We do not just use technology; we live with it. Much more deeply than ever before, we are aware that interacting with technology involves us emotionally, intellectually, and sensually. As the popularity of the internet and digital devices grows so do concerns over their excessive use. This is worth drawing attention to, though, considering the widely established consequences excessive screen time can have on someone's sleep, mental and physical health. This paper describes the pattern of screen use, sleep and psychological well being in physiotherapy students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The study also throws light on the fact that physical exercises could be a mediating factor for effect on sleep pattern and overall perception of well-being. A representative sample of 150 Physiotherapy students was surveyed to assess technology use, sleep pattern, mental and physical health through a self-reported questionnaire. Around 52% students admitted that excessive screen use has affected their sleep quality and linked it to sleeping problems such as reduced sleep durations with mobile phone use-awakenings. 48% of the students believe that excessive hours spent in front of the screen has affected their physical well being and 28.7% of students reported negative effects on their mental health. 65.27% of the exercising participants experienced beneficial effects due to performance of physical exercises and reported decreased sleeping complaints or mental health issues. The present study strengthens the existing scientific evidence for the negative impact of excessive screen time on mental and physical health while providing new insights on the digital media use during pandemic situation. In addition, this study also attempts to determine the mediating effect of physical exercise on ill effects of screen use.

UNSTRUCTURED Technology has advanced significantly within the past decade and along with that has come the ability to use a variety of devices for academic purposes. While this can make accessing information much easier and allow for new organizational methods, it can also provide the opportunity for more distractions. Sleep is fundamental to optimal functioning including health and behavior. This paper describes the interrelations between screen use, sleep and academic performance. The purpose of this study was to explore technology use and its impact on sleep and academics in physiotherapy students in this pandemic lockdown.How the increased screen media usage and the uncertainty of the situation has an impact on their academic performance.We examined how this distraction potential can play a role in studying experiences and academic performance. A representative sample of 150 Physiotherapy students were surveyed to quantify technology use, sleep pattern, mental health and academic performance. 73.3% of the population agreed that screen time did affect their sleeping pattern in the lockdown , 84.7% of the students conveyed that they could not perform study related activities optimally as per their academic capacity. 56.7% of the population also agreed that excessive screen time hindered their ability to perform academically well.

Background Mental Practice (MP), "the cognitive rehearsal of a task in the absence of overt physical movement," has been used successfully in teaching and rehearsing complex psychomotor tasks in several domains, including sports; music; and recently, in surgical skills acquisition. This study investigates the implementation of MP on performance of a neurodynamic skill in third year undergraduate Physiotherapy students. Method: It was a randomized control trial (single-blind) conducted in a Physiotherapy institute. A convenient sample of 40 III year undergraduate students who were novice for the topic were recruited. Some important preliminary steps involved development and validation of the tools used in the study viz. an audio script to guide mental imagery practice and an OSPE checklist to assess the outcome. The OSPE checklist was procedural specific for ULNT-1 and included stations for cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. A neurodynamic skill (ULNT-1 Median nerve) was taught to all the students (n = 38, 2 drop outs) by a teacher as a didactic lecture followed by physical practice which was supervised and guided by the same teacher. After randomization, the intervention group (n = 19) received MP guided by a structured audio script as a single session for 20 minutes delivered to all the participants together in a group. The control group participants (n = 19) intended to serve as a basis of comparison and received no intervention. Pre- and post-intervention assessment was done by a set of examiners who were blinded to the intervention. Comparative analysis was done within the group using Wilcoxon sign rank test and between the groups using unpaired t test. Results MP group showed significant improvement in cognitive, psychomotor, affective domain and total score of OSPE post intervention whereas the control group did not show significant difference except for the total score. Between group comparison showed significant differences in all the domains and total score in favor of the MP group. Also, the extent of improvement (effect size calculated using Cohen’s d) was more in the mental practice group than in the control group. Conclusion MP as an adjunct to physical practice is a time-and cost-effective strategy to augment traditional training and enhance performance of a neurodynamic skill in Physiotherapy students. This preliminary evidence supported by robust scientific base and ease of integration should facilitate adoption of MP in Physiotherapy education. We recommend future studies to further explore the potential of this promising tool.

BACKGROUND The evidence for positive effects of exercise is insufficient in dermatomyositis. This article aims to outline the effects of physical exercise with regard to structure (Disease activity, inflammation, metabolic milieu and muscle structure) as well as clinical outcome in terms of impairment, activity limitation, participation restriction according to the ICF; and QOL in an adult patient with dermatomyositis. CASE DESCRIPTION A 47-years old female diagnosed with definite DM since last 10 months was referred by a Rheumatologist for physical therapy intervention. INTERVENTION 12 weeks (Three days a week) of Physiotherapy (Moderate intensity, individualized, closely monitored) along with a structured home exercise program (Low intensity, 5 days - 6 days a week). OUTCOME MEASURES Assessment of muscular pain, muscle strength, endurance, balance, functional evaluation, and QOL along with serological investigations. RESULTS Effectiveness Patient continued to show meaningful and clinically significant improvement on standardized outcome measures: 1. A major clinical response (total improvement score of 77) on IMAC S core set measures. 2. Improvement across all domains of ICF viz. muscle strength; endurance; movement coordination; balance; aerobic endurance; confidence and performance in activities of daily living; participation in social activities. 3. Probable disease-modifying effect: Progressively tapering dose of prescribed corticosteroids medication and improvement in disease-specific biochemical markers. 4. Patient reported measures: Reduction in muscular pain, shortness of breath & fatigue; and improvement in Healthrelated QOL. SAFETY (As evident clinically and from the investigations): 1. No adverse reaction to exercises or physical activity. 2. Remained in remission - stable disease activity. CONCLUSION Moderate intensity of physiotherapy intervention along with home exercise program is effective and safe in improving functional outcomes for dermatomyositis in a stable disease activity state. This case report enhances our understanding of the effects of physical exercise and may improve treatment and outcome in patients with dermatomyositis.

Objective: The effects of muscle fatigue appear to elicit a transient means of postural instability; however, the recovery of postural stability after fatiguing exercise has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to determine the immediate effect of local vibration applied to fatigued plantar flexor muscles on postural stability in healthy young adults. Design: True Experimental (pre-test -post test design with a control group). Setting: A tertiary care centre. Participations: 42 healthy young adults. Intervention: Fatigue of plantar flexors muscles was induced by repeated dynamic contractions performed to maximum exhaustion. Experimental group (n= 21) received local vibration to fatigued muscles with a handheld vibrator whereas the control group (n = 21) received no intervention (rest). Postural stability was assessed using one leg stance test (OLST) under three different conditions viz. pre-fatigue, post-fatigue and post rest/vibration. Results: Comparative analysis of postural stability within the group was done pre-fatigue, post-fatigue and post rest/vibration condition using Kruskal-Wallis test. A significant decrease from pre-fatigue to postfatigue condition (p-value < 0.001); and a significant increase from post-fatigue to post rest/vibration condition (p-value < 0.001) was observed in OLST in both -control group and experimental group. However, further comparison of OLST between the groups (using unpaired t test) showed a significant difference in post-fatigue condition versus post rest/vibration condition in favour of the experimental group. Conclusion: Plantar flexors fatigue significantly affects one leg stance time in healthy young adults. Results of this study show that there is an immediate effect of vibration to fatigued muscles on recovery of postural stability in healthy young adults. Recovery of postural stability achieved quickly with such a simple tool may help increase the degree of participation in sports and other similar activities which can cause muscles to fatigue. However, more studies are required to determine this effect using other clinical measures.