Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between pain, disability, and radiographic findings in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Patients and Methods. A total of 114 patients with knee OA who attended the physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinic were included in this study. The diagnosis was based on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for knee OA. Age, duration of disease, and body mass index (BMI) of the patients were recorded. Radiographic features on the two-sided knee radiography were assessed with the Kellgren-Lawrence scale. The severity of knee pain, stiffness, and disability were measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Results. The mean age of the patients was 56.98 (±8.28) years and the mean disease duration was 4.14 (±4.15) years. Kellgren-Lawrence grading scale and age or disease duration were positively and significantly associated, whereas none of the WOMAC subscores were found to be related with Kellgren-Lawrence grading scale (P > 0.05). On the other hand, WOMAC disability scores were significantly associated with WOMAC pain and WOMAC stiffness (P < 0.01). Conclusions. Knee pain, stiffness, and duration of disease may affect the level of disability in the patients with knee OA. Therefore treatment of knee OA could be planned according to the clinical features and functional status instead of radiological findings.

The Turkish version of the PD-Q is a reliable and valid scale to be used to determine neuropathic component of chronic pain in Turkish patients.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of single and combined use of biofeedback (BF) and electrical stimulation (ES) added to bladder training (BT) on incontinence-related quality of life (QoL) and clinical parameters in women with idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB). Material and Methods: Seventy women were randomized into four groups as follows: Group 1 received BT alone (n = 18), Group 2 received BT + BF (n = 17), Group 3 received BT + ES (n = 18), and Group 4 received BT + BF + ES (n = 17). BF and ES were performed 3 days a week, 20 min a day, a total of 24 sessions for 8 weeks. All women were evaluated in terms of incontinence severity (pad test), pelvic floor muscles strength (perineometer), 3-day voiding diary (frequency of voiding, nocturia, incontinence episodes, and number of pads), QoL (incontinence impact questionnaire), treatment success (positive response rate), cure/improvement rate, treatment satisfaction (Likert scale), and discomfort level (visual analog scale). Results: At the end of the treatment, severity of incontinence, frequency of voiding, incontinence episodes, and treatment satisfaction significantly improved in Group 3 and Group 4 compared with the other two groups. In Group 3 and Group 4, high statistically significant values were found in cure/improvement and positive response rates as opposed to Group 1 and Group 2. In Group 2 and Group 3, statistically significant improvements were seen in nocturia and QoL compared with Group 1. Moreover, statistically significant improvements in nocturia and QoL were found in Group 4 compared with the other three groups. There was no difference in the discomfort level of application between the groups. Conclusion: We conclude that in the first-line conservative treatment of women with idiopathic OAB: (i) adding BF and/or ES to BT increases treatment effectiveness, (ii) clinical efficiency is greater when the combination

To compare the efficacy of electromyography (EMG)-triggered (active) neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and passive NMES in enhancing the upper extremity (UE) motor and functional recovery of subacute and chronic stage stroke patients. Thirty-one hemiplegic patients were randomly assigned to active NMES (n=11), passive NMES (n=10), and control (sham stimulation) (n=10) groups. Each treatment regimen was applied five times per week for 45 min for 3 weeks. All of the patients performed the same neurophysiologic exercise program for 45 min five times per week for 3 weeks. Patients were assessed by the UE component of the Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (UE-FMA), the self-care component of the Functional Independence Measure (self-care FIM), the Motor Activity Log (MAL), goniometric measurements of active wrist and metacarpophalangeal joint extension, surface EMG potentials, grip strength, and the modified Ashworth scale in a blinded manner. Data were obtained before and at the end of the treatment. Participants were similar in all clinical and demographic features (P>0.05). All groups were comparable with respect to UE-FMA, MAL, self-care FIM, wrist and finger flexor spasticity, active range of motion (ROM), grip strength, and surface EMG potentials before treatment (P>0.05). The active ROM, grip strength, FMA, FIM, surface EMG potentials, and MAL: amount of use were significantly improved in the EMG-triggered NMES group compared with the controls (P<0.05). The active wrist extension ROM and FMA scores were significantly improved in the passive NMES group compared with the controls (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between active and passive NMES groups in any of the parameters evaluated at the end of the treatment (P>0.05). Both active and passive NMES as adjuvant therapy in the neurophysiologic exercise program effectively enhanced the UE motor and functional recovery of stroke survivors.

In this study we observed that both LLLT and IMS treatments added on to stretching are effective in improving pain parameters in patients with MPS.

The aims of this study were to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) using the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and to determine its relationships with conventional clinical measures and self-reported disability. One hundred and forty patients with knee OA (104 female, 36 male, mean age 59.39 ± 7.62 years, mean disease duration 58.56 ± 56.78 months) and 40 sex and age-matched controls were included in the study. HRQoL, disability and pain were assessed using NHP, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), respectively. Results showed that the six subgroups of the NHP revealed higher scores in the knee OA patients compared with controls (p < 0.001). All subgroups of the NHP significantly correlated to VAS-rest, VAS-activity, 15-m walk test and WOMAC scores (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.005, p < 0.001, respectively). The knee flexion or restricted extension range of motion was significantly correlated with the pain, energy and physical mobility subgroups of the NHP (p < 0.05, p < 0.005). Although there were statistically significant correlations between the NHP pain, emotional reaction, and physical mobility subgroup scores and body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, p < 0.05, respectively), there were no correlations between all the NHP scores and duration of disease (p > 0.05). We conclude that patients with knee osteoarthritis undergo a significant impact on multiple dimensions of HRQoL, compared with healthy controls. The NHP is related to the clinical status and functional ability of patients with knee OA, and it can be used as a sensitive health status measure for clinical evaluation.

No abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of intravaginal electrical stimulation (IVES) added to bladder training (BT) on incontinence-related quality of life (QoL) and clinical parameters in women with idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB). Materials and Methods: Sixty-two women with idiopathic OAB were randomized into two groups using the random numbers generator as follows: Group 1 received BT alone (n:31), and Group 2 received BT+IVES (n:31). IVES was performed for twenty minutes three days a week over a course of eight weeks for a total of 24 sessions. Patients were evaluated in terms of incontinence severity (24-hour pad test), pelvic floor muscles strength (perineometer), 3-day voiding diary (frequency of voiding, nocturia, incontinence episodes and number of pads), symptom severity (OAB-V8), incontinence-related QoL (IIQ-7), treatment success (positive response rate), cure/improvement rate and treatment satisfaction (Likert scale). Results: A statistically significant improvement was found in all parameters for all groups at the end of the treatment compared to the baseline values except pelvic floor muscles strength in Group 1 (p <0.05). At the end of treatment, incontinence severity, frequency of voiding, nocturia, incontinence episodes, number of pads, symptom severity, and QoL were significantly improved in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (p <0.05). Treatment satisfaction, cure/improvement, and positive response rates were significantly higher in group 2 compared to Group 1 (p <0.05). Conclusion: We conclude that BT+IVES were more effective than BT alone on both incontinence-related QoL and clinical parameters in women with idiopathic OAB.