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Context: The international sports community is becoming more proactive in clinical mental health practice and research. An athlete-specific psychological distress screening tool can identify potential mental health illness. Design: The Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ) is a simple screening tool for detecting early signs of athlete-specific strain and related mental health concerns. Methods: We evaluated the internal consistency and reliability of the translated and culturally adjusted Arabic version of the APSQ (APSQ-Ar) with Arabic-speaking elite athletes. The final translation underwent standard forward and backward translation, an inspection by a team of experts, and then preliminary testing. The APSQ-Ar was cross-culturally validated and then assessed for internal consistency and reliability among (n = 98) Arabic-speaking athletes. Results: There were no problems with the patients' understanding or interpretation of the items on the APSQ-Ar translation. The intraclass correlation value was.93 (95% confidence interval,.89–.95), and the mean difference was 2.4 with a minimal detectable change of 5.12, demonstrating strong test–retest reliability. Moreover, Cronbach alpha showed excellent internal consistency (.76). Conclusions: The APSQ-Ar was demonstrated to be good, reliable, and internally consistent. With APSQ-Ar, sports medicine professionals in Arabic-speaking countries will be able to identify psychological distress and symptoms in athletes and, as a result, provide them with mental health support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the prevalence of Forward Head Posture (FHP) in car and bike drivers, and its potential correlation with neck and cardiopulmonary parameters. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 400 participants from urban and suburban areas around Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, including 200 car drivers and 200 bike drivers aged 18–65 years with a minimum five-year driving history. Neck health was assessed using measurements such as cervical range of motion and Neck Disability Index (NDI), cardiopulmonary parameters were evaluated through resting heart rate, blood pressure, and pulmonary function tests using the spirometry test, and FHP was assessed using Surgimap application. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics software (version 26.0) and included descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, Chi-square or Fisher's exact test for binary data, and correlation analyses. Results: The result show that difference in the mean FHP between car and bike drivers was statistically significant (p = 0.0001), indicating a higher prevalence of FHP among car drivers than among bike drivers. Correlation analyses revealed significant associations between FHP and neck health metrics, especially cervical flexion (r = 0.71, p<0.05), (r = 0.78, p<0.05) and left-side rotation (r = 0.56, p<0.05), (r = 0.61, p<0.05) in car and bike drivers. Among the cardiopulmonary parameters, significant correlations with FHP were observed in resting heart rate (r = 0.33, p<0.05), (r = 0.42, p<0.05), spirometry results FVC (r = 0.29, p<0.05), FEV1 (r = 0.22, p<0.05), and FVC (r = 0.31, p<0.05) for car and bike drivers. Conclusion: We observed a higher incidence of FHP in car drivers, indicating that a prolonged static posture may lead to greater postural deviation than dynamic movement during biking. This association suggests that FHP could have wide-reaching implications for systemic health, beyond musculoskeletal issues. These findings have the potential to influence preventative strategies and interventions aimed at improving the overall health outcomes for drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is known to modulate the brain excitability and enhance cognitive functions and neuroplasticity, although adherence to its administration in post-stroke rehabilitation is still being understudied. This study set out to develop and content validate a questionnaire to assess clinical physiotherapists’ knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding the use of tDCS following a stroke. In order to gather expert opinion and come to a consensus on a certain topic, the Delphi technique was employed. The measure was validated using both qualitative (cognitive interviewing) and quantitative (content validity) methods on a panel of 32 experts. Calculations were made for the content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), item-level CVI (I-CVI), and scale-level CVI universal agreement (S-CVI/UA). A total of 48 interdisciplinary experts in the field of neurosciences were invited. In all, 32 specialists from Neurology, General Medicine, Neurophysiotherapy, and Physiology departments accepted the invitation and provided their opinion for instrument analysis. After two rounds, early iterations of this instrument demonstrated an acceptable CVR value of 1, high overall content validity (S-CVI/UA = 0.86), and high content validity of individual items (I-CVI range: 0.83-1.00). The kappa value varied between 0.75 and 1, which is excellent. Its content is therefore deemed validated. Through an iterative process, its development and assessment revealed strong item-content validity for determining the domains of the questionnaire. It is anticipated that this metric could be utilized to increase the adherence rate of post-stroke tDCS application in Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To systematically explore the effects of trunk exercises using virtual reality technology compared to conventional exercises for trunk impairment in patients with subacute and chronic strokes. A comprehensive search of literature published from inception until December 2022 was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, IEEE, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). The inclusion criteria encompassed all randomized controlled trials (RCT) published in the English language involving adults who had had strokes and the evaluation of the effectiveness of virtual reality -based trunk exercises in reducing trunk impairment post stroke as measured by the trunk control test (TCT) and/or the trunk impairment scale (TIS) compared to conventional trunk exercises. A total of 397 studies were retrieved, and six studies were included in the current analysis. A random-effects meta-analysis of six studies indicated that video games had a very large, significant effect (SMD = 1.11; 95%, P < 0.0001) on the delivery of trunk exercises to reduce trunk impairment post stroke at both the subacute and chronic stages. The study findings indicate that trunk exercises using virtual reality have a highly significant effect on reducing trunk impairment in patients with subacute and chronic stroke. Large RCTs are needed to study the effects of virtual reality trunk exercises on the acute, subacute, and chronic stages of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aimel,1 Mohammed M Alshehri,4 Bader A Alqahtani,1 Faris A Alodaibi51Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Science, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Physical Rehabilitation, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Joint Clinic, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Physical Therapy Department, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Rehabilitation Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: Ahmed S Alhowimel, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Science, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia, Tel +96611558888, Email a.a; [email protected] Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to validate the Arabic version of the Attitude toward Education and Advice for Low Back Pain (AxEL) Questionnaire. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in two phases. First, the AxEL questionnaire was translated into Arabic and cross-culturally adapted. Second, the psychometric properties (such as validity) of the translated AxEL were evaluated. Results: The results showed that back translators and language specialists had no trouble translating the AxEL. The translators' agreement was very high (88.2%), and the questionnaire items were logically and clearly translated from English into Arabic. Conclusion: The Arabic version of AxEL is a valid tool that can assess individuals' beliefs and attitudes towards low back pain (LBP). It fills a significant void in cross-cultural research and can help healthcare providers understand the attitudes and beliefs influencing individuals' management of LBP within the Arabic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the independent association between MLTC and the presence of disability with the risk of falls among community adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study included 324 adults (age ≥ 50). Demographic and clinical data included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), MLTC (≥ two chronic diseases) risk of fall (ie, history of fall in the previous 12-months, number of falls, and recurrent falls). The Barthel Index and Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) were used to assess disability and fear of fall, respectively. Results: MLTC (Odds Ratio (OR) 2.50, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [1.26, 4.95], p=0.009), and disability (OR 1.71, 95% CI [1.04, 2.79], p = 0.034) were independently associated with history of falls. MLTC (Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) 2.87, 95% CI [1.93, 4.29], p < 0.001) and disability (IRR 1.86 95% CI [1.46, 2.36], p < 0.001) were independently associated with an increased number of falls. MLTC (OR 4.50, 95% CI [1.78, 11.36], p = 0.001) and disability (OR 2.82, 95% CI [1.58, 5.05], p < 0.001) were independently associated with recurrent falls. MLTC (B = 6.45, p < 0.001) and disability (B = 3.05, p = 0.025) were independently associated with increased fear of falling. Conclusion: This study indicated that both MLTC and disability are independently associated with falls, number of falls and fear of falling in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]