I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Principles of Neural Science

Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires

A compendium of neuropsychological tests: administration, norms, and commentary

Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires (2nd ed.).

第１回 Evidence-based Cognitive Rehabilitation：Updated Review of the Literature from 2003 Through 2008

Background: Given the increasing population of older adults in different societies, it is important to take into account the needs of them. In this regard, the most important things that are closely related to their quality of life are their ability in evaluating Activity of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) performances. The aims of the present study were to identify the outcome measures specific to the ADL and IADL for older adults and to investigate the psychometric properties of these measures. Methods: This is a systematic review done on the articles published between June 2019 and February 2019. Articles in English language from these database included: Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL, OVID Medline, Cochrane, ProQuest, Up to Date, Web of Science, OT search, OT direct, Pedro, SID, Magiran, Iran Medex, MEDLIB and Iran doc. English keywords included: "Activity of Daily Living (ADL)", "Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL)", "assessment", "evaluation", "aging", "ageing", "older adults", "elders", "Basic Activity of Daily Living (BADL)", "Advanced Activity of Daily Living (AADL)", "basic functions", "self-care", "mobility", "independency", "dependency", "occupational therapy", "physical therapy", "rehabilitation". The Consensusbased Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist were employed to investigate the psychometric properties of the studies. Results: Of the initial 482 studies considered, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria that assess the ADL and IADL performance of older adults. In this regard, 8 outcome measures were found especially for ADL assessment and 5 for IADL assessment. Conclusion: Most of the assessment tools are performance-based and have been developed in especial contexts and especial groups of older adults. Some have been used frequently in different contexts but some were used less than others. None of these measures has been developed in Iran. So, for better assessment and having better intervention plans for older adults in Iran, it is suggested to develop an instrument that is especially designed for Iranian context.

http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-6099-en.pdf

Assessment tools to evaluate Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) in older adults: A systematic review

Purpose: Because of the balance limitations in many patients, balance assessment is necessary for multiple sclerosis patients in rehabilitation settings. The aim of this study was to investigate the Interrater reliability and the internal consistency of the Iranian version of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) when applied to patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Tehran. Methods: Fifty MS patients (with mean age of 36.6±9.5 years) from Hospitals of the Iran University of Medical Sciences and MS Society of Iran were included. Interrater reliability was measured with the Kappa statistics and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs). Results: The mean values of the BBS scored by the 2 evaluators were 37.7±12.9 and 38.1±12.3, respectively. Kappa scores for BBS varied from 0.7 to 1.0 Intraclass correlation coefficient for the BBS's sum score was excellent (ICC=0.99 with 95% confidence interval, 0.98-0.99). An excellent internal consistency was found within the BBS's sum score (Cronbach Alpha=0.9). The item -to -total correlations for all items were higher than 0.6. Conclusion: The Iranian version of the BBS has excellent interrater reliability and internal consistency for the assessment of MS patients when applied in clinics.

/pdf/assessments-of-the-reliability-of-the-iranian-version-of-the-47u8l09jci.pdf

Assessments of the reliability of the Iranian version of the Berg Balance Scale in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background: Fear of falling may be related to falling during stroke onset. The Fall Efficacy ScaleInternational (FES-I) with excellent psychometric properties, is an instrument developed to assess patients’ concerns about fallings. The aim of this study was to determine validation of this scale in Iranian patients with stroke. 

Methods: The "forward-backward" procedure was applied to translate the FES-I from English to Persian. One hundred-twenty patients who had suffered stroke, aged 40 to 80 years (55% male) completed the Persian FES-I, Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15), General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed up and Go (TUG) questionnaires. The interval time for the test-retest of the Persian scale was 7-14 days. 

