Background: Respiratory involvement is a common consequence of COVID-19; changes in cardiorespiratory parameters of these patients during respiratory rehabilitation program are very important. Previous studies showed that myofascial release therapy (MFRT) could affect the respiratory muscle and adjunct fascia. Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of MFRT techniques and respiratory physiotherapy, in comparison with respiratory physiotherapy alone, on improving cardiorespiratory parameter in patients with COVID-19. Setting: A hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran, from February to July 2021. Participants: Fifty patients with COVID-19 participated in this study. Research Design: A single-blind, ran-domized control design. Intervention: The patients with COVID-19 randomly assigned to an intervention group who received respiratory physiotherapy combined with MFRT or a control group receiving respiratory physiotherapy alone. Main Outcome Measure(s): Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respiration rate, oxygen saturation, chest expansion, and ease of breathing were assessed at baseline and after the first and third session of treatment. Dyspnea and fatigue perception and 6-minute walking were assessed at baseline and at the end of treatment. Patient’s thoughts about the treatment were examined through the 4-point Likert scale. Results: The ANOVAs found significant time effect for ease of breathing, dyspnea perception (F = 32.33, p < .01 and F = 11.72, p < .01, respectively). Also significant time by group interaction was found for chest expansion at xiphoid level (F = 4.02, p = .02). Conclusions: The present study provided evidence that both programs could result in improving ease of breathing and dyspnea perception, although the inclusion of MFR techniques into a respiratory physiotherapy program did not result in better outcomes in cardiorespiratory function of patients with COVID-19.

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Objective. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impact of two application methods of kinesio taping on gait initiation (GI) profile of athletes with and without functional ankle instability (FAI): 1) distal (applied on the peroneus longus muscle), 2) proximal-distal (applied on gluteus medius and peroneus longus muscles). Methods. Experiment consisted of a test-retest study of the immediate-term effects of the two methods of kinesio taping in two separate weeks on GI profile in 15 athletes with FAI and 15 healthy athletes. Participants performed bare feet GI on a force plate which captured center of pressure (COP). The GI profile was separated into three phases (anticipatory, weight transfer, and locomotive) and two directions (anteroposterior, mediolateral). The averages of 3 trials were used for analyses. Multifactorial repeated measure ANOVA were used for comparison of the two application methods and both group of participants. Results. There weren't any significant result for factor effect and group effect for all of the 9 variables of the study (P > 0.05). Also, we did not observe any significant group by factor interaction effects (P > 0.05), indicating that each group respond to the interventions in a similar pattern. Conclusion. The distal or proximal-distal application of kinesio taping had no impact on GI profile of athletes with and without FAI. We concluded that it is better to assess the long-term effects of kinesio taping in the ore challenging environment and tasks.

SummaryStudy aim: To assess the presence of musculoskeletal deformities in lower extremities and to detect faulty posture in schoolchildren living in a rural region of Iran. Material and methods: 172 schoolchildren aged 5-20 years, including 66 boys and 106 girls were screened deviations in the musculoskeletal system. Furthermore, the postural muscles including the hamstring and gastroc-soleus were examined for finding any shortness. Results: The prevalence of cervical lordosis (22.6% vs. 6.1%), forward head posture (24.1% vs. 9.1%) and thoracic kyphosis (27.8 % vs. 7.6%) was significantly higher in girls than in boys. The prevalence of cervical lordosis, FHP, thoracic kyphosis, and genu varum increased with age; in the case of genu valgum, the situation was reversed. Genu varum was almost twice as frequent in girls as in boys (44.4% vs. 25.8%; p<0.01), while the genu valgum was more frequent (p<0.001) in boys than in girls (13.6 and 2.8, respectively). No significant age or gender-dependent differences were found for hamstring shortness (29%), gastroc-soleus shortness (21%), genu recurvatum (22%), and hallux valgus (31%). Conclusions: Faulty posture and lower limb deformities were highly prevalent in school children in this rural region. More attention should be paid to implementing school-based screening programs aimed at early detection of any musculoskeletal-related abnormalities and taking preventive steps to reduce their negative consequences.

Introduction:The assessment of neuromuscular control strategies, especially investigating muscle timing and anticipation in muscles, is important to improve our knowledge about ankle instability and preliminary mechanisms of it. The goals of the present study were comparing reaction time, its components and anticipation time in athletes with and without chronic ankle instability after 'go signal' provided by visual choice reaction time task. Methods: Nineteen athletes [11 healthy athletes, 8 athletes with chronic ankle instability (CAI)] participated in this cross-sectional study with research laboratory setting. The subjects started forward jumping protocol while electromyographic data were recorded from their leg muscles included gastroc-soleus, peroneus longus, peroneus brevis, and tibialis anterior. of the tested leg and tested group: P=0.032, F=5.434; and P=0.040, F=4.937, respectively). Results: The results of two-way repeated measurement ANOVA revealed no significant difference in athletes with and without CAI except for pre-motor time and motor time of peroneus longus (interaction effectsConclusion: Some differences in timing of peroneus longus were seen, so it suggest that clinicians should pay extra attention to muscle timing and consider its recovery in rehabilitation protocols. Besides it seems that some of the non-significant results might be related to neuromuscular adaptation that occurred in field athletes. Further study with larger sample size was suggested. Level of evidence: 3b.

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