Journal of Modern Rehabilitation
Volume:12 Issue: 2, Spring 2018

The area of neuro-optometry, a subspecialty of optometry, has started a long time ago and continued to serve patients with neurological dysfunctions of the visual system through various methods and applications. The efficiency of neuro-optometric rehabilitation has been proved by a wealth of scientific presentations and publications in the area of neuroscience. However, this subspecialty of optometry has not yet been appreciated and recognized in many regions of the world. This scientific article outlines neuro-optometry, neuro-optometrist’s duties, and neuro-optometric rehabilitative implications in order to highlight the importance of neuro-optometric rehabilitation, to shed a light on one of the missing responsibilities of optometrists in the area of neuroscience, to present the significance of references and sources worked in this area of science, and to define relevant duties for optometrists who wish to work in this sector.

Forward Head Posture (FHP) is one of the most common faulty sagittal postures of the craniocervical region in elderly adults. The sagittal alignment of the spine changes with different body positions. This study aimed to compare head postural alignment between sitting and standing positions in elder people with FHP. The head posture was assessed in 32 participants including 16 old adults with FHP (Mean±SD age=67.9±3.8 years) and 16 normal matched individuals (Mean±SD age=67.5±3.4 years). Side-view photographs were taken in standing and sitting positions to determine the amount of the craniovertebral angle. The results of the paired t test indicated a significant difference between head postural alignment in sitting and standing positions for normal (P<0.003) group. However, there is no significant difference in sitting vs. standing in FHP group (P<0.09). The assessment of head postural alignment in elder people using craniovertebral angle in two different positions, sitting and standing, demonstrated no changes in the alignment of head at FHP participants. It may be due to need for keeping the forward gaze.

The prevalence of lumbar hyperlordosis is high in young women. Considering the previous studies on the role of neuro-cognitive skills in preventing musculoskeletal injuries, the goal of the present study was to examine these skills in women with lumbar hyperlordosis. A total of 15 women with normal lumbar lordosis and 15 women with lumbar hyperlordosis participated in this study. Measurements of the visual and auditory reaction time and anticipatory skills were performed by using Speed Anticipation Reaction Time (SART) test. The Independent t-test was used to compare between two groups. The distribution of all variables in both groups was normal, according to the result of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The participants of our study had no pain, movement limitations or disability. Our study results were not consistent with the findings of previous studies in this topic. It is suggested that in the future studies the individuals with severe malalignments (that affected their lifestyle) be assessed to clarify the reason for these discrepancies among study results.

Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) like the normal peers have the right to participate in life activities, so we aimed to study and compare the participation of Iranian 6-12 years old children with CP with the participation of their normally developing peers. This was a cross-sectional study in which the parents of 274 children with CP and the parents of 274 of normal children completed the Children Participation Assessment Scale Parent- version. For data analysis, the Independent t test was performed in SPSS version 21. The mean age of children with CP and normal children were respectively 9.64 and 9.45 years. The results indicate a significant difference between the two groups in life activities participations (P<0.05). Participation of Iranian children with CP in life activities (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, play, leisure, social participation, education, and sleep/rest) are lower than those normal peers, so the occupational therapists should pay attention to this and try to promote the participation of children with CP.

Ankle sprain occurs often late in sport competitions consisting of many lateral ankle movements, jumping or landing, where peroneal muscles are fatigued. Changes in Ground Reaction Force (GRF) parameters may also be related to this injury. The present study aimed to assess the effects of peroneal muscles fatigue on GRF profile during lateral hop landing. Twenty-five recreationally active healthy males performed a lateral hop on a force plate before and after a fatigue intervention by a Biodex dynamometer using an isometric eversion at 40% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction until eversion torque decreased to 50% of its initial value. A force plate and an EMG system were used to collect data during lateral hop landing. Fatigue was confirmed by a significant fall in median frequency (P<0.05). Mean of the normalized peak GRF in the vertical direction, mean of the normalized impulse of the GRF in the vertical direction, and means of the time to peak GRF in the vertical and mediolateral directions decreased significantly after fatigue (P<0.05). If the peroneal muscles are fatigued, a much more load may transfer to the vertical direction during landing, although the vulnerable part of the ankle is situated on the mediolateral direction.

