Virtual reality as a tool in physiotherapy: fiction or reality?

Editoria

Fisioterapia en mulleres con trastornos da conduta alimentaria

[Resumo] A Asociación de Bulimia e Anorexia de A Coruña (ABAC) inclúe a área de recuperación física e funcional dentro do seu programa de tratamento multidisciplinar dos trastornos da conduta alimentaria. A Fisioterapia en Saúde Mental non é habitual nestes equipos en España, pero si noutros países. Mediante dous proxectos de aprendizaxe-servizo preténdese cubrir esta necesidade detectada e introducir estes contidos no Grao en Fisioterapia. En coordinación coa área psicolóxica de tratamento desenvolvéronse dúas intervencións de fisioterapia adaptada ás usuarias de ABAC con alumnado do Grao en Fisioterapia, con obxectivos e actividades diferenciadas. 3 alumnos da materia Nutrición e fisioterapia de 3º curso realizaron unha intervención adaptada para o tratamento de lesión ou dor musculoesquelética. A alumna da materia de Traballo de Fin de Grao de 4º curso deseñou e implementou unha intervención de fisioterapia para persoas con TCA dirixida á mellora da imaxe corporal. Participaron 7 usuarias de ABAC. Introducíronse novos contidos de fisioterapia en saúde mental no Grao. Os resultados da intervención de fisioterapia foron positivos en xeral. O alumnado adquiriu as competencias e os resultados de aprendizaxe previstos, pero o seu nivel de reflexión foi variable. A satisfacción entre alumnado, usuarias, profesorado e colaboradoras implicadas foi alta.[Abstract] The Association of Bulimia and Anorexia of A Coruña (ABAC) includes physical activity in its multidisciplinary treatment of eating disorders. Physiotherapy in mental health is not usually included in multidisciplinary teams in Spain but in other countries. We used two service-learning programs to include physiotherapy in this association and contents about mental health in undergraduate courses of Physiotherapy. In cooperation with the psychological area of treatment, two physiotherapy interventions adapted to ABAC members were developed. These interventions were different and they had different objectives. Three students of the 3rd year Nutrition and physiotherapy course (Bachelor of Physiotherapy) carried out an assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal pain in patients with eating disorders. The student of the 4th year course Bachelor thesis designed and implemented a specific intervention to improve body image in the same kind of patients. Seven users of ABAC participated in both programs. New contents about physiotherapy in mental health were included in the Bachelor of Physiotherapy. The results of the two programs were positive. Students acquired relevant competencies and learning outcomes, but their ability for critical reflection was variable. The satisfaction of students, users, lecturer and the involved staff was high

Fisioterapia en mulleres con trastornos da conduta alimentaria: 2 experiencias en aprendizaxe e servizo

Banco de experiencias de Aprendizaxe Servizo. Convocatoria 2018/201

Fisioterapia con cans para a reeducación sensoriomotora e marcha funcional en nenos/as dun colexio de educación especial (MOVE-CAN)

Banco de experiencias de Aprendizaxe Servizo. Convocatoria 2018/201

Low-cost virtual reality system in evaluation of rhythmic motor patterns in elderly and Parkinsonian patients

[Abstract] This work details a Virtual Reality (VR) system developed to evaluate and potentially treat alterations in hand movements and central rhythm formation in Parkinsonian and Elderly subjects. An essential feature of VR systems to prove useful in clinical evaluation and to warrant \Presence", is the lack of behavioral distortion from real world execution. Herein, we present a technical description of our VR and its validation to evaluate rhythmic motor patterns when experimental subjects perform a nger tapping test. Execution of the test was performed at di erent rates in the VR system, and compared to the gold-standard real world testing. The VR system proved to be as valid and reliable as real world testing to characterize arrythmokinetic pro les present in Parkinsonian and Elderly subjects (compared to Young subjects), at the di erent rates of execution. VR serves like a complementary tool in research settings to isolate subjects from un-naturalistic environment, during clinical evaluation, like lab-rooms or brain scans, since it did not bias behavior from real world evaluation in a basic clinical test

Mulleres coidadoras en países en vías de desenvolvemento: implicación do estudantado na educación para o desenvolvemento, sensibilización e visibilización na Facultade de Fisioterapia

