Hülya Kayihan

Comparison of different therapy approaches in children with Down syndrome

Abstract Background : Children with Down syndrome have sensory integrative dysfunction as a result of limited sensory experience from lack of normal motor control. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of sensory integrative therapy alone, vestibular stimulation in addition to sensory integrative therapy and neurodevelopmental therapy, on children with Down syndrome.

Effectiveness of two different sensory-integration programmes for children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy

Purpose: This study was planned to investigate the effects of individual and group approaches to sensory-perceptual-motor (SPM) training on children with cerebral palsy. Method: This study was carried out at the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation of Hacettepe University, Occupational Therapy Unit. Forty-one children who were diagnosed as having spastic diplegic cerebral palsy by the Department of Paediatric Neurology of Hacettepe University were assessed. Forty-one children with cerebral palsy were randomly divided into three groups. Individual and group SPM training were given to first group (IND) (n 16) and second group (GRP) (n 16) respectively. The third group was determined as a control group (n 9) and only the home programme was given. All children were evaluated with Ayres Southern California Sensory Integration Test and Physical Ability Test before and after training. The SPM training programmes were applied for 1.5 hours, 3 days per week for 3 months. Results: Estimates of effect sizes were calculated for group, individual and control treatments. Results indicated that both group and individual treatments had a measurable effect that was consistently greater than that of controls. Conclusions: This study shows that programmes of SPM training in individuals and group treatments affect children with cerebral palsy. It was concluded that SPM training in children with cerebral palsy will be applied to combined programmes and the relationship with individual and group treatments developed.

The assessment of Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency in children

OBJECTIVE The primary objective is to research the relationship between motor abilities and demographic characteristics such as age and sex, in healthy children aged 4-11 years. METHODS One hundred and twenty children in kindergarten (n = 30) and primary school (n = 90) were included in the study and evaluated by the Occupational Therapy Unit. All children were divided into four groups according to age, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-11 years. The primary school children were classified according to academic learning, being successful or unsuccessful. In this study, Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency was used to assess the gross motor skills and fine motor skills. These tests are running speed and agility (subtest 1/item 1), balance/walking forward heel-to-toe on walking line (subtest 2/item 6), bilateral coordination/tapping-foot and finger on same side synchronized (subtest 3/item 2), strength/standing broad jump (subtest 4/item 1), response speed (subtest 6/item 1), visual motor control/cutting out a circle with preferred hand (subtest 7/item 1), upper-limb speed and dexterity/pacing pennies in two boxes with both hands (subtest 8/item 2). RESULTS When the children were classified according to sex, there were significant differences in subtests 6 and 7. According to academic learning, there were significant differences in subtests 2 and 8. When the results were evaluated due to age, important differences were found in subtests 1, 2, 4 and 8. CONCLUSION It was seen that gross and fine motor skills in early childhood showed variety between age, sex and academic learning. The scores of motor abilities were better in successful children than unsuccessful children. The outcome of this study revealed that the Bruininks-Oseretsky test can be useful to investigate unexplored aspects of motor development.

The environmental barriers of children with Muscular Dystrophies and its effect on mother's low back pain

Purpose : The aim of this study is to determine the architectural barriers of children with Muscular Dystrophy at home according to their diminished functional capacity and its effect on their mothers back problem. Method : Twenty children with Muscular Dystrophy (11.1 - 4.14 years) were evaluated with Brooke Scale and WeeFIM. Quebec and Oswestry Disability Scales were used for determining physical disability of their mothers (38.65 - 5.91 years). The architectural barriers have been detected with attention to standard criterias of International Organizations for all countries around the world. Results : The heights of thresholds, switches of wall plugs, shelves, cupboards, mirrors, hangers, arm of windows and siphons were found to be higher than standard values. The relation between back disability questionnaire results of mothers and dependency level of children on Activity of Daily Living has showed negative correlation (p < 0.05). Conclusions : The protective back health programmes and home arrangements that are suitable for disabled children must be added to the neuromuscular rehabilitation programmes.

Training Motor Skills of Children with Low Vision

The aim of this study was to study the effectiveness of a motor training program for visually impaired children. 40 children with low vision took part in the study. 20 children (10 boys, 10 girls), mean age 8:9 yr.:mo. (SD = 1:6), were in a Training group and 20 children (10 boys, 10 girls), mean age 8:10 yr.:mo. (SD = 1:65), were in a Home Training group. The Snellen Chart and Bruininks Oseretsky Motor Proficiency Test were used for assessment. Training program included training balance, coordination, strength, visuomotor control, and finger dexterity. Significant differences were found on all skills after training in the Training group, but no significant differences were observed, other than visual motor control, in the Home Training group. Children with low vision have some useable vision and learning to use the available vision depends on proper rehabilitation.

