Effect of tactile-kinesthetic stimulation on weight gaining of low birth weight neonates

Low Birth Weight [2499 gr >/= Birth Weight >/= 1500gr] is one of the most serious health problems in children of the world today. LBW prevalence in our country has been reported 10%. Many researches show that LBW infants who stay alive, may suffer from long-term and short-term physical, mental and social problems 2 or 3 times more than appropriate birth weight infants. The present study was done to determine effect of tactile-kinesthetic stimulation [TKS] in weight gaining of LBW neonates. This research was a clinical trial study that 40 LBW neonates were randomly allocated into test [20] and control [20] groups. TKS was provided for three 15 minute periods per day for 10 consecutive days to the test group, with the massages consisting of moderate of pressure strokes in supine and prone positions and kinesthetic exercises consisting of flexion and extension of limbs. All measurements were taken before and after completion of the study with the same equipment and by the same person. Results indicated that weight gain in the intervention group was not significantly higher than that in the control group after the 10 days TKS. TKS is not an effective intervention in weight gaining of LBW neonates. Comparing this result with those of other researches, it seems to need more studies in this field

[Validity and reliability of PASS in evaluating the self care skills of paraplegic patients]

Background: one of the crucial problems of paraplegic patients is disturbance in7 their functional and self care skills and independence in those skills is considered as one of the most important aspects of their life. PASS [Performance Assessment of Self Care Skills] evaluates the activities of daily living [ADL], instrumental activities of daily living [IADL], and functional mobility [MOB] of the patients. Validity and reliability of this test has been evaluated in few disabilities and on small number of patients and it has never been performed on paraplegic patients. The purpose of the present study was to assess the validity and reliability of PASS in evaluating the self care skills of spinal cord injured [paraplegic] patients

Materials and Methods: PASS was first translated into Persian and, after minor modifications, was given to 5 specialists [all occupational therapists] along with a questionnaire especially designed for this purpose. Scores given by those specialists were analyzed using Kruscal-Wallis agreement tables. For the purpose of testing the reliability 20 paraplegic patients aging 25 - 60 years were randomly selected from 5 geographic region of Tehran. The test and retest was performed on 2 consecutive days using the PASS manual for evaluating the self care skills of the patients for 3 aspects of independence [I], safety [S], and outcome [O]. Pearson correlation coefficient was measured between the results using SPSS 10 package

Results: there was a significant agreement [P value = 95%] between the scores of 5 specialists in all 3 aspects of independence [X[2] = 6.73, DF = 4], safety [X[2] = 4.41, DF = 4], and outcome [X[2] = 2.21, DF = 4]. Pearson correlation coefficient for test-retest results was 99%, 96%, and 98% for independence, safety, and outcome respectively [P value = 0.99] which is indicative of very high reliability of PASS for evaluating self care skills of paraplegic patients

Conclusion: the results of the present study indicate that PASS is highly valid and reliable in evaluating the self care skills of paraplegic patients. These results were not unexpected in the sense that, as long as the standards of test performance are observed, there should be no difference between the test - retest results of the same patient performed in 2 sessions. One other important aspect is patient education and familiarization with the test procedure. This aspect was tried to be effectively observed during the tests. It can be concluded from the results of this study that PASS is an appropriate tool for assessment of the self care skills of paraplegic patients by rehabilitation specialists including occupational therapists