No abstract

Background Patients with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) experience muscle weakness, tiredness, and loss of energy, which restrict their abilities in performance of their daily living activities. Objective To explore the effect of aquatic‐based plyometric (Aqua‐PLYO) exercises on muscle strength, fatigue, and functional ability in patients with JDM. Methods This was a randomized, single‐blind, crossover pilot study that included 16 patients with JDM (age 13.44 ± 2.85 years). They were assigned randomly to receive either the Aqua‐PLYO exercises (n = 8) or the standard outpatient care (SoC ; n = 8) first. After a 1‐month washout, the treatment was reversed. Lower limb muscle strength, fatigue perception, functional ability, and disease activity were evaluated before and after each treatment period. Results Irrespective of the treatment order, the Aqua‐PLYO treatment yielded greater improvement in muscle strength (hip flexors and abductors [P < 0.001] or knee flexors [P < 0.001] and extensors [P = 0.0008]), fatigue perception (P < 0.001), functional ability (P = 0.009), and disease activity (P = 0.0001) than the SoC treatment. By using the shortest confidence intervals (100[1–2α]%) of the difference, the average bioequivalence of the Aqua‐PLYO and SoC has not been established at P = 0.05, because the upper and lower confidence bounds of all outcomes were not between the acceptance limits. No period or carryover effects were detected in all outcomes. Conclusion The Aqua‐PLYO exercise protocol as implemented in this study is safe, feasible, and well‐tolerated in patients with JDM and seemingly useful to help increase muscle strength, reduce fatigue, and enhance functional ability in such a patient population.

Background: Conventional physical therapy has been used in children with cerebral palsy aiming for improving motor abilities and functional independence. Resistance training is now commonly used in clinical practice in children and adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy. Purpose: To investigate and compare the effects of functional strength training versus conventional physical therapy in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: Fifty-three children with spastic diplegia age ranged from 7 to 11 years were included. They were randomly assigned to either group I (conventional physical therapy) or group II (functional strength training). The training was conducted for 90 minutes three-times a week for 6 successive months. Selective voluntary motor control, gross motor function and functional balance were assessed before and immediately after the intervention using selective control assessment of lower extremity, gross motor function measure and pediatric balance scale. Results: The pre-treatment comparison showed non-significant difference between the two groups in all measured variables. Within group comparison showed significant improvement in the mean values of selective motor control, gross motor function and functional balance in the two groups. While posttreatment comparison revealed significant greater improvements in the group II compared with the group I (P<0.05). Conclusion: These outcomes indicated that functional strength training is likely more effective than conventional physical therapy in improving selective voluntary motor control, gross motor function and functional balance.

No abstract

No abstract