Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of L'Insalata Shoulder Rating Questionnaire.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the culturally adapted Turkish version of the L'Insalata Shoulder Rating Questionnaire (TrLSRQ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Comprehensibility and content validity of the TrLSRQ were tested on 14 patients and seven physiotherapists, respectively. Subsequently, 90 volunteer patients with shoulder pain completed the TrLSRQ twice within a week for test-retest analysis. Correlations with Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), Penn Shoulder Score (PSS), and Upper Extremity Functional Index (UEFI) were used to assess convergent validity; and pain intensity and active range of shoulder motions were measured to assess criterion validity. RESULTS: Content validity index of the TrLSRQ was 0.99. The internal consistency was high (Cronbach's α = 0.89); and item-total correlations were 0.37-0.74. In test-retest analysis, ICC values were 0.65-0.95 for all items; and 0.86-0.94 for the subcategories. The TrLSRQ scores were positively correlated with UEFI, and negatively correlated with other scales (p < 0.05). Its correlations with the intensity of pain and shoulder range of motions (p < 0.05) indicated that the questionnaire had good criterion validity. CONCLUSIONS: The TrLSRQ is a reliable and valid measure to assess pain, activities of daily living, sports/recreation, and work in patients with shoulder pain.Implications for RehabilitationPatient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are important tools to assess the impact of health problems on overall well-being of the patients.The Turkish version of the L'Insalata Shoulder Rating Questionnaire (TrLSRQ) is a PROM that evaluates the impact of shoulder problems on patient's pain, daily activities, sportive/recreational activities, and work; as well as overall satisfaction with his/her shoulder, and ranking of areas in which the patient likes to see improvement.The TrLSRQ scores are well correlated with other relevant PROMs, as well as with the intensity of pain and shoulder range of motions.The TrLSRQ is a reliable and valid measure, which can be used for both clinical and research purposes to evaluate symptoms and functional status of patients with shoulder pain.

Reliability and validity of Five Times Sit to Stand Test in pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder during pregnancy, and functional mobility evaluation is very important in reflecting the treatment effects. OBJECTIVES: To investigate reliability and validity of Five Times Sit-to-Stand (5TSS) test in pregnant women with and without PGP. DESIGN: A cross-sectional observational study. METHODS: One hundred sixty-seven women in the second or third trimester of pregnancy participated in two assessments one week apart. The 5TSS and Timed Up & Go (TUG) tests were used to assess functional mobility, in a randomized sequence, by two independent raters. Time to complete the tests were recorded. Perceived pain and difficulty during functional mobility tests were marked on two Visual Analogue Scales. Following tests of functional mobility, seven clinical tests were used to classify the subjects as with or without PGP. RESULTS: The 25% of subjects had PGP. Inter-rater reliability of 5TSS was excellent for subjects with and without PGP (ICC = 0.999, 95% CI = 0.999-1.000; ICC = 0.999, 95% CI = 0.999-0.999, respectively). Test-retest reliability of 5TSS was also very high for subjects with and without PGP (ICC = 0.986, 95% CI = 0.959-0.995; ICC = 0.828, 95% CI = 0.632-0.920, respectively). The 5TSS scores were positively correlated with TUG scores (r = 0.420, p = 0.006 and r = 0.404, p = 0.000, respectively). The subjects reported higher pain (95% CI = 0.322-0.824) and difficulty (95%Cl = 0.500-1.042) during 5TSS than the TUG test. CONCLUSIONS: The 5TSS test is a reliable and valid functional mobility outcome measure in pregnant women with and without PGP. Further psychometric properties of the measure such as responsiveness, should be investigated in the future.

Knowledge and practice of nursing home caregivers about urinary incontinence.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate nursing home caregivers' knowledge and practice of urinary incontinence in Mugla-Turkey. METHODS: Knowledge and practice of urinary incontinence of 34 nursing home caregivers were assessed by a form originated from knowledge and practice instrument and urinary incontinence knowledge scale. Incontinence quiz was also used to assess knowledge about UI. RESULTS: According to the analysis of the items from the knowledge and practice instrument, 20.6% of caregivers never control the amount of urinary incontinence in residents with dementia, document the amount of urinary incontinence and set up a toilet plan for residents with no or slight mental incapacity. According to the analysis of the items from the urinary incontinence knowledge scale, majority of caregivers considered urinary incontinence as a normal result of aging. The mean incontinence quiz score of all participants was 5.5 ± 2.0, indicating poor knowledge about UI. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate the need of developing strategies for improving knowledge and effective practice of urinary incontinence of nursing home caregivers.

