Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and psychometric properties of the Urdu version of Rand Short Form 36-item survey (SF-36) among patients with lumbar radiculopathy.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Although Rand Short Form 36-item (SF-36) questionnaire is a frequently used tool for evaluating a patient's quality of life in both clinical and research settings, but its translation into Urdu language and its psychometric properties has not been tested before, in accordance to the pre-established guidelines. This study aimed to translate and assess the psychometric properties of Urdu version of SF-36 (SF-36-U) in lumbar radiculopathy patients. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, one hundred and eight patients of lumbar radiculopathy filled SF-36-U questionnaire, Urdu version of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI-U) and visual analogue scales for pain (VAS pain) at baseline and after 7 days. Two types of reliability i.e. internal consistency and test-retest reliability while three types of validity i.e. face, content, and construct validity were evaluated. Psychometric properties were assessed contrary to the a priori hypothesis and alpha level was kept at < 0.05. RESULTS: SF-36-U presented good to excellent test-retest reliability for all eight domains (ICC2,1 = 0.75-0.92). Internal consistency was also acceptable for all domains (Cronbach's alpha = 0.73-0.90). Face and content validity were found to be good. Pearson correlation revealed moderate to strong correlations of SF-36-U domains with ODI-U (r = 0.43-0.54), VAS pain (r = 0.32-0.49) and each of its own question (r = 0.37-0.88) which shows good construct validity. CONCLUSION: SF-36-U revealed acceptable psychometric properties and is considered as a reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing the health-related quality of life in Urdu-speaking patients having lumbar radiculopathy.

Mental health status of COVID-19 survivors: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a communicable disease caused by a virus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemics are associated with the high level of mental stress. In many countries, general people reported the high level of depression, anxiety, psychological distress, post-traumatic stress disorder during recent a pandemic. This study aims to investigate the mental health status of people who survived through this alarming situation of COVID-19. METHODS: In this study, seventy individuals (either gender) between the age of 18-60 years, who contracted COVID-19 previously and then recovered as indicated by negative PCR results, were included. Data was collected by using three tools: impact of event scale (IES-R), patient health questionnaire-9(PHQ-9) and corona anxiety scale (CAS). People with other systemic/mental disorders, ongoing malignancies, upper/lower motor disorders and inability to give consent were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 26.29 + 11.79. All the 70 responders suffered from COVID-19. Among these 23 (32.9%) were asymptomatic and 47(67.1%) had common symptoms related to COVID-19 53 (75.7%) responders also had symptoms post-recovery. Most of the people who suffered COVID-19 had mild depression. Twenty-nine participants (41.4%) reported the highest impact of this traumatic event on their mental health. After suffering from COVID-19, 74.3% reported no anxiety as measured through corona anxiety scale (CAS). CONCLUSION: High level of post-traumatic stress was seen among participants who recovered from COVID-19, especially those patients who were symptomatic. Mild depression and anxiety were also noted among them.

Effects of phantom exercises on pain, mobility, and quality of life among lower limb amputees; a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study is to evaluate the effects of phantom exercises on phantom limb pain, mobility status, and quality of life in lower limb amputees treated with mirror therapy and routine physiotherapy. METHODS: It is a randomized controlled trial in which 24 unilateral lower limb amputees (above and below the knee) were randomly assigned to two equal groups i.e., control group (mirror therapy and conventional physical therapy) and experimental group in which, phantom exercises were given, additionally. Physical therapy included conventional therapeutic exercises while phantom exercises include imagining the movement of the phantom limb and attempting to execute these movements Data were collected at baseline, after 2 and 4 weeks of intervention using VAS (pain), AMP (mobility) and RAND SF-36 Version 1.0 (QOL) questionnaires. All statistical analyses were done with IBM SPSS 25.0 with 95% CI. RESULTS: Twenty-four amputees (17 males and 7 females) participated in this trial. The Mean age of the participants in experimental and control groups was 45.3 ± 11.1 years and 40.5 ± 12.5 years respectively. After the intervention, the pain (VAS score) was significantly lower in the experimental group (p = 0.003). Similarly, the experimental group demonstrated a significantly better score in the "bodily pain" domain of SF-36 (p = 0.012). Both groups significantly (p < 0.05) improved in other domains of SF-36 and ambulatory potential with no significant (p > 0.05) between-group differences. CONCLUSIONS: The Addition of phantom exercises resulted in significantly better pain management in lower limb amputees treated with mirror therapy and routine physiotherapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered in the U.S National Library of Medicine. The clinical trials registration number for this study is NCT04285138 ( ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier) (Date: 26/02/2020).

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Urdu version of knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score questionnaire for Pakistani population.

BACKGROUND: Knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score questionnaire is a widely used tool for measuring short and long-term patient-relevant outcomes following knee injury. KOOS is neither translated nor examined for psychometric properties before. Therefore, the aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and check the psychometric properties of the KOOS in Urdu. METHODOLOGY: The translation and cultural adaptation was performed according to pre-defined guidelines. A total of 117 participants (54 males and 63 females) were recruited. The study had two steps: 1) Translation and cultural adaptation 2) Reliability and validity testing. The reliability (test-retest and internal consistency at (95% confidence interval) as well as the validity (Convergent validity) of final Urdu version of KOOS was tested. RESULTS: For all five domains, the KOOS Urdu version (KOOS-U) has demonstrated high test-retest reliability ICC = 0.90-0.96(CI = 95%). For all domains, the internal consistency was determined to be excellent (α = 0.82-0.96). There were no floor or ceiling impacts noted. Convergent validity was found to be good, as measured by Pearson's correlation coefficient. The findings revealed a strong negative association between the KOOS-U (QOL and pain) and the NPRS. And there was a low to high positive correlation between five KOOS-U domains and all SF-12 domains, i.e., there was a significant positive correlation between the pain domains of both KOOS and SF-12 with the r = 0.87(p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The Urdu version of KOOS is a valid, reliable, and responsive instrument to assess functional disability of patients with Knee Osteoarthritis with excellent psychometric properties.