behnoosh vasaghi gharamaleki

One of the major problems of today’s industrial life is the injuries and abnormalities caused by improper use of equipment in the neck muscles and spine. One of these injuries is forward head posture (FHP). The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of the presence of FHP and its severity on the students’ hearing thresholds.

In this cross-sectional study, 55 volunteer students participated. All subjects completed a questionnaire containing general questions and specialized questions in the field of hearing risk factors. Side-view pictures were taken of each person. After selecting three photos, the size of the craniovertebral angle was determined using the MB Ruler software. The mean of the three sizes obtained was used in statistical analysis. Audiometry and tympanometry were performed.

Out of 31 women and 24 men, 24 women (77.41%) and 21 men (87.5%) had FHP. In women, the number of severe FHP was twice that of men. No statistically significant difference was observed between men and women suffering from FHP alone and according to its classification. In this study, no statistically significant difference was observed between FHP and its classification with hearing thresholds.

In this study, most students had FHP (81.8%). Considering that the volunteers are students and are faced with the factors affecting the occurrence of FHP, the existence of a large number of students with this condition is not surprising, and it can be concluded that this condition does not affect the young students’ hearing.

Obesity is known to be an important risk factor in the development of UI (urinary incontinence). Physiotherapy (exercise therapy and biofeedback) has been presented as a common treatment for the improvement of UI. Pelvic floor physiotherapy (PFPT) with weight loss (WL) may significantly improve UI in obese women. This study aimed to compare the effects of PFPT with and without WL on UI symptoms in obese women.

This non-randomized clinical trial was performed with 51 middle-aged obese women with UI. Twenty-nine women in the PFPT group received 12 sessions of PFPT, and 22 women in the PFPT+WL group received 12 sessions of PFPT and nutritionist recommendations for WL. The outcome measures included anthropometric measurements, strength and endurance of pelvic floor muscles, intravaginal pressure (IVP), international consultation on incontinence questionnaire (ICIQ-SF), visual analog scale (VAS), and quality of life (QOL). All measurements were taken at baseline and after the 12-session treatment.

The PFPT+WL group had a 4.95 kg weight loss (p <0.001). Strength and endurance of PFM, IVP, ICIQ UI-SF, VAS, and QOL showed significant improvement in both groups (p <0.001). The ICIQ UI-SF and total I-QOL in the PFPT+WL group were significantly different from those in the PFPT group (p=0.015, p=0.033, respectively), (95% CI: 2.23 - 5.10 vs. 2.85- 5.35 and 180.48 - 214.67 vs. 164.13 - 203.39, respectively).

The proposed protocol of applying PFPT with WL compared to PFPT alone led to more significant improvement in UI severity and QOL in middle-aged obese women with UI.

Bacterial involvement in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) condition made it difficult to treat using available antibiotic therapy. Therapeutic ultrasound was investigated here to evaluate bacterial diversity and quantity before and after continuous/pulsed ultrasound strategy compared to control patients.

Totally, 34 CRS patients were studied in three groups, including continuous ultrasound, pulsed ultrasound and control. Bacterial culture and identification were done before and after treatment. Computed tomography scan (CT scan) and questionnaire scores were recorded two times before and after intervention.

The most prevalent bacterial isolates were non-hemolytic Streptococci (34 patients), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (33 patients), Gram-negative cocci (26 patients), Staphylococcus aureus (19 patients), Streptococcus pneumoniae (five patients) and Streptococcus pyogenes (five patients). Both continuous and pulsed ultrasound could significantly reduce the quantity of bacterial isolates after treatment. CT scan and questionnaire results support the effectiveness of therapeutic ultrasound.

The quantity of clinically important bacteria was significantly reduced using ultrasound treatment and recovery of patients was supported by CT scan and questionnaire scores. Alternative therapeutic ultrasound could be an effective procedure in CRS patients.

Choosing a thesis subject is one of the critical concerns of master’s students because a student’s graduation depends on defending the thesis. The main research question was whether students with a lower grade point average (GPA) also require a lower score and spend more time and vice versa whether students with a higher GPA perform better for the thesis or not.

In this cross-sectional study, all master’s graduates of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences between 2008 and 2019 who had been recorded in a computer system were enrolled. Using the stratified sampling method, at least one sample was assigned to each stratum (field year), and the sample size was calculated to be 128 people. The data were analyzed by SPSS software, version 19 via correlation and regression analysis with a chi-square test.

