MyMedR

Displaying all 4 publications

Abstract:

Sort:

The preventive effect of physical activity on weight maintenance in overweight and obese women

Dashti S, Esfehani AJ, Leonard Joseph HJ

Clin Ter, 2014;165(3):155-61.
PMID: 24999570 DOI: 10.7417/CT.2014.1715

Prevalence of obesity has increased recently especially in women. Obesity is related to mortality due to non-communicable diseases and has become a public health issue. Among the two important factors to reduce weight calorie limitation alone is modestly effective in initial weight but can result in weight gain after primary weight reduction is common. Therefore adding physical activity to weight maintenance program can reduce weight gain rebound. The aim of this review article was to identify the preventive effect of physical activity on weight maintenance in overweight women. Articles were selected from PubMed database and screened for the relativity to the study objectives, using scoring systems. Eleven studies were found appropriate. No statistical test was done on the data except simple mean and some descriptive analyses. Physical activity is proved to have a significant effect in weight loss/maintenance both in induction and maintenance period. This effect was more significant in higher intensities. Sever intensity physical activity can be effective in weight maintenance in long term but the effect of moderate and light physical activity could not be evaluated due to lack of data.
Work-related injuries among physiotherapists in public hospitals: a Southeast Asian picture

Nordin NA, Leonard JH, Thye NC

Clinics (Sao Paulo), 2011;66(3):373-8.
PMID: 21552658

OBJECTIVES: A cross-sectional study was conducted to measure the prevalence of work-related injuries among physiotherapists in Malaysia and to explore the influence of factors such as gender, body mass index, years of work experience and clinical placement areas on the occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires adapted from the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire were sent to 105 physiotherapists at three main public hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The questionnaire had 12 items that covered demographic information, areas of musculoskeletal problems and physiotherapy techniques that could contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 14 software.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of work-related injuries during the past 12 months was 71.6%. Female therapists reported a significantly higher prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders than the male therapists (73.0%, p,0.001). Significant differences were observed between the proportion of therapists who had work-related musculoskeletal disorders and those who did not for the group with a body mass index (BMI) .25 (x² = 9.0, p = 0.003) and the group with a BMI of 18-25 (x² = 7.8, p = 0.006). Manual therapy (58.6%) and lifting/transfer tasks (41.3%) were the two physiotherapy techniques that most often contributed to work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
CONCLUSION: Work-related injuries are significantly higher among the physiotherapists in Malaysia compared with many other countries. Female therapists reported a higher incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in this study, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders were more common among therapists working in the pediatric specialty. This study contributes to the understanding of work-related disorders among physiotherapists from a southeast Asian perspective where the profession is in its development stage.
Effect of pubertal developmental stages and lower limb kinetics during vertical jump task in Sepak Takraw sport

Leonard Joseph H, Roslizawati N, Safrusahar MY, Efri NM, Das S, Baharudin O, et al.

Clin Ter, 2009;160(5):403-7.
PMID: 19997687

Sepak Takraw is a sport which actively involves the lower limb. A cross sectional study was performed to investigate the lower limb kinetics (ground reaction force, flight time and contact time) involved during the vertical jumping and landing task between the early pubertal and late pubertal stages in National level Sepak Takraw athletes in Malaysia. Twenty athletes (8 pre pubertal and 12 late pubertal) with no previous history of any physical injuries were taken for the study. The kinetics data of the vertical jump task was calculated using a force platform 3-AMTI Biomechanics Force Platform. The Silicon ProCoach (Chart 5 software) was used to collect the ground reaction force signals, flight time and contact time. The results showed a non-significant decrease in peak ground reaction force in the post pubertal group as compared to the pre pubertal group (t(18)=0.659, p=0.518,CI(95)(-2.54, 4.86). Comparison of flight time between the two age groups showed a significant increase in the post pubertal group with mean and SD (0.7773 + or - 0.03) as compared to the pre pubertal group mean and SD (0.7296 + or - 0.05), which was statistically considered significant (p<0.05) (t(18)=-2.401, p<0.05,CI(95)(-0.089, -0.005). The findings from this study demonstrated that the flight time of the vertical jump task differed between the pre and post pubertal athletes with the post pubertal group having an improved ability in maintaining longer duration of flight phase.
Fulltext Effect of intercostal stretch on pulmonary function parameters among healthy males

Mohan V, Aziz KB, Kamaruddin K, Leonard JH, Das S, Jagannathan MG

EXCLI J, 2012;11:284-90.
PMID: 27418905

The use of manual stretching procedures has become more prevalent in cardiorespiratory physiotherapy to improve pulmonary functions. However, limited evidence exists regarding evaluation of their effectiveness. The study aimed to determine the impact of Intercostal (IC) stretch in improving the dynamic pulmonary function parameters (Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second (FEV1), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC % and respiratory rate among healthy adults. Thirty healthy male subjects were recruited based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subjects were assigned to the experimental group and the control group through random sampling method. In the experimental group, subjects underwent IC stretch for ten breaths on the inspiratory phase of the respiratory cycle with breathing control exercises in semi recumbent position, while in the control group, breathing control exercises alone were performed in the semi recumbent position. The results of the study showed, FEV1/FVC % in the experimental group significantly improved with P=0.017 (p<0.05) than the control group, which means IC stretch increased lung volume and lead to improved lung function. This study suggested the IC stretching with breathing control may be more effective in improving dynamic lung parameters especially FEV1/FVC % than breathing control alone.