ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Weight-bearing foot structure may influence postural control by either decreasing the base of support (BOS) or increasing the passive instability of the joints of the foot. Poor postural control has been implicated as the main causative factor for foot and ankle injuries. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of forefoot postures on postural stability during single limb stance. METHODOLOGY: Sixty healthy individuals between the ages of 18 to 31 were selected using a purposive sampling procedure based on forefoot angle measurements and categorized into three groups; high forefoot varus (≥8°) (n=20), neutral forefoot varus (1°-8°) (n=20) and low forefoot varus group (≤1°) (n=20). Static foot measurements, including relaxed rearfoot angle and navicular drop, and foot dimentsions were performed. Height and weight were also recorded for all the subjects. Center of Pressure (COP) excursion in Anterior-posterior (AP) and Medial-lateral (ML) planes and Stability Index (SI) with eyes open and eyes closed conditions were also measured using the force platform. RESULTS: Strong correlations were found between forefoot angle and rearfoot angle (r=0.71, p<0.01), forefoot angle and navicular drop (r=0.58, p<0.01), and between rearfoot angle and navicular drop (r=0.661, p<0.01). There were no correlations (p>0.05) between the forefoot angle and all the five COP measures, except between forefoot angle and SI with eyes closed (r= -0.25 p<0.01). CONCLUSION: There is a significant positive correlation between forefoot angle and rearfoot angle and between forefoot angle and navicular drop. Forefoot angles did not affect the maximum AP COP and ML COP excursions or SI in healthy subjects. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Fatigue is disabling and continuous phenomenon in cancer patients during and after various anticancer treatments which can continue for many years after treatment and definitely it has profound effect on Quality of Life (QOL). However, determining its severity is still underestimated among the cancer patients and also very few studies in the literature exist reporting on Cancer-Related Fatigue (CRF) among Indian population. AIMS: To find out the prevalence of rate of fatigue in cancer patient receiving various anti cancer therapies. To find out the relative impact of fatigue on QOL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study included a total 121 cancer patients receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and concurrent chemo-radiation with the age group of above 15 years who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the patients were assessed for severity of fatigue using Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) and for QOL using FACT-G scale while they were receiving the anticancer therapies as an in-patient in the regional cancer centers in Madhya Pradesh, India. RESULTS: The severe fatigue was more prevalent in chemotherapy [58/59 (98.30%)], and concurrent chemo-radiation (33/42 (78.57%)) as compared to radiotherapy (Moderate-9/20 (45%) and Severe-9/20 (45%)). Moderate correlations were exhibited between fatigue due to radiotherapy and QOL (r = -0.71, P < 0.01), whereas weak correlation was found between fatigue due to chemotherapy and concurrent chemo-radiation (r = -0.361, P < 0.01 and r = -0.453, P < 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: Severity of fatigue was found more after chemotherapy and concurrent chemo-radiation therapy while impact on QOL was more after the radiotherapy.
