Walking capacity and its association with quality of life among children with down syndrome in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Walking ability, which has been connected to better health and independence, is one of the daily activities that is negatively impacted by Down syndrome. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine the walking capacity and its association with the quality of life of children who have Down syndrome compared to those who do not have Down syndrome in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, we recruited 68 Arabic-speaking children aged 6 to 12 using a convenience sampling method from August to November 2021. Children were divided into two groups: those who do not have Down syndrome (n = 38) and those who have Down syndrome (n = 30). Children in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia who do not have Down syndrome were chosen randomly from two schools. Children who have Down syndrome were selected from multiple associations and centers in the same region. A 6-minute walk test was used to measure the child's walking capacity. The Arabic version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory scale was used to assess the child's or parent's perceptions of the child's quality of life and its physical, emotional, social, and school functioning domains. RESULTS: The difference in the mean 6-minute walk test scores between children who have and who do not have Down syndrome was statistically significant, with a mean difference = 105.6, 95% confidence limit = 57.2-154.0, p < .0001. The linear regression analysis after adjusting for age, height, weight, and body mass index revealed that walking capacity was found to be significantly associated with the worst score on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory scale (ß = -2.71, SE = 0.49, p < .0001) and its domains of physical, social, and school functioning (ß = -2.29, SE = 0.54, p < .0001; ß = -2.40, SE = 0.58; p = .001; ß = -3.71, SE = 0.56, p = .002, respectively) in children who have Down syndrome, but they had better emotional functioning than children who do not have Down syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Children who have Down syndrome were less able to walk and were highly associated with the worst possible quality of life, which included the lowest levels of physical, social, and school functioning. Early interventions with techniques must be developed to improve the quality of life for these children.

Psychometric Properties of the Arabic Version of the EPInfant Scale among Typically Developing Children Aged 6-16 Years.

AIMS: The EPInfant scale is a self-assessment for children that measures perceived exertion (PE) during physical exercise. This study aimed to translate the scale into Arabic (EPInfant-Ar) and test its psychometric properties. METHODS: The revised version was tested for face and content validity. Oxygen saturation, heart rate (HR), and ratings of perceived exertion were measured during a 3-minute step test with a sample of 93 children. PE and HR were examined using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) to assess the concurrent validity. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were calculated using Cronbach's alpha (α), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1), and r coefficient. A minimum detectable change with 95% confidence interval (MDC95) and percentage of change (MDC%) was also measured. RESULTS: Content validity showed an excellent level of expert agreement. There was a moderate correlation between PE rated by the scale and HR (r = 0.47, p < .001). The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were acceptable (α = 0.89; ICC2,1= 0.81; 95%Cl: 0.71-0.87, r = 0.81) with low measurement error (MDC95 = 2.66 and MDC% = 61.10%). CONCLUSIONS: The EPInfant-Ar scale was considered valid and reliable for assessing PE after physical exercises in typically developing children aged 6-16 years.

Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among architecture undergraduates students: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Architecture students maintain uncomfortable body postures for hours while designing and constructing project models, putting them at high risk of developing musculoskeletal pain (MSP). OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to determine the prevalence of MSP among students at the Architecture and Planning College at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional survey study used a self-administered online questionnaire. A total of 123 students (65 female) aged 19-25 years participated. The survey consisted of eight demographic and health status questions and the Extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ-E). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests were used to compare genders at α= .05. RESULTS: Approximately 94.3% of architecture students reported pain in at least one body region in the last 12 months, and 87.0% in the last seven days. The highest reported percentage of MSP was neck pain, followed by lower back pain. No differences in MSP were found between genders, except in elbow and hand pain for the last 12 months and elbow pain for the last seven days. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of MSP among undergraduate architecture students, highlighting the need to prevent occupational health issues at an early stage.

Effectiveness of Family-Professional Collaboration on Functional Goals Achievement of Children with Cerebral Palsy and Caregivers' Quality of Life and Burden: A Randomized Comparative Study.