In this study, the correlation coefficient between the duration of the study and thesis score was significant and obtained as -0.289 (P=0.001), while the correlation coefficient between the duration of the study and the student’s GPA was only significant (P=0.047) and equal to -0.176. The estimated Pearson correlation coefficient between the thesis score and GPA for all graduates was r=0.352 (r=0.338 for men and r=0.284 for women).

Although the GPA of female students was better, the statistical analysis indicated that the student gender was not an effective factor in getting a thesis score. Considering the constancy of academic courses across all groups, the correlation between the duration of the study and the thesis score was negative. It seems that most students spend more time at university due to the delay in defending the thesis.

Musculoskeletal pains due to COVID-19 have disrupted the daily activities of infected people. Investigating these complications can give us more information to diagnose and treat patients early. This study aims to investigate the effects of this virus on the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders in students or employees with COVID-19 at Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), using the Extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (ENMQ).

This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted in 2021 on 107 people. The study participants were selected by convenience sampling from students and employees at IUMS. The inclusion criteria were testing positive for COVID-19, confirmed by a physician, and at least three weeks passed since the onset of symptoms. The exclusion criteria were having a history of an accident or events influencing the musculoskeletal system and being reluctant to participate in the study. We used a researcher-made questionnaire and ENMQ for data collection. Musculoskeletal disorders before infection and the incidence or worsening of these problems after infection were also recorded using ENMQ. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 26, using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test.

The highest pain frequencies before COVID-19 were in the shoulders, knees, and back, in this order. Also, the highest pain frequencies after COVID-19 were in the back, neck, shoulders, and leg, in this order. According to the study results, most patients had low pain in their back, mild pain in their neck and back, and severe pain in their knees before being infected with COVID-19. After the COVID-19 infection, low pain in the knee and mild and severe pain in the back were observed in most patients. In assessing the “pain impact on the functioning“ before COVID-19, the highest effects on daily activities were found in the back, neck, and pelvis, in this order. After the COVID-19 infection, the daily activities related to the back, neck, shoulders, and pelvis were reduced.

Based on this study, the difference in right elbow function by gender, the difference in the intensity of right elbow pain by age, the difference in the intensity of ankle and finger pain, and the difference in the function of ankle and fingers on both sides by age before and after suffering from coronavirus were the significant variables of this research.

Overweight is related to increased risks of cardiovascular diseases and dyslipidemia, and reduced quality of life (QOL). Exercise training improves QOL and modifies cardiovascular risk factors and lipid profile. The present study was conducted to compare three types of exercise in terms of their short term effects on QOL and lipid profile in overweight individuals with moderate hemophilia A (IWMHA).  

This study was a randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded trial (IRCT20180128038541N1). Sixty IWMHA with a body mass index (BMI) of 25-30 kg/ m2 and a mean age of 35-55 years were randomly assigned to four groups of 15, namely aerobic training (AT), resistance training (RT), combined training (CT) and control. The intervention groups participated in 45-minute exercises three days a week for six weeks. The 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) was used to measure QOL. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist circumference (WC) were measured before and after six weeks of training. For the data analysis using SPSS version 20, the ANCOVA was used to determine the differences among the four groups.

A significant decrease was observed in the intervention groups compared to the control group in terms of weight, BMI, LDL-C, TC, WHR, and WC (p<0.05). Significant increase was observed in HDL-C and SF-36 subscales in the intervention groups compared to the control group (p<0.001). There was no significant difference among the intervention groups (p>0.05). In comparison with the control group, more significant improvement was observed in the TC, TG, LDL-C, HDL-L, and SF-36 subscales in the CT group compared to the RT and AT groups.

CT was the most effective training method in improving lipid profile and QOL in overweight IWMHA.