Reliability and validity of the Incontinence Quiz-Turkish version.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Incontinence Quiz, which was developed by Branch et al. (1994), to assess women's knowledge of and attitudes toward urinary incontinence. METHODS: Comprehensibility of the Turkish version of the 14-item Incontinence Quiz, which was prepared following translation-back translation procedures, was tested on a pilot group of eight women, and its internal reliability, test-retest reliability and construct validity were assessed in 150 women who attended the gynecology clinics of three hospitals in Içel, Turkey. Physical and sociodemographic characteristics and presence of incontinence complaints were also recorded. Data were analyzed at the 0.05 alpha level, using SPSS version 22. RESULTS: The scale had good reliability and validity. The internal reliability coefficient (Cronbach α) was 0.80, test-retest correlation coefficients were 0.83-0.94; and with regard to construct validity, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient was 0.76 and Barlett sphericity test was 562.777 (P = 0.000). Turkish version of the Incontinence Quiz had a four-factor structure, with Eigenvalues ranging from 1.17 to 4.08. CONCLUSIONS: The Incontinence Quiz-Turkish version is a highly comprehensible, reliable and valid scale, which may be used to assess Turkish-speaking women's knowledge of and attitudes toward urinary incontinence.

Effects of thermal agents on electrical sensory threshold and current tolerance when applied prior to neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of thermal agents on electrical sensory threshold and current tolerance when applied prior to neuromuscular electrical stimulation. METHODS: In this single-blind and cross-over trial, electrical sensory threshold and current tolerance of 24 healthy volunteers were evaluated by using biphasic symmetrical pulses (240 µsec, 50 pps), before and after thermal agent (cold pack, hot pack and ultrasound) applications. RESULTS: Electrical sensory threshold increased after cold-pack, and current tolerance reduced after hot-pack applications (p< 0.05). Inter-agent comparisons of pre and post-application differences of the investigated parameters revealed that the most obvious effects were caused by application of hot pack. CONCLUSIONS: Hot pack application prior to neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) may reduce current tolerance and limit to reach the desired current intensity for strengthening the electrically induced contractions. Results are considered to be valuable for physiotherapists, who apply thermal agents and NMES consecutively, in their treatment programs.

Effects of different frequencies of conventional transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on pressure pain threshold and tolerance.

BACKGROUND: Pulse frequency is one of the key determinants of analgesic outcomes by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). However, optimal settings remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of different frequencies of TENS, on pressure pain threshold and tolerance. METHODS: Currents with pulse duration of 110 µs, and pulse frequencies of 60 pps or 150 pps were applied on the volar aspects of the dominant forearms of 20 healthy volunteers, on two consecutive days, in a randomized order. Threshold and tolerance were measured at the beginning, after the 15th and 30th minutes of the applications, and 30 minutes after the applications. RESULTS: Pressure pain threshold and tolerance values were higher at the 150 pps frequency, at all measurement times (p< 0.05). However, no frequencyXtime interaction and time-dependent changes were found for the outcome measures (p> 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings established that, at 150 pps conventional TENS, threshold and tolerance values were consistently higher. These results are presented to inform future research regarding optimal conventional TENS parameters and to provide support for clinical applications.

Effects of physiotherapy on pain and functional activities after cesarean delivery.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of a physiotherapy program on incision pain and functional activities in the early post-cesarean period. METHODS: Fifty women were evaluated after Cesarean operation with regard to times of ambulation and return of bowel activity, intensity of incision pain, difficulty in functional activities and number of analgesics required additional to routine pain control procedure. Twenty-four women received only routine nursing care, and a physiotherapy program was applied to the study group (n = 26), additionally. RESULTS: Postoperative ambulation and return of bowel activity were earlier in the study group (p < 0.05). Incision pain and difficulty in functional activities decreased significantly within 2 days in both groups, and the values were lower in the study group (p < 0.05). Study group needed less medication for pain control (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings revealed the effectiveness of a physiotherapy program in the early post-cesarean period in a wider perspective than the current literature, and are considered to be valuable for increasing the quality and productivity of the postnatal care, therefore improving well-being after childbirth.

Short and long-term results of connective tissue manipulation and combined ultrasound therapy in patients with fibromyalgia.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the short-term and 1-year follow-up results of connective tissue manipulation and combined ultrasound (US) therapy (US and high-voltage pulsed galvanic stimulation) in terms of pain, complaint of nonrestorative sleep, and impact on the functional activities in patients with fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: This is an observational prospective cohort study of 20 female patients with FM. Intensity of pain, complaint of nonrestorative sleep, and impact of FM on functional activities were evaluated by visual analogue scales. All evaluations were performed before and after 20 sessions of treatment, which included connective tissue manipulation of the back daily, for a total of 20 sessions, and combined US therapy of the upper back region every other session. One-year follow-up evaluations were performed on 14 subjects. Friedman test was used to analyze time-dependent changes. RESULTS: Statistical analyses revealed that pain intensity, impact of FM on functional activities, and complaints of nonrestorative sleep improved after the treatment program (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Methods used in this study seemed to be helpful in improving pain intensity, complaints of nonrestorative sleep, and impact on functional activities in patients with FM.