Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / With the increase in the number of persons suffering from HIV/AIDS, physiotherapists are often required to treat these patients who present with respiratory and neurological complications. Although physiotherapists are at a lower risk of HIV infection in the workplace than nurses and doctors, it is necessary to determine their knowledge and perceptions of the risks, fears of HIV transmission and their attitudes towards patients with the disease. The aim of the study was to determine the physiotherapists knowledge of, and their attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS. It also explored whether the physiotherapists knowledge influences attitudes towards HIV/AIDS patients in Lusaka, Zambia. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Neck pain is a common health problem affecting the general population and it can be associated with significant activity limitation, It contributes to a number of lost work days and high costs in its management. The purpose of this study was to identify the trends in the physiotherapy management of patients suffering from episodes of neck pain at the physiotherapy department of the Muhimbiki Orthopaedic Institute (MOI), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Physiotherapists are increasingly treating peole living with HIV/AIDS. However, there is little information which has been reported on their attitudes in providing treatment to people with HIV/AIDS or what facilitates positive attitudes. The aim of this study was to determine attitudes of physiotherapists towards treating people living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana. / South Africa

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2 DM) is present in the populations of almost all the countries in the world and is a significant disease burden in most developed countries. Evidence suggests that populations in Africa develop Type 2 DM at an increasing rate as they reject their traditional lifestyles. Furthermore, newly released figures by the Medical Research Council of South Africa indicate that diabetes is the 10th most common cause for total life years lost in females in South Africa. Exercise is a low cost, non-pharmacological intervention that has been shown to be effective in metabolic control. Exercise is still vastly under-utilised in the management of Type 2 DM, especially in urban black females with Type 2 DM. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of an exercise intervention to decrease haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) over period of 12 weeks in Type 2 DM black female subjects, aged 40to 65 years. This study consisted of three phases. Data captured in the first two phases were utilised to plan the exercise intervention. Questionnaires and focus groups were used in the first two phases of the stud. The final phase of the study consisted of a randomized controlled trial. For this phase 157 female subjects who were recruited at the Mamelodi hospital diabetes outpatient clinic, were randomized to either an experimental or a control group. It was found that the subjects had little knowledge about their disease and that they lead a sedentary lifestyle. Subjects felt that Type 2 DM had a negative impact on their lives. Their attitudes bout Type 2 DM showed a dependence on health professionals and they disagreed with the attitude that they should be involved in decision-making about their health care. The results of the focus groups indicated that patients viewed walking and household chores as suitable exercise for them. Personal barriers to exercise were lack of knowledge, tiredness and health-related stress. Subjects expected that exercise would increase the functional capabilities, increase their knowledge and improve their well being. These findings were used to plan the exercise intervention, which consisted of a home-based exercise programme and fortnightly exercise sessions at the Mamelodi hospital. Subjects also had to complete a diary of their physical activities at home. An analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the experimental and control groups with respect to change in HbA1c and the secondary outcomes such as walking distance and quality of life outcomes. It was found that the exercise intervention was no more efficacious (p=0.05) than a supervised self-relaxation training intervention to decrease HbA1c, over a period of 12 weeks. The exercise group was however able to walk a significantly further distance (p<0.01) than the control group after the 12-week intervention. While not significantly different between groups (p=0.80), the positive well-being improved significantly within both groups (p<0.01). It is possible to improve blood glucose control by means other than medication in urban black female patients with Type 2 DM. The patients are willing to change their sedentary lifestyle to a more active one, but several environmental and personal barriers impact negatively o their attempts to do so. The role of the health care worker is to identify these barriers and to accompany the patient on the road to a healthier lifestyle. However, this population of women may need more assistance and support initially to take self-responsibility for their diabetes self-management eventually. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Physiotherapy / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to examine the kinematics of the pelvis and the right hip and the electromyographic activity of the gluteus maximus and biceps femoris during backward walking in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and children without known disabilities. Subjects included 6 children, three with a diagnosis of spastic diplegia and three without known disabilities. The results of the study showed important differences between the experimental group and the control group. Subjects with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (SDCP) walked backwards with less hip extension, more body rotation, shorter and slower steps, and used a higher percentage of their maximum voluntary contraction than the control group. No significant differences were found between both groups in the total amount of hip sagittal range of motion; however, these motions occurred towards flexion in the group of children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and towards neutral and extension in the control group. Independent backward walking seems not to be an effective way to promote active hip extension in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. Clinicians using backward walking in therapeutic programs may benefit from this data.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes has resulted in significant public health and socioeconomic liability in the face of scarce resources. Faced with a growing pandemic of non-communicable diseases, developing countries need to be proactive in investigating alternative cost-effective interventions, with the primary aim being to minimize illness and maximize health benefits relative to the limited available resources. The aim of this research study was to quantify the economic impact of an exercise intervention as a preventative strategy for type 2 diabetes in a developing country. The research also sought to investigate if there was an economic case for physical activity as a primary and secondary preventative measure in the management of non-communicable diseases. The study was quantitative in nature and used both primary and secondary data to conduct the cost analysis. A questionnaire was administered to 40 patients at a diabetic clinic in a peri-urban community health care centre. Secondary data, consisting of clinic records and an extensive literature review, was used to source the remaining inputs needed for the cost analysis. Results revealed that the implementation costs of a physical activity intervention exceeded the costs of a pharmaceutical programme. Physical activity resulted in decreased productivity loss, with significant economic implications at a household level. Evidence reviewed in the literature suggested that physical activity could be used in primary prevention as a viable substitute to pharmaceutical therapy. For secondary disease prevention, however, physical activity was complementary in the production of health benefits, limiting disease progression and morbidity caused by illness. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Over the last two decades there has been heightened interest in redefining faculty scholarship in higher education (Boyer, 1990). Trends have included the development of cultural frameworks for understanding how disciplines and institutions influence faculty work and how socialization processes impact academic career development. Despite the fact that the number of occupational therapy practitioners who have pursued doctoral training in pursuit of an academic career has failed to keep up with the need for qualified faculty, academic interest in developing disciplinary scholars to build the knowledge base of professional practice has been slow to develop. Furthermore, leadership interest in guiding the development of future faculty by studying how current occupational therapy faculty members are developing as scholars has been limited (AOTA, 2003). The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for describing scholarship in occupational therapy faculty members. A theoretically grounded case study design guided the selection of two occupational therapy departments, representing both a research university and a master’s college. Narrative data from occupational therapy faculty members in these institutions provided in-depth perceptions of how faculty members in diverse institutional settings develop a professional identity. Rich understandings of how clinical and academic socialization processes converge as faculty members in academic departments integrate competing influences from the academic culture, the institutional culture, and the professional culture to prioritize faculty work roles. The study revealed that although occupational therapy departments are succeeding within their institutional contexts, personal faculty priorities as clinicianteachers and institutional missions that create an imbalance in roles that favor teaching, continue to disadvantage certain faculty sub-cultures from evolving as disciplinary scholars. The implications of the failure of occupational therapy faculty members to adapt the researcher role as part of a professional identity include barriers to the development of disciplinary knowledge to support practice, and to the development of successful faculty careers that can be advanced in any institutional environment. The study identified a critical role for program leadership to act as change agents within departmental cultures to balance the need for productive disciplinary scholars, as well as effective clinician-teachers.