According to Alvan Feinstein, the world of clinical medicine faces two challenges of mensuration and quantification. An individual-level challenge called mensuration and a group-level challenge called quantification. Feinstein calls mensuration the process of converting clinical observations (observed phenomena) into primary raw data, which are expressed as numbers and digits. Then, he called the conversion of raw data into digits and numbers specific to groups, such as the average, quantification. Quantification also has group indices to describe physical symptoms and clinical phenomena. In many scientific disciplines, the extension metry/metrics has been used to represent works based on measurement or mensuration. Combined terms with this suffix were first used by Sir F. Galton for biometry about a century ago to represent the combination of statistical committees with biological knowledge. Biometrics gradually expanded into the realm of biology, and three areas of anthropometry, sociometry, and psychometric emerged. In addition to biological activities, the scope of metrics has been widely extended to other sciences such as econometrics, technometrics, cliometric, bibliometrics, and chemometrics. Therefore, the idea and name of clinimetric is not new. The cousins of the large metrics family have been waiting for the word clinimetrics for a long time, and they may wonder why clinicians and therapists joined them so late. To express people's height, scale data in centimeters or inches, to express gender, scale data such as men and women, and to classify the severity of the disease, scales such as mild, moderate and severe or +1, +2, +3 and .... were defined. All the scales and criteria used in mensuration are to describe the types of treatments so that the observed phenomena can be divided into specific categories and analyzed. Quantification occurs after collecting primary raw data and assigning it to categories to make comparisons between them. In the categorized raw data, indicators can be calculated for each group. The average as an indicator of the health status of severely ill men receiving a treatment is one of them. In a complete and comprehensive definition, clinimetrics is an indicator of clinical phenomena. It evaluates or describes clinical and laboratory signs, symptoms, and findings using scales, indicators, and other quantitative instruments. Clinical measurement can be divided into two types of activities. One of them is mensuration in which raw data is collected to label or group so that the observed phenomena. Mensuration means what determines the status of each individual to generate such variables and raw data such as "place of birth: Mashhad", "gender: female", "age: 42" and "functional status: level 4". Another type of clinical trial can be called quantification that involves the collection of raw data in a group and summarizing the group’s characteristics, and sometimes a comparison is made between two or more groups. In quantification, it can be said that in a special group of 57 people, 81% of them were born in Mashhad, 56% were women and their average age was 46.2 years and their average functional status was level 3. Then we can compare this group with another group of people to achieve the conclusion for quantification. Over the years, the term "clinical epidemiology" has been used to quantify and compare clinical phenomena. Hence, clinimetrics is limited to mensuration activities to distinguish between these two types of measurements. On the other hand, clinical epidemiology can be a subset of clinimetrics or vice versa clinimetrics subset of clinical epidemiology. With these limitations, clinimetrics can be related to indicators, rating scales, and other conditions that are defined to describe or measure physical signs and symptoms or overt clinical phenomena in clinical medicine. Although markers, indicators, and measurements are components of clinimetrics, the main focus of this branch of science is expanding on methodology for measurement to have the necessary application. This issue is related to the quality of measuring instruments and now there is more focus on the development process of instruments than their final format. Dr. Feinstein, known as the father of clinical epidemiology, dreamed of a new field, which he introduced as clinimetrics in the early 1980s and scientists like Henrica De. Wet, Per Bech and Paul Krabbe pursued his work. He wrote a book on Clinimetrics after writing a book on Clinical Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology. He published four consecutive articles in the journal Ann. Intern Medicine (September to December 1983) to emphasize the necessity of basic sciences in medicine as "clinical medicine". In the last of these articles, he introduced the field of clinimetrics and predicted the types of opposition to the establishment of this field. The concept of clinimetrics gradually took its place in the medical literature. Given his scientific background in mathematics, statistics and psychometrics, he now teaches clinimetrics at the VU University of the Netherlands and has begun a wide range of activities to promote it (www.clinimetrics.nl/). He and his colleagues believe that clinimetry and psychometry are two sides of a coin. However, people like Per Bech in his book "Clinical Psychometry-2012" consider clinical psychometry to be the same as "clinimetrics" in psychiatry. Paul Krabbe of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands has dedicated chapter 13 of his book to measuring health and health status to clinimetrics. Clinimetrics has been proposed in other sciences such as physiotherapy and rehabilitation sciences by Dekker et al. (2005). Soon courses on clinimetrics will begin in faculties that deal with patients and clinical sciences (such as rehabilitation, dentistry and medicine). Perhaps the best place to start this field is in the "basic sciences" group at medical universities, so that Dr. Feinstein's dream of making the field of clinical studies as a basic field comes true. It is hoped that the pioneering universities of medical sciences in the country will also contribute to the development of this field by understanding the necessity of establishing such a field as a basic and complementary field.

The effect of UV beam, which has been emitted from a natural or a manmade source on cells has been studied in previous studies for several times. Radiation of this beam can have different effects on DNA of the cell, cytotoxicity, the structure of cellular proteins and their mechanical properties based on radiation period or frequency. The effect of radiation of two types of beams, namely UVB and UVC on stiffness and deformation of the cell are studied in such studies based on different durations of radiation. Viscoelastic properties of skin fibroblast cells were measured using the magnetic tweezer method for a number of groups under UVC radiation with radiation durations of 38, 60 and 120 seconds and for a group under UVB radiation with radiation duration of 38 seconds, also for a control group. In addition, three and four-element discrete differential models were used for creep analysis. Cells deformation had a considerable change after radiation, while such deformation decreased as the frequency increased, however, no comment can be stated regarding radiation duration. Furthermore, cell stiffness reduced after radiation. Such decrease in cell stiffness after radiation could be due to the destruction of the biological macromolecules bonds. Furthermore, the extent of cell deformation was much lower in the radiation groups in comparison to the control group.

