No abstract

The aim of this study were to evaluate pain, care burden, depression level, sleep quality, fatigue and quality of life (QoL) among a group of mothers of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and to compare their results with a group of healthy controls. The study involved 101 mothers who had children with CP and 67 mothers who had a healthy child as the control group. Pain, care burden, depression level, sleep quality, fatigue and QoL of all the participants were evaluated by the numerical rating scale, the Zarit care burden scale (ZCBS), the beck depression inventory (BDI), the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), the checklist individual strength (CIS) and the short form-36 (SF-36), respectively. Numerical rating scale value was 3.57 ± 2.96 in the patient group. When the two groups were compared, the CP group showed higher scores for ZCBS, BDI, PSQI, total CIS and SF-36 subscales of general health and vitality whereas the scores for role physical, role emotional, mental health and mental component summary were found to be lower in the patients, compared to the control group. Reducing caregiving burden of the mothers’ by other family members and increasing psychosocial supports may help improve the mother’s health status.

The addition of back school was more effective than exercise and physical treatment modalities alone in the treatment of patients with chronic low back pain.

The results of this study showed that NMES given together with stretching of the wrist extensor muscles was more effective than stretching of the wrist extensor muscles alone in reducing spasticity.

The aims of this study were to evaluate pain, depression level, fatigue, sleep, and quality of life (QoL) among patients with benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS) and to compare their results with those of healthy controls. The study involved 115 patients and 114 healthy volunteers. Pain level was rated using visual analogue scale (VAS) for all patients. Depression level, fatigue, sleep quality, and QoL of all the participants were evaluated by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Short Form-36 (SF-36), respectively. VAS value was 6.29 ± 0.94 in the patient group. Comparison of two groups showed that there were statistically significant differences between the patient group and the control group with respect to BDI, total CIS, PSQI scores, SF-36 subscales (physical function, role physical, bodily pain, general health, role emotional, and mental health), and mental component summary (p < 0.001). While pain is the predominant symptom among BJHS patients, depression, fatigue, impaired sleep, and QoL also commonly occur. Thus, all of these components should be taken into account when assessing patients with BJHS.