Orientador: Rafael Zambelli de Almeida Pinto / Banca: Monica Levy Andersen / Banca: Vinicius Cunha Oliveira / Banca: Ruben de Faria Negrão Filho / Banca: Diego Giulliano Destro Christófaro / Resumo: Introdução: A população está em processo de envelhecimento com o aumento da expectativa de vida mundial, consequentemente, gerando desafios para o sistema de saúde. Idosos sofrem com inúmeras comorbidades, dentre elas, destacam-se a dor lombar e a má qualidade de sono. Estudos prévios indicam uma relação entre a dor lombar crônica e os distúrbios de sono em adultos. Estudos mais recentes mostram que níveis elevados de atividade física influenciam positivamente para o curso clínico da dor lombar e dos distúrbios de sono, entretanto, as evidências sobre essa relação em idosos são ainda escassas na literatura. Objetivos: Investigar a associação bidirecional entre qualidade de sono e intensidade da dor lombar na população idosa, e examinar se os domínios de atividade física são capazes de predizer os desfechos de qualidade de sono, dor e incapacidade funcional nestes indivíduos. Métodos: Dois estudos foram conduzidos neste projeto: o Estudo 1 tem um delineamento longitudinal com seguimento de 6 meses; enquanto que o Estudo 2 investigou se os domínios de atividade física de idosos com dor lombar predizem dor, incapacidade funcional e qualidade de sono aos 6 e 12 meses. Resultados: Os achados mostraram que a má qualidade de sono prediz maior intensidade de dor aos 6 meses (B=0,12, IC95%: 0,01 a 0,24), mas o contrário não se confirmou (B=0,03; IC 95%: -0,16 a 0,23). Os domínios de atividade física não foram capazes de predizer melhora nos desfechos clínicos de dor, incapacidade e qu... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Introduction: The global aging process is growing rapidly and, consequently, creating challenges in the health field. Elderly patients suffer from numerous comorbidities, such as low back pain and poor sleep quality. Previous studies indicate a relationship between chronic low back pain and sleep disorders in adults. More recent studies have shown that high levels of physical activity positively influence the clinical course of low back pain and sleep disorders. However, the evidence on this relationship in the elderly is still scarce in the literature. Objectives: To investigate the bidirectional association between sleep quality and pain intensity in the elderly population with low back pain, and to examine whether the domains of physical activity are capable of predicting the outcomes of sleep quality, pain and functional disability in the elderly with low back pain. Methods: Two studies were conducted in this project. Study 1 is a longitudinal delineation study with a follow-up of 6. Study 2 is a longitudinal study that will investigate whether the physical activity domains of the elderly with low back pain predict the outcomes of pain, functional disability and sleep quality following a 6 to 12 months. Results: The study findings showed that poor sleep quality predicts a higher intensity of low back pain in a 6-month follow-up (B = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.24), but the opposite was not confirmed (B = 0.03, 95% CI: -0.16 to 0.23). Regarding the domains of physical activity... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

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In Part 2 of this 2 part sequence, use of abstinence assessment tools to rate NAS scores will be discussed to guide understanding of withdrawal symptoms commonly observed. Abstinence tools will be compared and contrasted against infant assessments commonly used by therapist to guide neurodevelopmental implications of symptoms. Guided by NAS assessments non-pharmological management will be addressed including environmental adaptations, state regulation, rest and sleep (use of swaddling, nonnutritive sucking, rocking, positioning), feeding (formula and breastfeeding). Applied examples of the therapist role in NICU along with treatment interventions for infants and their families will be discussed. Once the caregivers within the NICU are better to understand the scope of the problem, this knowledge will translate into improved developmentally supportive and age appropriate care. A through understanding of infants with NAS and their families will lead to more responsive care for their infants during and after their hospital stay.