There is a wealth of research done in developed countries on the investigation of the working memory (WM) performance in people with high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (IQ>70), with different reported findings. There is a dearth of similar studies in developing countries. In addition, the findings suggest that WM is possibly influenced by culture. The present study investigated WM performance and its relationship with the symptoms of ASD and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The present study is a cross-sectional comparative study between two groups of participants with high-functioning ASD, aged 8-16 years (n=30) and typically developing (n=30). This study was conducted in 2016-2017 in Tehran (Iran). The Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVA) was used to compare the between-group differences on WM tasks. In addition, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the ASD and ADHD symptoms with WM performance. The data were statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 16.

It was found that in general, WM was impaired in the people with ASD. Unexpectedly, in the present study, two subscales of Social interaction and Stereotyped Behaviors of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition showed a significant positive correlation respectively with a score of two WM tasks, i.e. Visual Digit Span and Digit Span Forward.

These results showed that WM was impaired in individuals with ASD and that could have implications for intervention, but it is necessary that therapists be careful in choosing the appropriate tasks for intervention.

Urinary Incontinence (UI) is a common problem in obese women affected by different parameters such as weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), type of delivery, etc. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the lumbar lordosis, anthropometric characteristics, and the incidence of urinary incontinence in obese women.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 193 obese women (BMI>30 kg/m2) with and without UI. Anthropometric characteristics and lordosis angle were measured in participants, and then they were asked to fill out demographic information and urinary incontinence questionnaires. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS V. 23 using statistical tests, including the Independent t test, Spearman correlation, and logistic regression.

Women who suffered from UI had a lower lumbar lordosis angle, were younger, and shorter, with a higher number of natural deliveries.

Based on the findings of this study, a direct relationship exists between natural delivery and UI. However, an indirect relationship is observed between UI and age, lumbar lordosis angle, and height. Because of the effect of lumbar lordosis on the incidence of urinary incontinence in obese people, spine alignment, and changes in abdominal biomechanical parameters might also have an impact on UI.

Archery is a static sport and requires high degrees of accuracy and stability in the glenohumeral joint. Kinesio Tape (KT) is known as a technique for increasing joint stability and Joint Position Sense (JPS), with subsequent improvement in accuracy. The present study aims to investigate the effect of KT on shoulder JPS and accuracy in female archery athletes using Olympic recurve bows. 

A total of 30 female archers with a mean age of 24.77±6.16 years and minimum of one year’s experience of archery, volunteered to take part in the study. The repositioning angle test was performed on the shoulder JPS (of the drawing arm) at 30 degrees and 60 degrees of external rotation. In this test, the drawing arm shoulder was at 90 degrees of abduction and the elbow was at 90 degrees of flexion. Then, each participant shot three arrows from distances of 18, 30, and 50 meters, and their scores were recorded. Next, KT was placed on the deltoid and supraspinatus muscles, and repositioning test and shooting were repeated.

KT positively affected archery scores (P=0.004, 0.000, and 0.004 for 18, 30, and 50 meters, respectively). The results for absolute error in repositioning angle test showed an increase in JPS at 60 degrees of external rotation (P=0.000), but no significant difference was observed at 30 degrees of external rotation (P=0.637).

It appears that KT technique can be used to increase the shoulder joint JPS and improve archers’ shooting accuracy.

Cervical spine abnormalities can affect the ear vessels and or nerves with different mechanisms. Ear dysfunctions following cervical spine injuries can be manifested as hearing loss, vertigo, or tinnitus. Usually, cervical spine injuries can cause pain and Range of Motion (ROM) limitation. The major objective of this study was to determine which cervical ROM limitation was accompanied with higher level of hearing loss.
In this cross-sectional study, 42 volunteers (20 women and 22 men) with cervical spine injury and pain participated after giving their informed consent. Audiometry, tympanometry, and pure-tone threshold of individuals were taken in frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz in all cases. The ROM limitation in flexion, extension and rotation was recorded.
About 53% of participants had bilateral hearing loss. In 40.48% (n=17) of cases, rotation to the left was limited. Flexion and extension motion were restricted on 23.8% (n=10) and 30.95% (n=13) of the participants, respectively. There was no statistically significant relationship between sex and hearing loss but a significant correlation was observed between hearing loss and ROM limitation of rotation to the left in men.
According to the present study, the likelihood of hearing loss was high in patients with cervical left rotation limitation, and that the incidence of hearing loss following the cervical spine injuries was more in men. It seems that left Rotation limitation can be used as a predictor to diagnosis of hearing impairment following the cervical spine injuries (especially in men).