Background: Family-professional collaboration is important to enhance the outcomes for children with cerebral palsy and their caregivers. Aims: This study examined the effect of implementing a family-professional collaboration practice model on children with cerebral palsy and their caregivers. Materials and methods: A randomized, single-blind comparative study included 28 physical therapists, 44 children with cerebral palsy between the ages of 2 and 12 years old, and their caregivers. Physical therapists in the experimental group received training in how to implement collaboration in their therapy sessions over the course of two sessions (3 h each). The children's achievement goal-range rate was measured using the Goal Attainment Scaling, the caregivers' quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief, and the caregiver burden was evaluated using the Zarit Burden Interview. Results: All children showed improvement on the Goal Attainment Scaling change rate (p = 0.002), with no significant differences between groups (p < 0.44). However, a group × time interaction was observed. The Children Goal Attainment Scaling rate decreased between the two assessment sessions for children in the control group, while the Goal Attainment Scaling change rate was steady for the experimental group. There were no main effects of time and group or interaction of time × group reported on World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief domains and no main effect of time on the Zarit Burden Interview, but there was a main effect between groups (p = 0.03), with partial eta square = 0.11 in favor of the experimental group. Conclusions: The family-professional collaboration practice model could be a potential practice to positively improve the outcomes in children with cerebral palsy and their caregivers.

Physical activity status and its association with quality of life among children with down syndrome in Saudi Arabia: A comparative cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes physical and cognitive challenges. Identifying the impact of sedentary behavior and physical activity on people with Down syndrome is crucial for early intervention. The purpose of this study is to compare physical activity and sedentary behavior among children with Down syndrome and typically developing children, as well as assess their relationship with quality of life. METHODS: In the cross-sectional study, 67 children between the ages of 6 and 12 were enrolled: 29 in the Down syndrome group and 38 in the typically developing group. Each child wore an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT for seven days. Accelerometer data and quality of life data were analysed. RESULTS: Physical activity and sedentary behavior were not significantly different between the Down syndrome and typically developing groups (p ˃ .05). With large effect sizes (partial eta squares ranging from 0.21 to 0.59), typically developing children had a significantly better quality of life than children with Down syndrome. There was a weak positive correlation between moderate physical activity and school performance in children with Down syndrome. For typically developing children, there is a weak negative correlation between light physical activity and physical function, school function, and total paediatric quality of life scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that children with Down syndrome have participated in more physical activities, resulting in a reduction in differences between them and typically developing children. Additionally, typically developing had higher quality of life than children with Down syndrome. For healthcare professionals and educators, these findings provide valuable insights into developing strategies to enhance physical activity for children with developmental disabilities.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29.

PURPOSE: The Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29 (MSIS-29) is a patient self-reported outcome (PRO) that measures patients' quality of life, and it is divided into two sub-scales for the physical (PHYS) and psychological (PSYCH) domains. This study aimed to translate the MSIS-29 into Arabic, cross-culturally adapt it, and examine its psychometric properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred fifty patients with MS completed the MSIS-29-Ar, the Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis (FAMS), and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). After one week, 60 participants were asked to complete the MSIS-29-Ar again to examine test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The MSIS-29-Ar was clear and understandable among patients with MS in Saudi Arabia. The internal consistency for the MSIS-29-Ar-PHYS was excellent, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.955, and was good for the MSIS-29-Ar-PSYCH, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.891. The test-retest reliability for MSIS-29-Ar-PHYS was ICC2,1 = 0.97; 95% confidence interval (0.93, 0.99) and ICC2,1 = 0.95.; 95% confidence interval (0.897, 0.976) for MSIS-29-Ar-PSYCH domains. The minimal detectable change with 95% confidence (MDC95) was 10.28 and 13.37 for the MSIS-29-Ar-PHYS and MSIS-29-Ar-PSYCH, respectively. No floor and ceiling effects were observed. Convergent and divergent validity was supported by 75% of the predefined hypotheses and correlated with the other health-related quality-of-life measures, SF-36 and FAMS. CONCLUSION: The MSIS-29-Ar questionnaire is a valid and reliable outcome measure among Saudi patients with MS.IMPLICATION FOR REHABILITATIONRehabilitation specialists can confidently interpret patient scores in the MSIS-29-Ar to measure physical and psychological factors impacting patients' quality of life with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).Patients with unchanged clinical status will have similar scores in the MSIS-29-Ar with repeated scale administrations over time.The MSIS-29-Ar can be used in clinical practice and research studies to measure factors that impact the quality of life in Arabic-speaking patients with MS.

