bakhtawar samejo

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a cluster of acute respiratory illnesses with unknown etiology, which firstly appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. All educational institutes of Pakistan were completely closed from March 13, 2020, to August 15, 2020. This condition disturbs the daily routines of children with mental health needs. This sudden closure limited their physical activities in their routine life. This study aims to observe the depression associated with COVID-19 and its impact on the physical activities of young adults of Pakistan.

A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 young adults. A modified depression scale was used to assess depression, and the revised physical activity questionnaire was used to evaluate the physical activity of Pakistani young adults in the past month.

About 57.8% of the samples were sometimes sad; 44.5% sometimes felt grouchy in the mood; 43.8% never felt hopeless about the future. Also, 32.6% sometimes slept less or more than usual, 35.9% sometimes had difficulty concentrating on their work, 48.7% slept 6-8 hours per day. Besides, 49% engaged 1-3 hours in work or study per day; 43.2% watched TV, sat quietly, or listened to music for 1-3 hours. About 57.8% engaged less than 1 hour per week in light physical activities. Also, 77.9% engaged for less than 1 hour per week in moderately strenuous activities.

Depression could be highly associated with the COVID-19 outbreak, and it might affect the physical activities of young adults.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is not a disease, but a non-progressive disorder that occurs in developing brain. CP has become the most common pediatrics problem which needs early medical diagnosis and intervention. CP children have balance difficulties because they are unable to perform their activities of daily living and have high risk of fall. Balance training using vestibular system, gym ball, and assistive devices is one of the main elements in the improvement of balance of CP children. The aim of this study was to identify the impact of gym ball exercise on standing balance in children with CP. 

A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 54 children diagnosed with either spastic, non-spastic, hemiplegic or diplegic CP. Gym ball exercises were regularly given to each participant for 3 weeks. Patient’s standing balance was assessed by using Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) before and after Gym ball exercises. Data was collected from the department of physiotherapy at (ACELP) Karachi. Paired-t test was used to compare the static balance before and after gym ball exercises. 

 There was no significant difference in standing unsupported between pre-exercise and post exercise (P=0.159). However, for other parameters including standing unsupported with eyes closed (P=0.00), standing unsupported with feet together (P=0.01), standing unsupported one foot in front (P=0.00), and standing on one leg (P=0.01), significant reduction were found after the intervention compared with before the intervention. 

 It was found that the gym ball exercises could significantly improve the standing balance of children with CP.

According to WHO, a stroke refers to rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (or global) disturbance of cerebral functions, with symptoms lasting 24 hours or longer or leading to death. The damage caused by a stroke can interrupt your normal swallowing and food or fluid is entered into your airways and lungs. Dysphagia can damage the lungs, which can trigger a lung infection (pneumonia). To assess the efficacy of chest physiotherapy in the prevention of aspiration pneumonia in stroke patients.

A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a sample size of 35 participants from C1 ward Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi City, Pakistan. The participants were selected via random sampling method. The inclusion criteria include patients of the C1 ward with a cerebrovascular accident, both male and female gender, with the age ranges from 45 to 63 years. All statistical analysis was done by using SPSS v. 19. The paired t test was used to evaluate the effectiveness of chest physiotherapy in a patient with aspiration pneumonia. The chest physiotherapy includes turning, postural drainage, percussion, vibration, deep breathing exercises, coughing, and suctioning were performed on a patient with aspiration pneumonia.

The results of this study show pre-treatment and post-treatment chest congestion, heart rate, and respiratory rate show that the P value is highly significant.

This study concludes that chest physiotherapy seems to be effective in treating aspiration pneumonia in cerebrovascular accident patients.

This study was conducted to assess the attitude and practice of general dental practitioners when dealing with Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs) and referral to physiotherapy.

This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted with a study population of General Dental Practitioners (GPDs) of Mirpur Khas Sindh. The total study population estimated was about 55 GPDs in this district. A convenient sampling technique was used to recruit the samples. The study questionnaire was adopted from the different articles and modified as per our socio-cultural needs. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were calculated via chrome back alpha test by doing a pilot study on 25 participants and found its validity as 80% and reliability as 75%. The questionnaire consisted of three sections of general questions regarding referral to physiotherapy, attitude, and practice of general dental practitioners in managing temporomandibular joint dysfunctions (TMD).

The results showed that 57.1% of GPDs believe that 53.1% of patients had neck pain and poor posture. Also, 81.6% of patients were referred to other healthcare providers, and only 22.4% of patients were referred to a physiotherapist. About 28.6% of patients were referred to physiotherapists just because of neck pain, only 22.4% of patients with postural alterations were referred to a physiotherapist. Also, 53.1% of GPDs had little confidence in assessing, therapeutic decision, and treatment outcomes of TMDs. About 69.4% of GPDs provided medical management to the patients suffering from TMD, while 44.9% of GPDs provided pharmacological management.

This study concluded that there is a need for TMD experts to deal with patients suffering from TMDs. General dental practitioners of Mirpur Khas, Sindh know little about the physiotherapeutic benefits for TMD. The majority of GPDs have very little confidence in making a diagnosis and treating patients suffering from temporomandibular dysfunctions

Health-related physical fitness requires muscular strength to perform physical activities. The handgrip test is used to assess the muscular strength of the hand. The flexor muscle strength in palmar, thenar, and hypothenar areas of the hand collectively form the Handgrip Strength (HGS). However, the extensor mechanism, including the intrinsic musculature, plays a minor role in producing handgrip strength. Also, each finger plays an essential role in handgrip strength. This study aims to identify the association between the handgrip strength and the handspan of the dominant and non-dominant hands of undergraduate physical therapy students.

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on undergraduate physical therapy students. Different public and private physical therapy schools and universities in Karachi City, Pakistan were chosen to collect the data with an estimated sample size of 100 undergraduate physical therapy students. The sampling was done by the non-probability convenient sampling method. The inclusion criteria were undergraduate physiotherapy students (from both genders) and willing to participate in the study.

The Pearson test was used to determine the significant correlation between handgrip strength and handspan. The results showed the mean and standard deviation of handgrip strength (dominant hand) was 25.96±11.538, of handgrip strength in Kg (non-dominant hand) was 24.93±12.336, and of handspan length in Cm of the dominant hand was 20.2910±1.78671. The present study showed a positive association between handgrip strength and handspan. The handgrip strength of the non-dominant hand was higher than the dominant handgrip strength values. Handspan was also higher in the non-dominant hand compared with the dominant hand, but this difference is not significant.

The handgrip strength of physical therapy students had a positive association with the handspan. The handspan and dominant hand influence handgrip strength.