[Resumo] A promoción activa da responsabilidade social universitaria ten un papel prioritario para conseguir un modelo máis sustentable e humano. As actividades propostas polo persoal docente e investigador deben ter un impacto directo e positivo no alumnado, que ademais forme parte da súa formación integral. Neste proxecto proponse implicar ao alumnado do Grao de Fisioterapia nun proxecto de Educación para o Desenvolvemento (EpD) que trata sobre as mulleres coidadoras en países en vías de desenvolvemento. O obxectivo é facer ao estudantado partícipe dunha situación social real de inxustiza e desigualdade e invitalo a reflexionar sobre a interdependencia entre as dimensións económicas, sociais e de saúde para finalmente advertir o seu rol como futuros profesionais en Fisioterapia en tarefas de prevención e promoción da saúde nos diferentes contextos culturais e socioeconómicos. O presente proxecto é a primeira proposta da Facultade de Fisioterapia dun proxecto de EpD no que o alumnado é actor chave. Deste proxecto xorde a reflexión sobre a misión de fomentar a participación social e o desenvolvemento humano do alumnado, supoñendo tamén o inicio doutras actividades relacionadas. O alumnado refire a aprendizaxe da importancia da prevención na saúde en diferentes contextos e o seu papel neste proceso como futuros profesionais[Abstract] The active promotion of university social responsibility has a priority role in achieving a more sustainable and human model. The activities proposed must have a direct and positive impact on students, being part part of their integral training. This project is intended to involve Physical Therapy students in activities related to an education project for development (EpD) about women caregivers in developing countries. The objective is to make them part of a real social situation of injustice and inequality and invite them to reflect on the interdependence between the economic, social and health dimensions. Then, we want them to realize their role as future professionals in Physical Therapy in prevention and health promotion and how strategies may change depending on different cultural and socio-economic contexts. The present project is the first proposal of the Faculty of Physiotherapy for an EpD project in which the students are main actors. This project reflects on the mission of promoting social participation and human development among students. Also, it promoted the beginning of other activities related to social responsability, training and researc

Antagonist muscle co-activation during straight walking and its relation to kinematics: Insight from young, elderly and Parkinson's disease

[Abstract] Increased antagonist muscle co-activation of the lower limb during walking seems to be an adaptive process to the physiological changes of aging, in order to gain joint stability. In the healthy subjects this view seems to be reinforced by the fact that the co-activation index (CAI) increases when the gait is faster. The few reports on antagonist co-activation in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients indicate that they have larger co-activation than the healthy elderly, supporting the idea of the stabilization role of CAI during gait, as postural instability is a cardinal feature of PD. However it has also been reported that there is a reduction of the CAI when increasing velocity in PD or normal elderly. This questions the role of coactivation in stabilization during increased velocity. In this study we have analyzed the gait of healthy subjects (young and elderly), and PD patients (with and without freezing of gait, FOG) in order to better understand the relation between co-activation and gait kinematics, and to gain insight into the pathological changes associated with FOG in PD. We used Multiple Linear Regression models to study the relationship in shank muscles between CAI, velocity and cadence. Our results indicate that, for all groups of interest, the relationship between co-activation and the kinematics of gait is poor, due to the high degree of variability, questioning the explanatory value of the index

Effects of early or late-evening fatiguing physical activity on sleep quality in non-professional sportsmen

[Abstract] Background: This study aims to understand whether night sleep-quality is distorted by fatiguing physical activity (PA) when conducted early or late in the evening. Methods: Nine males (18-38yrs) performed sessions of fatiguing-PA over 3 consecutive days (Mon-Wed), for 2 weeks. One week the PA was performed at 17h, and in the other week at 21h. A Control-week included no PA (PAABSENT). The fatiguing-PA sessions comprised several sets of the 20m Shuttle-Run-Test (20mSRT). Sleep was assessed by actigraphic recordings acquired over three nights each week. It included the nights following the PA-sessions and the same days in the week of PAABSENT. Sleep-quality perception was evaluated by mean of the National Sleep Foundation-Sleep Diary. The heart-rate (HR) and body-temperature (BT) at bed-time and waking-up were also registered. Results: Neither the 20mSTR-estimated VO2max nor the number of maximal 20mSRT sets were different in the PA17h and PA21h sessions. Compared to the PAABSENT, the PA17h and PA21h sessions increased the HR at bedtime, which recovered to baseline level after the night of sleep. BT was also reduced when waking-up compared to bed-time, but this was also observed in PAABSENT. Sleep parameters measured by means of actigraphy were not modified by fatiguing activity when compared to PAABSENT. Nevertheless, the subjective perception of sleep-quality was negatively altered by fatiguing PA. Conclusions: Fatiguing PA performed early or late at the evening has no impact on objective sleep-quality but, subjectively, a deterioration of sleep-quality is perceived by the subjects