ABSTRACT
Objectives: Low back pain is one of the main health problems which affect many people worldwide
The daily course of life is highly disrupted due to the chronic back pain problem. This sudy aims to explore the occupational performance of individuals with chronic low back pain
Methods: Fifteen people with chronic low back pain were included in this sludy using purposeful sampling. The participants were interviewed, and a qualitative content analysis was employed to analyze the data
Results: The three main resulted themes were: 1] Occupational disturbance because of low back pain; 2] Difficulty in moving around and remaining in any given position; and 3] Permanent mind struggle owing to back pain. People with chronic low back pain experience difficulty in all areas of daily occupation including self-care, work, and leisure, plus having trouble with being physically active and being persistent in certain positions. Furthermore, mind struggle with back pain which implies preoccupation with back pain in addition to fear of movement are other findings of present study
Discussion: Chronic low back pain greatly influences the daily occupations of individuals. Mind slruggle with back pain, which implies preoccupation with back pain, in addition to the fear of movement are significant findings of the present study. Occupational therapists can play an important role in re-engagement of people with chronic low back pain in their daily occupations
ABSTRACT
Balance disorder is one of the most common problems after stroke causes falling and fear of falling in some patients. The balance based video games are newly used in people with motor problems. It is very important to use different interventions for balance issues. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of videogame on balance and fear of falling in one participant. This experimental study was done in a single subject system, A-B design for one patient with chronic stroke. This method including repetitive measures conducted in two phases, baseline and then twelve intervention sessions. Berg Balance Scale, Timed up and go, Functional Reach, the maximum weight bearing in different directions and the deviation from center were conducted for balance assessing. Fear of falling questionnaire was used to assess fear of falling. Analysis of results was done by C-statistic, Bayesian factor, Mann Whitney U, and visual analysis graphs. The results showed significant improvement for balance skills, the maximum force produced by lower extremities and reducing fear of falling parameters. But the deviation from center graphs did not showed distinct pattern. All analysis confirmed the efficacy of videogames on balance skills and fear of falling improvement. However, the deviation from center did not show improvement and it seems to need more studies
ABSTRACT
Falling is a common problem among the elderly. Falling indoors and outdoors is highly prevalent among the Iranian elderly. Therefore, identification of the contributing factors at home and their modification can reduce falls and subsequent injuries in the elderly. The goal of this study was to identify the elderly at risk of fall, using the 'Home Falls and Accident Screening Tool' [HOME FAST], and to determine the reliability of this tool. Sixty old people were selected from five geographical regions of Tehran through the Local Town Councils. Participants were aged 60 to 65 years, and HOME FAST was used to assess inter rater and test-retest reliability. Test-retest reliability in the study showed that agreement between the items of the Persian version of HOME FAST was over 0.8, which is a very good reliability. The agreement between the domains was 0.65-1.00, indicative of moderate to high reliability. Moreover, the Inter rater reliability of the items was over 0.8, which is also very good. The correlation of each item between the domains was 0.01-1.00, which shows poor to high reliability. This study showed that the reliability of the Persian version of HOME FAST is high. This tool can therefore be used as an appropriate screening tool by professionals to take necessary preventive measures for the Iranian elderly population