Foundation University Journal of Rehabilitation Sciences

Correlation between freezing of gait and fear of fall in patients with Parkinson Disease

Sannia Nadeem — 2025-01-31

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative movement disorder characterized by the presence of Lewy bodies in the midbrain and the loss of dopamine producing neurons in the substantia nigra. PD presents with a wide range of symptoms, encompassing both motor or non-motor aspects.

Objective: To assess the relationship between gait freezing and fear of falling in individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Methods: A cross-sectional study having ethical approval number LCPT/DPT/18/804 was conducted on 72 PD patients at Stage III (Hoehn & Yahr), aged between 55 to 75 years, using convenient non-probability sampling. Participants were recruited from multiple hospitals in Lahore, while patients with comorbidities, cognitive dysfunction and secondary Parkinsonism were excluded. Gait freezing was assessed using Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOG-Q), with a validity of 0.96 and reliability 0.95; whereas, fear of falling was evaluated using Fall Efficacy Scale- International (FES-I), which has a validity of 0.84 and reliability 0.95 among PD patients. The duration of study was 6 months from June 2022 to Jan 2023.

Results: Among the 72 patients, 42 individuals (58.3%) were male, while 30 individuals (41.7%) were female. Mean age of study subjects was 62.09±5.93 years. The results of the study showed that freezing of gait and fear of fall were moderately positively correlated, with the correlation coefficient of r= 0.611 and a p-value of < 0.001.

Conclusion: Moderate Correlation was reported between gait freezing and fear of falling in individuals diagnosed with third stage of Parkinson’s disease.

Impact of Dietary Intake on Severity of Multiple Sclerosis

Aleena Jafar — 2025-01-31

Background: Multiple sclerosis is a medical condition and there is no exact cure. Around 2.8 million people suffer from multiple sclerosis worldwide. Several environmental factors also play an important role in the progression of disease. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of diet on the severity of multiple sclerosis.

Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using nonprobability convenient sampling through a Google form from November 2021 to March 2022. The sample size for this study was 195 calculated by using Rao soft software. The semi-structured questionnaire includes a part of the food frequency questionnaire, the Multiple sclerosis quality of life-54 questionnaire, and Multiple sclerosis symptoms. Both males and females above 18 years of age, participants not having other neurological disorders other than MS, not having steroids, or a history of relapse from the past 6 months were included in this study. The institutional review board of PSRD College of Rehabilitation Sciences has granted permission to proceed with an authorization letter (PSRD/CRS/AJ/REC/Letter 26).Data entry, analysis, and interpretation were done using the SPSS software version 26.

Result: The mean age was 36.93±12.24 years. Most of the participants consuming carbohydrates (83.1%), proteins (72.3%), and antioxidants (73.3%) reported that their symptoms were much better from the past year (p value<0.001). Whereas the participants consuming dairy products reported their symptoms were worse than the last year.

Conclusion: This study concluded that some Carbohydrates, proteins and antioxidants have positive effects on MS whereas dairy products show negative effects on multiple sclerosis severity.

Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in motorbike mechanics

Mohammed Suleman — 2025-01-31

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) affects approximately 3-5% of the general population.

Objective: The aim was to assess the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome among motorbike mechanics and evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of various clinical tests for detecting CTS in this population.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 82 mechanics working in different motorbike workshops in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Those Motorbike mechanics who had more than 1 year of experience were selected, 4 special tests, Upper limb tension 1 (ULTI), Phalen’s maneuver, carpal compression test, and tinels sign along with a self-administered Boston Carpal tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) were used. Data was collected from individuals aged 18 to 35 years.

Results: A total of 82 motorbike mechanics participated in this research out of which 13 (15.9%) reported the symptoms of CTS. According to the symptom severity scale of BCTQ 36(43.9%) were asymptomatic, 39(47.4%) mild, 7(8.4%) moderate and none of them reported severe or very severe symptoms. According to functional status scale, 63(76.8%) reported no symptoms, 14(17.1%) were mild and 5(6%) moderate and with no severe or very severe symptoms reported. Furthermore, ULT1 accounts 14(17.1%), CCT 12(14.6%), Phalens maneuver 11(13.4%) and Tinel Sign 8(9.8%) for positive symptoms respectively.

Conclusion: This study concluded a low prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) among young to middle-aged motorbike mechanics. However, those working over five hours a day had a higher susceptibility to CTS, regardless of age

Integrating functional fitness into rehabilitation: The science of high-intensity functional training

Zara Khalid — 2025-01-31