This study aimed to investigate construct convergent validity of the Persian version of consensus auditory perceptual evaluation of voice (called ATSHA), using the acoustic measurements. Moreover, the effect of voice tasks on the perceptual ratings was studied. The study data were gathered from a total of 40 dysphonic patients (Mean±SD age=36.79±8.26 years). Perceptual voice evaluation was performed using the ATSHA during sustained vowels and sentence reading tasks. The acoustic features including fundamental frequency (F0), intensity, jitter, shimmer, and Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio (HNR) were extracted using Praat application. To assess construct validity of ATSHA, correlation between perceptual and acoustic measures were studied. The effect of tasks was investigated by mean comparison and Pearson correlation. The results demonstrate that ATSHA has significant correlation with all acoustic measures except the frequency (r=-0.08-0.35; P≥0.05). There was no significant correlation between pitch and the acoustic measures of intensity and jitter (r=-0.31; P=0.05 and r=0.24; P=0.14, respectively). The highest correlation observed between the overall severity and the HNR (r=-0.85; P<0.001). The correlation between the perceptual scores in both tasks was high (r=0.82-0.99, P<0.05). The ATSHA is a valid scale for perceptual judgment on intensity, jitter, shimmer, and HNR. However, this scale could not estimate the frequency of voice in dysphonia. The current study demonstrate that vowel prolongation and sentence reading has no noticeable effect on the perceptual ratings in dysphonia.

According to studies, raising a normal child is already a difficult task for parents. Now, imagine how hard it could be to raise an autistic child. Based on family stress theory, persona, and family resources are considered as main elements which may have effects on the relationship between having an autistic child and positive/negative parenting consequences. The present study aimed to evaluate parental stress modeling based on parents’ differentiation of self and mediating role of family performance with their autistic child. This was a correlational study based on structural equations modeling. Statistical population consisted all mothers of autistic children who were studying in the autistic schools in Tehran. In this research, 250 mothers with autistic children were selected by convenience sampling method based on Lohlin method for sample size (2004). Then they were evaluated by multidimensional scale of differentiation of self inventory-revised, family assessment device, and parental stress index-short form. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS 24 and AMOS 23. Based on the findings, three variables could predict parental stress (R2=0.51) and 51% of parental stress are explained by parents’ differentiation of self as well as family performance. Also, the indirect way of parents’ differentiation of self with mediating role of family performance on parental stress was supported. Focusing on self-differentiation as well as family performance and emphasizing on parental stress of mothers with autistic children and training coping strategies may have significant effects on decreasing the stress and vulnerability of these parents.

Executive functions generally refer to cognitive functions involved in the control and regulation of goal-directed behavior also the formation of mental representations. Several factors such as age, task complexity, and bilingualism affect executive functions. There are opposing effects for the role of bilingualism on executive functions. This study aimed to compare executive functions of bilingual patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) with their monolingual counterparts. In this cross-sectional study, 13 bilingual patients with RRMS are compared with 13 monolingual peers. The research instrument included progressive matrices raven test, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and clinical tests of executive functions (continuous performance test, Wechsler memory test and verbal fluency test). The Mann-Whitney test was used as statistical analysis. The results indicated statistically significant differences between two groups with regard to correct response, error of omission, and commission error. However, there was no difference in the digit span test. Monolinguals in Persian language, however, performed better than bilinguals in all verbal fluency tasks. Bilingualism promotes cognitive ability and executive functions in nonverbal tasks. Ironically, it seems that the only recorded negative impact of bilingualism are on verbal knowledge and skill.