جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « physical functional performance » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

Dementia is recognized as a neurodegenerative disease that gradually causes serious cognitive, motor, and functional impairments in affected individuals. This study explored the impact of a meaningful task-oriented intervention on independence in activities of daily living, cognitive status, and physical abilities, including gait speed and balance, among elderly patients diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia. In this randomized controlled trial, 40 participants aged 60-70, with a Functional Assessment Staging Tool (FAST Scale) score of 1-5, were recruited. They were randomly assigned to either a control group (n=20) receiving standard care, including medication and routine consultation, or an intervention group (n=20) receiving standard care along with eight 45–60-minute sessions of task-oriented interventions. These interventions were centered around familiar daily life activities in the home environment and were conducted twice a week. The primary outcome measure was the participants' independence in activities of daily living, assessed using the Barthel Index. Secondary outcome measures included cognitive function, evaluated using Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised, and physical performance, assessed through the Timed Up and Go test, 10 Meter Walk Test, and Berg Balance Scale. The meaningful task-oriented intervention demonstrated significant improvements in independence in activities of daily living (p<0.01) compared to the control group. Additionally, improvements were observed in cognitive function and physical performance, including balance, lower limb strength, and walking speed (p<0.05). The integration of meaningful task-oriented interventions centered around familiar activities within the home environment appears to offer significant benefits for elderly patients with dementia. By engaging in tasks that resonate with their daily routines, these interventions can support the maintenance of essential skills and foster a sense of independence among affected individuals.

Pain in patients with stroke is one of the essential factors that caninfluence upper-limb performance, and it is better to divide these people intoseparate groups. The Adult-Assisting Hand Assessment (Ad-AHA) is a tool thatrecently is being used in upper-limb performance evaluation among patientswith stroke. The present study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of theAd-AHA among patients with chronic stroke who had pain to discriminatebetween the high upper-limb performance group and the low upper-limbperformance group. In this cross-sectional study, 51 patients (mean age±SD = 69.33±8.73)with chronic stroke who had pain participated and were divided into two groupsof high (group 1) and low (group 2) upper-limb performance measured bythe Action Reach Arm Test. The best cutoff point between groups, sensitivity,and specificity by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) for Ad-AHA wascalculated. A significant difference in the total score of Ad-AHA between thehigh and low upper-limb performance groups was seen (P˂0.001). The bestcutoff point for the total score of Ad-AHA between stroke patients with highand low performance in the upper-limb who had pain was 47 (sensitivity=95.45,specificity=89.21). The results of this study show that the Ad-AHA has high sensitivityand specificity to discriminate between stroke patients with high and lowperformance in upper-limb performance who had pain.

Cigarettes Smoking is a major social and global health problem. Cigarette smoking continues to be a major contributor to deteriorated health status across different age categories. Clarifying the impact of the cigarette smoking on young adults’ lungs health and functional aspects can serve eliminating further deterioration in health status and establishing proper management regimens. This study aimed to investigate the impact of cigarette smoking on lung health (age and functions) and functional performance in the university smoker students.

One hundred and Thirty eligible volunteer, current smoker students participated in this study to objectively evaluate their pulmonary functions (including forced vital capacity “FVC”, forced expiratory volume in one second “FEV1”, FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow rate “PEFr”), lung age and functional performance (via the 6‑minutes’ walk test “6MWT”) and compare “the observed” with “the predicted normal” mean values. Data were analyzed via SPSS program using the student t‑test.

There were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the “observed” and the “predicted normal” FVC, FEV1 , FEV1/FVC, PEFr, lung age, and the 6MWT mean values. The “observed” and the “predicted normal” FVC, FEV1 , FEV1/FVC, PEFr, lung age and the 6MWT mean values were [(4.47 ± 0.53, 4.77 ± 0.5 liter), (3.95 ± 0.42, 4.08 ± 0.4 liter), (88.74 ± 7.17, 85.59 ± 4.91%), (550.75 ± 114.96, 572.72 ± 53.02 liter/minute), (32.77 ± 9.44, 21.55 ± 1.37 year), (387.06 ± 56.47, 466.82 ± 18.45 meter)], respectively.

Cigarette smoking negatively impacts the lung age, functions, and functional performance of the university smoker students; the concept that can be used to encourage prevention and early smoking cessation.

Identifying factors that impact physical function in older populations is important for the maintenance of good health with aging. Age‑related hyperkyphosis, an excessive curvature in the thoracic spine, affects up to 40% of the older adults and is more common in older females than males. An association of age‑related hyperkyphosis with impaired physical function has been reported in numerous studies, however, other studies have reported that a greater magnitude of kyphosis did not associate with impaired physical function. Given the inconsistencies regarding the impact of hyperkyphosis on physical function, the purpose of our study is to perform a systematic review of the existing studies in order to better describe the association between hyperkyphosis and physical function. Prospective and retrospective cohort, case‑control, and cross‑sectional studies which measure physical function by valid functional tests and questionnaires in older females will be included. We will search Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and PEDro databases. Studies will be searched and then selected by two independent reviewers based on quality assessment tools from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). A meta‑analysis will be conducted if data reported for individual studies allow. Specifically, if two or more individual studies provide measures of central tendency and variability from any of the categories of physical function measures, data will be gathered for meta‑analysis. If a meta‑analysis is not possible, data will be synthesized and described in a narrative form by size and variability of effect, direction of effect, and association with hyperkyphosis.

Hemodialysis patients are faced with challenges in carrying out their daily activities. Self‑efficacy is a social cognitive concept that can affect behavioral control in these patients. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of exercise training on physical performance and self‑efficacy in hemodialysis patients.

This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 60 hemodialysis patients who visited hospitals affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in Sari, Iran. The participants were randomly divided into two groups. The patients in the intervention/exercise group received the 8‑week exercise program. Patients in the control group received routine care. The Six‑Minute Walk Test (6MWT) was used to assess the patients’ functional ability and the Exercise Self‑Efficacy Scale (ESES) and Chronic Disease Self‑Efficacy Scale (CDSES) were used to assess their self‑efficacy before and 2 and 8 weeks after the intervention. For statistical analysis, independent t‑test and paired t‑test were used.

The comparison of self‑efficacy between the exercise group and control group after 8 weeks of intervention showed a significant difference between the groups in terms of the CDSES (F1,43 = 22.92, p < 0.001) and ESES (F1,38 = 10.84, p < 0.001) results. Moreover, the comparison of mean distance walked based on the 6MWT showed significant changes in this variable (F1 = 2.05, p = 0.015).

The designed exercise program can improve self‑efficacy and physical performance in hemodialysis patients. This intervention is recommended for hemodialysis patients due to its effectiveness, simplicity, and uncomplicated characteristics