The effects of ergonomic training and preventive physiotherapy in musculo-skeletal pain

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ergonomic training and preventive physiotherapy program in visual display terminal (VDT) operators with musculoskeletal pain.The study was carried out at Software Corporation in Turkey and a total 40 volunteer VDT operators consisting of 15 female and 25 male were included the study. The mean age of subjects was 27.30 ± 4.70 years. The subjects were firstly evaluated by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health checklist to investigate the exposure of workers to risk factors associated with work-related upper limb problems using VAS (Visual Analog Scale) and RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment). One week after this initial evaluation, the subjects were trained with an ergonomic and preventive physiotherapy program. Two sessions lasting 6 hours in total were given to two groups with 20 subjects in each. After the training all subjects were re-evaluated. There was a significant difference between the results of pretraining and post...

Effects of occupational therapy on quality of life of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. A randomized controlled study

Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency of occupational therapy relative to a home program in improving quality of life (QoL) among men who were treated for metastatic prostate cancer (MPC). Methods: Fifty-five men were assigned randomly to either the 12-week cognitive behavioral therapy based occupational therapy (OT-CBSM) intervention (treatment group) or a home program (control group) between March 2012 and August 2014 in the Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to measure the occupational performance and identify difficulties in daily living activities. The QoL and symptom status were measured by The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 and its Prostate Cancer Module. A 12-week OT-CBSM intervention including client-centered training of daily living activities, recreational group activities, and cognitive behavioral stress management intervention were applied. Results: The COPM performance and satisfaction scores, which indicate occupational participation and QoL increased statistically in the treatment group in relation to men who were included in the home-program (p≤0.05). Conclusion: A 12-week OT-CBSM intervention was effective in improving QoL in men treated for MPC, and these changes were associated significantly with occupational performance.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UPPER EXTREMITY KINESTHETIC SENSE AND WRITING PERFORMANCE BY STUDENTS WITH LOW VISION

Kinesthetic sense plays an important role in writing. Children with low vision lack sensory input from the environment given their loss of vision. This study assessed the effect of upper extremity kinesthetic sense on writing function in two groups, one of students with low vision (9 girls and 11 boys, 9.4 ± 1.9 yr. of age) and one of sighted students (10 girls and 10 boys, 10.1 ± 1.3 yr. of age). All participants were given the Kinesthesia Test and Jebsen Hand Function Test-Writing subtest. Students with low vision scored lower on kinesthetic perception and writing performance than sighted peers. The correlation between scores for writing performance and upper extremity kinesthetic sense in the two groups was significant (r = −.34). The probability of deficiencies in kinesthetic information in students with low vision must be remembered.

Cognition in 4-11 year old children in Turkey

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among age, sex and academic performance with cognitive ability on healthy age groups. METHODS The subjects were 71 children, aged 4-11 years (x = 7.11). The children were divided into four age groups: 22 of the 71 children were at kindergarten and 49 children were in primary education. Thirty nine children were girls and 32 were boys. Twenty six children had good academic achievement and 23 did not. Each child was tested on the LOTCA battery by the Occupational Therapy Unit of Hacettepe University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. In this study, seven subtests were used from LOTCA (Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment). These are orientation for place, orientation for time, overlapping figures, praxis, reproduction of a two dimensional model, drawing a clock, and categorization. RESULTS Statistical analysis of the relationships demographic variables, academic achievement and performance on the battery revealed that age was significant, sex was insignificant and academic achievement was significant when correlated with cognitive abilities. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that cognitive abilities tested show some differences. For this reason, in the school or other educational settings, children who have low academic achievement should be assessed also for cognitive abilities and then provided with occupational therapy.

Two different back pain scales and their relation to pain intensity in women

People suffering from low back pain (LBP) fail in performing many daily living activities. The aim of this study was to compare two different back pain scales and to determine the relation between pain intensity and these scales on women with low back pain. Fifty-five women with chronic LBP (X ± SD: 37.76 ± 5.12 years) participated in this study. Their disabilities were determined by Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QBPDS) and Oswestry Low Back Disability Questionnaire Scale (OLBDQS). Pain intensity was measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS). Outcome of this study showed that the QBPDS and OLBDQS were highly correlated. Also, VAS scores were correlated with both scale scores but this correlation was less strong. These two disability measuring methods are comparable, but OLBDQS has the advantage of requiring shorter time. summary