Comparison of Immediate Effect of High-Power Pain Threshold Ultrasound and Deep Transverse Friction Massage on Active Myofascial Trigger Points

Introduction: The study was conducted to compare the immediate effect of high-power pain threshold ultrasound (HPPTUS) and deep transverse friction massage (DTFM) as a traditional technique on the treatment of upper trapezius active myofascial trigger points in male patients with mechanical neck pain. Materials and Methods: In this parallel single-blind randomized clinical trial study, 60 men with mechanical neck pain (mean age: 30.57±6.19 years) who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly assigned to HPPTUS and DTFM as the control group. A visual analog scale (VAS), pain pressure threshold (PPT), and range of motion (ROM) of cervical lateral flexion (CLF) were assessed before and after treatment. Results: Analysis of pre- and post-treatment findings showed that the VAS (P<0.01), PPT (P<0.01), and ROM of CLF (P<0.01) improved significantly in both groups while ROM of CLF increased significantly more in the HPPTUS group. An indirect correlation was found between the pre-treatment ROM of CLF and ROM of CLF improvement in both groups. A significant indirect correlation was observed between pre-treatment VAS and ROM of CLF improvement in the HPPTUS group. In the DTFM group a significant indirect correlation was found between pre-treatment ROM of CLF and VAS improvement. Conclusion: The results showed that HPPTUS can be used as an effective treatment for active trigger points (TP). It seems that this method is more effective than deep transverse friction massage

Phonological Processing in CFhildren with Down Syndrome

Objective: To determine phonological processing in elemantery children with Down syndrome Materials and Methods: Phonetic test is used to extract phonological processing in 40 child with Down syndrome .They were normal in hearing and oral structure. Results: There was significant difference between girls and boys in some subgroups of phonological processing. In assimilation, voiceless assimilation in boys and complete assimilation in girls were the most. Nasal assimilation in girls and fricative assimilation in boys were the least. In substitution, the least mean belonged to liquid and nasal substitution in girls and voice ness substitution in boys. In general there was no significant difference between age and phonological awareness; however, there was direct correlation between syllable structure and age and reverse correlation between age and stop assimilation. Conclusion: In addition to 3 groups of phonological processing including: syllable structure, assimilation, and substitution, omission was seen. The difference between girls and boys indicates they are impressed by the phonetic structure of words in different ways. Correlation between age and phonological processing shows phonological errors may be resulted from deviation

The Effect of the Loading on Dynamic Stability and Scapular Asymmetry

Background: Scapular stabilization and neuromuscular control provide an important parameter to characterize shoulder function during dynamic activities. Many studies have confirmed the effect of the loading on scapular position and scapulohumeral rhythm. Therefore, the evaluation of stabilizer muscles involvement in scapular asymmetry may assist in the development of clinical examination and rehabilitation program. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of loading on dynamic stability and scapular asymmetry in basketball players. Methods: Thirty healthy male basketball players aged between 20 to 31 years old were tested. The linear distance between scapular inferior angle and T7 spinous process was measured using a caliper in 90 degrees of unloaded scaption and with 1, 2 and 4 kg loading. The difference of distances of two sides in the above 4 positions was analyzed. Results: The amount of distances difference in two sides with 1 kg loading was minimal (9.36 mm). This difference increased to 10.19 mm and 12.22 mm, with increasing the loading to 2 and 4 kg respectively; although the 4 positions of the test did not show significant differences in distances difference (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study shows that dynamic stability of the scapula is dependent on the role of muscles, so that with increasing load on the muscles, the scapular asymmetry is more pronounced

The Effects of Lower Extremity Muscle Fatigue on Dynamic Balance in Volleyball Players

Objectives: Lower extremity muscles are critical for maintaining dynamic balance and athletic performance. Fatigue of these muscles may affect dynamic balance. It is unclear whether fatigue in a particular muscle group can affect dynamic balance more than that in other groups. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effects of fatigue in 5 muscle groups on dynamic balance in volleyball players. Methods: Fifteen healthy male volleyball players separately performed the Star Excursion Balance Test before and immediately after the occurrence of fatigue of ankle Plantar Flexor (PF), knee extensor, knee flexor, hip abductor, and hip adductor muscles. Composite reach distance and distance in anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions were recorded, accordingly. Results: Repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) data indicated that fatigue of all muscle groups significantly decreased the mean score of composite (P<0.001). Anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral distance scores decreased following muscle fatigue of knee extensors and ankle PFs (P<0.05). Discussion: This study suggested that regarding composite reach score, fatigue of ankle, knee, and hip muscles similarly decreased dynamic balance. However, evaluating three main directions revealed that knee extensors and ankle PFs muscles fatigue presented more prominent effects on the explored volleyball players’ balance, compared to the other muscles

Investigating the responsiveness of the Persian version of functional rating index in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain: brief report

Background: It is important to use reliable, valid, and responsive instruments to assess the treatment outcomes. The functional rating index (FRI) is a patient reported outcome measure to assess the pain and function in patients with neck and low back pain. The FRI has been translated and culturally adapted into Persian language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the responsiveness of Persian functional rating index in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP). Methods: The adult patients with CNSNP recruited from Shariati Hospital in Tehran and filled the Persian functional rating index (PFRI), Persian neck disability index (PNDI), and pain numerical rating scale (NRS) before and after 10 physiotherapy sessions, from March to July 2017. The patients completed the global rating change scale after treatment. For statistical analyses, the effect size (ES), standardized response mean (SRM), Guyatt response index (GRI) were used. The Spearman or Pearson test was used for correlation analyses. The area under the receiver operating curve (ROC) and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) were calculated. Results: In this study, 30 patients (female 17) with a mean of age 45.6 years [standard deviation (SD) 13.8] participated. The mean duration of neck pain was 14.7 months (SD 12.8). Significant strong and moderate correlations were identified between PFRI with PNDI and GRC scores (r= 0.78 and r= 0.69). The respective ES and SRM values were 0.73 and 0.78 for PFRI. The GRI was 5.58. The AUC was 0.89 (P= 0.001). MCID was 11.7%. Conclusion: This study confirms that the Persian functional rating index is responsive for assessing disability in Persian speaking patients with chronic non-specific neck pain

