Leisure Questionnaire of People with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Leisure activities are an important part of life for people with multiple sclerosis )MS). Unfortunately, there are no proper assessment tools for evaluating the leisure activities of MS patients. The current research purposed to develop such a questionnaire and to determine its factor structure.Methods: This psychometric study aimed to determine the factor structure of a questionnaire for evaluating the leisure activities of MS patients and was conducted in explanatory and confirmatory phases.Results: The questionnaire was completed, and the data were entered in SPSS for the explanatory phase and using linear structural relations (LISREL) for the confirmatory phase. The lowest Eigenvalue was 1.01, which corresponds to the Kaiser criterion. The validity coefficients of the extracted factors are considerable. There is a very slight difference between the highest coefficient thatis related to the third factor (0.846) and the lowest coefficient that is related to the fifth factor (0.799), indicating the number of factors was correctly determined. Confirmatory factor analysis illustrated that the goodness-of-fit (GFI) and the comparative fit index (CFI) indices were considerable (higher than 0.95),showing good fit of data. RMSEA was 0.024.Conclusion: It can be concluded that the 5-factor structure (difficult, social,spiritual/religious, outdoor-physical, and cultural-artistic activities) of the multiple sclerosis leisure questionnaire with 50 items is confirmed

Leisure of People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Content Analysis

Objectives: Leisure is a domain of life that is very important, particularly for people with neurological disorders. However, due to social and cultural differences, leisure activities have not been studied extensively. The aim of this study is to determine the different factors influencing leisure activities among people afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) within the framework of Iranian culture. Methods: We used two independent qualitative studies: 1) interviews conducted with 11 professional that related to these patients and 2) open-ended questionnaires that were completed by 49 patients with MS. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed on the data obtained.  Results: Six factors were extracted from the analyses on each of the two studies: social, individual, physical, art-cultural, spiritual/religious and educational. Discussion: Our results suggest that the leisure activities of the MS patients are influenced by six factors. We suggest that studies concerning leisure activities of Iranian MS patients should consider these factors

Quality of Life and Gross Motor Function in Children with Cerebral Palsy (Aged 4-12)

Objectives: Most definitions equate Quality of Life with motor function. The aim of this study is to examine the association between gross motor function and Quality of Life for children with cerebral palsy. Methods: In this analytical cross–sectional study, 60 children with cerebral palsy aged 4-12 were selected through convenience sampling based on inclusion criteria from occupational therapy clinics in Hamadan. Cerebral Palsy-Quality of Life questionnaires were completed by the parents of the participants, and the gross motor function of all children was evaluated by the Gross Motor Function Measure. All data was analyzed by SPSS 16. Results: The analysis of the data showed statistical significance between gross motor function and Quality of Life domains such as [social well-being and acceptance (P=0.017), feeling about functioning (P=0.003), participation and physical health (P=0.003), pain and feelings about disability (P=0.018), access to services (P=0.009)], while there wasn’t any relationship seen between them in emotional well-being (P=0.54) and family health (P=0.796). Discussion: Based on the findings of this research, there isn’t any relationship between gross motor function and the psychosocial domains of Quality of Life. It means that children with cerebral palsy have the potential to have a high psychosocial Quality of Life score even if they have poor motor function

Balance performance of iranian childrenaged 7-12 years based on functional reach tests

Background. The current study was conducted to investigate the balance performance of 7-12-year-old Iranian children based on functional reach tests. Methods. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 483 male and female students from the first to sixth grades. After measuring the height, weight, and length of the upper and lower limbs, the functional reach test was evaluated with the dominant limb, and the initial amount of the functional reach test was recorded by the examiner, and subsequently, the same protocol was used for the non-dominant limb, as well as two limbs. The final amount of functional reach was recorded, and the difference between the two was recorded in the test sheet. This process was repeated three times, and the average of these three attempts was recorded as the final score. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software version 23, and its descriptive and inferential statistics were extracted. Pearson's correlation coefficient was also calculated to measure the correlation of anthropometric characteristics of height, weight, and body length. Results. In this study, 483 elementary school students with an average age of 9.53 years (minimum of 7 years and maximum of 12 years) and the average height of 138.217, as well as an average body mass index of 17.43 in the first to sixth grades, were evaluated. The normative scores for right, left, and two-handed functional reach tests were 20.45±7.87 cm, 22.46±8.09 cm, and 18.60±7.89 cm, respectively. The right and left lateral reach test scores were 14.68±6.01 cm and 14.90±6.01 cm, respectively. These scores significantly correlated with each other (P<0.001) and anthropometric characteristics. Conclusion. The results of the current study revealed that on 483 students from the first to the sixth-grade evaluation of functional reach and lateral reach, tests is vital for clinical use and assessing the balance of Iranian children. Due to the lower balance functional level of Iranian children than their peers in some other countries, there is a need for planning to increase physical activity and sports in school programs and at the community level. Practical Implications. The data obtained from functional reach tests in this study can be used to measure the balance performance of Iranian school-age children