Currently, cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in the world. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of shoulder pain in female patients with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).
This cross-sectional study enrolled 136 women after (CABG) through easy access, and questionnaires were distributed to them. The subjects were asked to complete the questionnaire regarding the time of incidence and characteristics of their shoulder pain, their history of exercise, and their history of pulmonary, cardiovascular, and other diseases. The patients’ intensity of pain was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS).
In this study, 45 patients had shoulder pain. In nearly half of the patients, the pain began from the left shoulder, and one-third of the patients had pain in both shoulders. Onset of pain was sudden in more than 50% of cases.
One-third of patients who underwent CABG suffered from shoulder pain which appeared quickly and within less than a day. The pain was frequently in the left shoulder or between the shoulder areas. Since the age of patients in this study was 50 years, if the pain persisted, the probability of incidence of frozen shoulder is high.

The evaluation of assessment instruments through activity of daily living (ADL) in heart disease is done for early intervention. The aim of this study is to investigate the proper instrument for assessing ADL in a cardiac patient.
Material and This study was a narrative review of instruments of screening and assessing ADL in heart disease. A search was conducted using databases including Iran Medex, SID, Mag Iran, Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. The instruments were investigated regarding the date of publishing, each activity of ADL, number of items, method of administration/format, parameters used for establishing target intervention outcomes, scoring, time duration of each instrument, and psychometric properties.
From 22 instruments, eight instruments met the criteria and were included. These instruments were all in the form of self-report questionnaire or observation. Among the available instruments, the oldest instrument was invented in 1957 (PULSES Profile) and the most recent one was developed in 2009 [performance measure for ADL (PMADL)-8]. In terms of item, minimum and maximum items for implementation of instrument were listed 8 and 170 for PMADL-8 and Klein-Bell index, respectively. The minimum and maximum administration time duration was 4-6 min (Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire) and 60 min (Klein-Bell index).
This study found that some instruments have been used more because of their proficiency subscales in recent years. Furthermore, a comparison of recent and old instruments revealed their evolutionary path. There is a serious lack of proper instrument for ADL evaluation of occupational therapists.

Exercise and physical activity is an effective way for maintaining health by modifying lipid profile. Many studies reported that even a single session of exercise could affect blood lipid profile. Nowadays, saliva sampling is an effective and noninvasive method in disease diagnosis and monitoring health. Based on the results, there is a significant and positive association between saliva and blood lipid values.. Our aim was to assess acute effects of aerobic and resistance exercise on salivary lipid profile.. In this randomized clinical trial study, forty-five non-athlete women (18-35 years old, 18.5 ≤ BMI ≤ 25) were put in three groups (aerobic, resistance and control). Aerobic group program consisted of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at 60-75% maximum heart rate (MHR) intensity and resistance group performed five resistance exercises at intensity of 75% 2-RM. Salivary Lipid profile was measured after 12 hours of fasting at 8 a.m. and immediately after exercise.. One single session of aerobic and resistance did not induce significant change in salivary lipid profile. However, a significant difference was observed between changes in aerobic and resistance groups (P=0.03).. This study suggested that one session of aerobic and resistance exercise with moderate intensity did not change salivary lipid profile..

The typical features of eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage is prolonged loss of muscle strength and the most rapid structural change in the fibers is loss of immunostaining for the intermediate filament protein, desmin. In this study isolated perfused rat muscle was used to examine the direct effect of temperature changes on the eccentric contraction-induced force and desmin loss. The left medial gastrocnemius muscle was separated and the entire lower limb was transferred into a prewarmed (35oC) organ bath. Temperature was adjusted to 31 or 39oC during and after eccentric contractions. Maximal isometric force and desmin loss were measured after 15 isometric or eccentric contractions. According to our data, organ bath temperature changes during or after eccentric contractions had no significant effect on force loss. However, a strong correlation between desmin loss and temperature changes during (r = 0.886, P< 0.05) and a weak correlation between desmin loss and temperature changes after (r= 0.699, P<0.05) eccentric contractions was observed. Our results suggest that cooling during eccentric contractions may decrease desmin loss but temperature changes after eccentric contractions have no effect on desmin loss.