Results: The test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities of the Persian FES-I were excellent (ICC2,1=0.98, p<0.001) and the internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s alpha=0.78). Factor analysis of the 16 items in the Persian scale showed only one significant factor. The total Persian FES-I score had a significantly negative correlation (p<0.001) with the BBS, but it had significantly positive correlation with the TUG, GHQ-28, and GDS-15. The difference in responsiveness scores across fallers and non-fallers yielded a large effect size (0.46), which indicated a good discriminating validity. 

Conclusion: The Persian FES-I proved to be an effective and valuable measurement tool to assess stroke patients’ fear of falling in practice and research setting.

/pdf/clinical-assessment-of-fear-of-falling-after-stroke-validity-4krena1n46.pdf

Clinical assessment of fear of falling after stroke: validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Persian version of the Fall Efficacy Scale-International.

Background Although anxiety is a common non-motor outcome of Parkinson's disease (PD) affecting 40% of patients, little attention has been paid so far to its effects on balance impairment and postural control. Improvement of postural control through focusing on the environment (i.e. external focus) has been reported, but the role of anxiety, as a confounding variable, remains unclear. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the influence of anxiety and attentional focus instruction on the standing postural control of PD patients. Methods Thirty-four patients with PD (17 with high anxiety (HA-PD) and 17 with low anxiety (LA-PD)), as well as 17 gender- and age-matched healthy control subjects (HC) participated in the study. Postural control was evaluated using a combination of two levels of postural difficulty (standing on a rigid force plate surface with open eyes (RO) and standing on a foam surface with open eyes (FO)), as well as three attentional focus instructions (internal, external and no focus). Results Only the HA-PD group demonstrated significant postural control impairment as compared to the control, as indicated by significantly greater postural sway measures. Moreover, external focus significantly reduced postural sway in all participants especially during the FO condition. Conclusion The results of the current study provide evidence that anxiety influences balance control and postural stability in patients with PD, particularly those with high levels of anxiety. The results also confirmed that external focus is a potential strategy that significantly improves the postural control of these patients. Further investigation of clinical applicability is warranted towards developing effective therapeutic and rehabilitative treatment plans.

/pdf/the-effects-of-anxiety-and-external-attentional-focus-on-q5xf8oithq.pdf

The effects of anxiety and external attentional focus on postural control in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Katz Index is a well-known index for assessing basic activities of daily living. The aim was to determine validity and reliability of the Katz Index in Iranian patients with acute stroke. Methods: Eighty-seven patients (56 male, 31 female) with acute stroke (1-30 days post-stroke) participated in this psychometric properties study. Interval time for retest was 14 days. All participants were Iranian with Persian as native language, had no other major diseases (e.g. cancer, Alzheimer) and no psychiatric disorder. Cognitive mental score of all participants was above 18 (according to Mini-Mental State Examination). If they had another stroke during the following-up period, they were excluded from the study. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) and Minimum Detectable Change (MDC) were calculated to investigate the reliability of the KI. Criterion validity of the KI was assessed by Spearman's Correlation Coefficient (ρ). Moreover, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) were performed to investigate the construct validity of the KI. Results: Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of Persian Katz Index were reasonable (ICC2,1=0.93, ICC2,1=0.83; respectively). Internal consistency of this index was high (cronbach's alpha=0.79). The high to excellent correlation was found between Katz Index and the motion (ρ=0.88), self-care (ρ=0.98), and total scores (ρ=0.92) of Barthel Index. Factor analysis of the Persian Katz Index indicated two factors including motion (bathing, toileting, and transferring) and self-care (dressing, bowel & bladder control, and feeding). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that Persian version of Katz Index in patients with acute stroke can be considered as an acceptable clinical instrument in practice and research.

Akram Azad

Papers

Assessment tools to evaluate Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) in older adults: A systematic review

Assessments of the reliability of the Iranian version of the Berg Balance Scale in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Clinical assessment of fear of falling after stroke: validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Persian version of the Fall Efficacy Scale-International.

The effects of anxiety and external attentional focus on postural control in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Clinical assessment of activities of daily living in acute stroke: Validation of the Persian version of Katz Index.