MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN AMONG UNDERGRADUATE PHYSICAL THERAPY STUDENTS: SINGLE CENTERED SURVEY

Background: Musculoskeletal discomfort not related by a syndrome is very communal in juvenile and puberty getting lifetime prevalence as great as 40%. It affects student’s quality of life and their productivity in education. So, the main objective of current study was to access musculoskeletal pain among undergraduate physical therapy students. Methods: A Descriptive type of cross sectional survey was conducted at Lahore Medical and Dental College (LM&DC) for duration of almost six months from April 2018 to October 2018. Sample size recruited was 321 physical therapy students and they were included according to inclusion exclusion criteria. Assessment of Musculoskeletal pain was done using Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire. An analysis was done using SPSS 21. Results: The findings showed that musculoskeletal pain among students was most commonly prevalent in lower back region constituting 65.4% (n = 210) followed by upper back 53.9% (n = 173) and neck region 48.6% (n = 156). Conclusion: Musculoskeletal pain was highly prevalent among medical students and most commonly found in lower back region

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS AND NURSES’ KNOWLEDGE OF GLASGOW COMA SCALE WORKING IN HOSPITAL AND CLINICAL SETTINGS

Introduction: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a reproducible tool used to measure the depth and duration of the consciousness level of comatose patients, especially in emergency departments by healthcare professionals for neurological assessment. It is important for members of rehabilitation teams, specifically physical therapists (PTs) and nurses, to have knowledge of the GCS and the necessary skills to apply the scale and interpret the results. The present study is aimed to investigate and compare physiotherapist and nurses’ knowledge in using the GCS in hospital and clinical settings. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which a convenience sample of 1,300 participants was chosen, considering nurses from government and private hospitals and PTs from hospitals and clinics in Faisalabad. SPSS Version 20 was used to enter and analyse the data. Pearson chi-square was used to find out association and Independent Samples t-test was used to compare the knowledge of PT and Nurses. Results: The findings of study revealed that majority of the PTs (84.1%) had good knowledge of the GCS, yet only 2.9% of nurses had good knowledge. Most participants with good basic knowledge of the GCS lacked knowledge in the application and interpretation of GCS. Age, gender, educational level, and type of health facility were strongly associated with level of knowledge with significant p value<.001. The mean knowledge of nurses and physiotherapists was 59.84±14.65 and 89.81±8.45 respectively. Conclusion: The physical therapists' knowledge of the GCS was good compared to the knowledge of the nurse

Exogenous application of salicylic acid ameliorates salinity stress in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Abstract Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a significant cereal crop belonging to Poaceae that is essential for human food and animal feeding. The production of barley grains was around 142.37 million tons in 2017/2018. However, the growth of barley was influenced by salinity which was enhanced by applying a foliar spray of salicylic acid. The current study investigated to evaluated the potential effect of SA on the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants under salinity stress and its possible effects on physiological, biochemical, and growth responses. The experiment was conducted at Postgraduate Research Station (PARS), University of Agriculture; Faisalabad to assess the influence of salicylic acid on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under highly saline conditions. The experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 replicates. In plastic pots containing 8 kg of properly cleaned sand, two different types of barley (Sultan and Jau-17) were planted. The plants were then watered with a half-strength solution of Hoagland’s nutritional solution. After the establishment of seedlings, two salt treatments (0 mM and 120 mM NaCl) were applied in combining three levels of exogenously applied salicylic acid (SA) (0, 0.5, and 1 mg L-1). Data about morphological, physiological, and biochemical attributes was recorded using standard procedure after three weeks of treatment. The morpho-physiological fresh weight of the shoot and root (48%), the dry mass of the shoot and root (66%), the plant height (18%), the chlorophyll a (30%), the chlorophyll b (22%), and the carotenoids (22%), all showed significant decreases. Salinity also decreased yield parameters and the chl. ratio (both at 29% and 26% of the total chl. leaf area index). Compared to the control parameters, the following data was recorded under salt stress: spike length, number of spikes, number of spikelets, number of tillers, biological yield, and harvest index. Salicylic acid was used as a foliar spray to lessen the effects of salinity stress, and 1 mg L-1 of salicylic acid proved more effective than 0.5 mg L-1. Both varieties show better growth by applying salicylic acid (0 mg L-1) as a control, showing normal growth. By increasing its level to (0.5 mg L-1), it shows better growth but maximized growth occurred at a higher level (1 mg L-1). Barley sultan (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the best variety as compared to Jau-17 performs more growth to mitigate salt stress (0mM and 120mM NaCl) by improving morpho-physiological parameters by enhancing plan height, Root and shoot fresh and dry weights, as well as root and shoot lengths, photosynthetic pigments, area of the leaves and their index, and yield attributes and reduce sodium ions