibits LBP at some time in their lives. There is little known about specific manual therapy techniques used to treat chronic LBP. Reflexology is a treatment that involves using gentle pressure to reflex points located on all of the outsides of the feet and hands. The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of reflexology technique in subjects with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: Twenty patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain were included in the study and were assessed regarding range of motion via goniometer and pain threshold (via modified Oswestery scale and visual analogue scale), the 20 patients were allocated into two groups 10 patients in each group. Group A received reflexology sittings at rate of 3 days per week, and the duration of each sitting was 30 minutes. While group B were control. The study was continued for 3 weeks Results: According to VAS, the results revealed a non-significant variance between the study group and control group before intervention (p= 0.43). While after intervention, there was a significant decline of pain in the study group compared to that of the control group (p=0.000). Moreover, there was a very highly significant decrease in pain within the study group after treatment (p= 0.005). Conclusion: The present study indicated that the reflexology technique was effective and safe to be applied for cases of mechanical low back pain. It results in a significant decrease in pain within the study group after treatment

IMPACT OF REFLEXOLOGY ON MECHANICAL LOW BACK PAIN

Background: Low-back pain (LBP) is one of the highest common and costly musculoskeletal conditions in current society. Seventy to 85% of the populations will exhibits LBP at some time in their lives. There is little known about specific manual therapy techniques used to treat chronic LBP. Reflexology is a treatment that involves using gentle pressure to reflex points located on all of the outsides of the feet and hands. The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of reflexology technique in subjects with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: Twenty patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain were included in the study and were assessed regarding range of motion via goniometer and pain threshold (via modified Oswestery scale and visual analogue scale), the 20 patients were allocated into two groups 10 patients in each group. Group A received reflexology sittings at rate of 3 days per week, and the duration of each sitting was 30 minutes. While group B were control. The study was continued for 3 weeks Results: According to VAS, the results revealed a non-significant variance between the study group and control group before intervention (p= 0.43). While after intervention, there was a significant decline of pain in the study group compared to that of the control group (p=0.000). Moreover, there was a very highly significant decrease in pain within the study group after treatment (p= 0.005). Conclusion: The present study indicated that the reflexology technique was effective and safe to be applied for cases of mechanical low back pain. It results in a significant decrease in pain within the study group after treatment

Diagnostic Accuracy of Various Radiological Measurements in the Evaluation and Differentiation of Flatfoot: A Cross-Sectional Study

Arch angle is used to indicate flatfoot, but in some cases, it is not easily defined. The presence of flatfoot deformity remains difficult to diagnose due to a lack of reliable radiographic assessment tools. Although various assessment methods for flatfoot have been proposed, there is insufficient evidence to prove the diagnostic accuracy of the various tools. The main purpose of the study was to determine the best radiographic measures for flatfoot concerning the arch angle. Fifty-two feet radiographs from thirty-two healthy young females were obtained. Five angles and one index were measured using weight-bearing lateral radiographs; including arch angle, calcaneal pitch (CP), talar-first metatarsal angle (TFM), lateral talar angle (LTA), talar inclination angle (TIA) and navicular index (NI). Receiver-operating characteristics were generated to evaluate the flatfoot diagnostic accuracy for all radiographic indicators and Matthews correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the cutoff value for each measure. The strongest correlation was between arch angle and CP angle [r = &minus;0.91, p &le; 0.0001, 95% confidence interval (CI) (from &minus;0.94 to &minus;0.84)]. Also, significant correlations were found between arch angle and NI [r = 0.62, p &le; 0.0001, 95% CI (0.42 to 0.76)], and TFM [r = 0.50, p &le; 0.0001, 95% CI (from 0.266 to 0.68)]. Furthermore, CP (cutoff, 12.40) had the highest accuracy level with value of 100% sensitivity and specificity followed by NI, having 82% sensitivity and 89% specificity for the cutoff value of 9.90. In conclusion, CP angle is inversely correlated with arch angle and considered a significant indicator of flatfoot. Also, the NI is easy to define radiographically and could be used to differentiate flat from normal arched foot among young adults