A Test Design to Study the Effect of Grapheme Type and Location on Spelling Errors of First Grade Children

Objective: This study has done in order to provide a test to examine the selection of grapheme kind and location on spelling errors. Materials & Methods: This study is a descriptive and cross- sectional and validity assessment research. The children were selected from the 8th territory of ministry of education (two classes from girlish school and two classes from boyish school) by non probability sampling from sample of convenience. At the first grade the words of Farsi book were analyzed based on the grapheme kind and location and some of them were selected. Different experts like speech and language pathologist, linguists and teachers scored those words. Finally 93 words were selected as words of test. They were dictated to students at first grade by the tester during 2 stages separately in one stage and the other stage the tester and the teacher do it for another group during 2 stages separately. The dictation errors were determined and data were analyzed by correlation coefficient and paired T test. Results: Findings showed that there was no significant difference between spelling test errors of first and second stage of test performance by the tester neither in kind of grapheme selection (P=0/12), nor in location of grapheme (P=0/16). There was significant difference between spelling test errors of tester and teacher test performance in kind of grapheme selection (P<0/01), but no significant difference was seen in location of grapheme (P=0/12). Conclusion: These findings show that this test has intra rater reliability either in kind of grapheme selection or location of grapheme, but it has inter rater reliability just in location of grapheme

The Effect of Learning Disability on Contralateral Suppression of Otoacoustic Emissions in Primary Students

Background and Aim: One of the most significant complaints of children with learning disability (LD) is difficulty in understanding speech in the presence of background noise. Different studies have shown that the medial olivocochlear bundle(MOCB) may play a role in hearing in noise. The MOCB function can be evaluated by the contralateral suppression of tone burst evoked otoacoustic emissions (TBEOAEs).The aim of the present study was to evaluate frequency specifications of MOCB by the contralateral suppression of TBEOAEs at 1,2,3 and 4 KHz in response to contralateral white noise in LD students. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 34 LD students aged 7-11 years and 31 normal students matched for age.The contralateral suppression of TBEOAEs was evaluated by comparing TBEOAEs amplitudes with and without contralateral white noise. Results: In the absence of noise there was no significant difference between TBEOAEs amplitudes of two groups. In the presence of noise significant decrease was seen in TBEOAEs amplitudes at 1,2,3 and 4 KHz in both groups. In LD students the amount of this decrement at 1,2 and 4 KHz was lower than in the normal students. Conclusion: A significant diminished suppression effect at 1,2 and 4 KHz in LD students indicates that at these frequency regions MOCB function was reduced. Therefore it suggests that the assessment of MOCB by evaluating the suppression effect of TBEOAEs included in the test battery approach used in the diagnostic of LD students

Effect of Kinesiotaping and Stretching Exercise on Forward Shoulder Angle in Females with Rounded Shoulder Posture

Background: Rounded shoulder posture is a common abnormal posture in upper quarter. Kinesiotape is a new intervention that recently used in rehabilitation. There are no studies have examined the effect of kinesiotape on rounded shoulder posture. Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of scapular kinesiotaping and pectoralis minor stretching exercise on forward shoulder angle in female subjects with rounded shoulder posture. Methods: Twenty female students aged between 18 to 25 years old with rounded shoulder posture participated in this study. Then, the subjects were randomly and equally assigned to two groups: the stretch group and the stretch plus kinesiotape group. Both groups were trained for doing home exercise to stretch Pectoralis minor bilaterally for two weeks. Kinesiotape group received kinesiotape on scapular area additionally. Forward shoulder angle was measured in four sessions including pre-intervention (first session), immediately after the first intervention (second session), fourth day (third session) and at the end of two weeks (fourth session). Two-way repeated measures ANOVA (4×2) was used for data analysis. Results: kinesiotape group showed significant within-group decrease in forward shoulder angle between first session with three other sessions (P≤0.05).There was no significant within-group difference in stretch group and between groups (P=0.20) forward shoulder angle-by-group interaction in measurement sessions was significantly different (P=0.02) Conclusion: scapular kinesiotaping along with pectoralis minor stretching exercise improved rounded shoulder posture in subjects of the present study. kinesiotape is suggested as a comple

Comparing disfluency on words and nonwords in children who stutter

Introduction: Stuttering is a multidimensional disorder which may be affected by many factors including linguistic aspects. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of disfluencies over words and nonwords in children who stutter. Materials and Methods: 15 children with stuttering, whose age ranged from 4 to 5 years, participated in this descriptive-analytical study. They were asked to repeat words and non-words that they heard while their utterances were recorded. The statistical analysis was conducted in SPSS. Results: Disfluency frequency was significantly higher on repeating words than on repeating nonwords (P < 0.05). Common disfluencies were of repetition and block types. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, linguistic complexities can increase the occurrence of disfluency frequency. Keywords: Words, Nonwords, Disfluency, Children who stutte