Normative reference values for Obstacles Test and Curb Test and their correlation with demographic characteristics: a cross-sectional study in Saudi children.

The Obstacles Test and Curb Test have been used to measure gait speed and functional balance in adults. Recently, they have been modified for use in children but the normative values have not been established. This requires correlating the sex, age, height, weight, and BMI% of children with the test results and developing prediction equations. In this cross-sectional study, the Obstacles Test and Curb Test were administered to a convenience sample of 240 typically developing children aged 6-11 years. The factors associated with the time to complete each test were studied and prediction equations were established. The completion times were 5.27 ± 0.81 s for the Obstacles Test and 2.82 ± 0.45 s for the Curb Test. The Obstacles Test showed a fair negative relationship with height (Pearson's r = -0.41, P < 0.001), age ( r = -0.35, P < 0.001), and weight ( r = -0.32, P < 0.05). The Curb Test also had fair negative correlations with height ( r = -0.42, P < 0.001), age ( r = -0.39, P < 0.001), and weight ( r = -0.31, P < 0.001). Both tests showed poor correlations with the sex [eta ( η ) = 0.15 and 0.12, respectively]. Nonetheless, age and sex emerged as the main predictors of both test scores, accounting for 14% and 17% of the total variance in the Obstacles Test and Curb Test times, respectively. Normative values and prediction equations for both tests in typically developing children may be used for individual comparisons and in clinical research for the evaluation of interventions targeting disabled children.

Normative values and factors affecting Pediatric Reach Tests in Saudi children aged 6-11 years in the eastern province: cross-sectional study.

Background: The Pediatric Reach Tests (PRTs) assess balance while standing-the Functional Reach Test (FRT) and Lateral Reach Test (LRT)-and in a sitting position-the Modified Functional Reach Test (MFRT) and Modified Lateral Reach Test (MLRT). Normative values have not been fully evaluated in Saudi children. The objectives are; to estimate the normative values for PRTs; investigate the correlation between the PRTs and demographic/anthropometric characteristics; and develop predictive equations for the PRTs. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 251 children aged 6-11 were recruited. The PRTs were measured and correlated with demographic/anthropometric variables. A stepwise regression was conducted to develop the predictive equations for the PRT scores. Results: The mean and standard deviations (in cm) of the PRT scores were as follows: FRT = 20.02 ± 4.31; LRT = 13.42 ± 3.38; MFRT = 21.49 ± 4.70, and MLRT = 14.64 ± 3.66. Several significant correlations were found. Moderate correlations existed between the PRT scores and age, height, upper extremity length, lower extremity length, and foot length; there was a weak correlation with body mass index. Weight was moderately correlated with FRT and MFRT and weakly correlated with LRT and MLRT. The correlation between the base of support and LRT was moderate and was weak with FRT, MFRT, and MLRT. A weak correlation was found between sex and LRT. Age and height were the most predictive of PRT scores. Conclusion: This study provided PRT normative values that can be used as a clinical reference for evaluating balance in typically developing children.

Psychometric properties of the Obstacles and Curb tests and their discriminative ability across functional levels in ambulatory children with spastic cerebral palsy.

The Obstacles and Curb tests are timed walking assessments that have emerged from the Spinal Cord Injury Functional Ambulation Profile and have been modified for children; however, their psychometric properties have not been adequately investigated. The aim of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Obstacles and Curb tests for children with cerebral palsy (CP). This cross-sectional study included 68 children aged 6-12 years; there were 34 children with CP and 34 age- and sex-matched typically developing children. Validity was examined by correlation with the 10-m Walk Test (10-MWT), Modified Time Up and Go test (mTUG), and Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS). Differences in the Obstacle and Curb test scores were calculated between children with CP and typically developing children and within different Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels. Children with CP completed the tests twice within a 30-min interval in the same session. The tests showed significant strong to very strong correlations with the 10-MWT, mTUG, and PBS. The within-session reliability was excellent, typically developing children were significantly faster than children with CP with high sensitivity and specificity, and the time differed significantly within the GMFCS level. Thus, the Obstacles and Curb tests can be considered valid, reliable, and sensitive walking tests for ambulatory children with CP.