Balance problems after unilateral lateral ankle sprains

Abstract-Ankle ligament injury is the most common injury in athletic activities. This study examined balance problems in athletes with acute lateral ankle sprains. Thirty male athletes aged 20 to 35 years with right dominant side and traumatic ankle sprain were recruited through simple nonprobability sampling. We measured the sway index and limits of stability with the Biodex Balance System under different conditions. Functional balance was evaluated with two clinical tests: the Functional Reach Test and the Star-Excursion Balance Test. The results showed that balance ability in patients with acute lateral ankle sprain was significantly weaker under closed- versus open-eye conditions. Symmetry of weight-bearing on involved and sound limb in bilateral standing was not significantly different, but weight-bearing on the nondominant limb was significantly higher than on the dominant limb. We can conclude that balance problems occur after acute ankle sprains because of proprioception deficits and that the unconscious (reflexive) aspect of proprioception is more severely affected than the conscious (voluntary) aspect.     

Prevalence of HI antibody titer against rubella virus to determine the effect of mass vaccination in Tehran.

BACKGROUND: Rubella is an infectious viral disease, has a worldwide distribution and is normally a mild childhood disease. Infection during early pregnancy may cause fetal death or congenital rubella syndrome. The highest risk of CRS is found in countries with high susceptibility rates among women of childbearing age. In many developed and some developing countries, large-scale rubella vaccination during the past decade has drastically reduced or practically eliminated rubella and CRS. Mass vaccination campaigns and Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) have increased vaccine coverage in the world with a substantial impact on the reduction of rubella infections, such as CRS. OBJECTIVE: The present study was preformed to evaluate the immune status against rubella before and after the mass campaign vaccination on 22 December 2003. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 320 samples were collected from the healthy subjects before and after the vaccination and 80 paired sera were collected and tested for the presence of rubella antibody using HI test. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, 98.1% of the population has gained anti-rubella antibody, compared with 92.2% before the vaccination. The data revealed that 98.75% of the paired subjects had rubella antibody after mass vaccination which is statistically significant.     

The power of testing a semi-parametric shared gamma frailty parameter in failure time data

Frailty is usually modeled as an unobserved random variable acting multiplicatively on the baseline hazard function, where a shared unobserved quantity in the intensity induces a positive correlation among the observed failure times. Using the asymptotic properties of the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator for the gamma frailty model, we derive a power function for testing the shared frailty parameter and evaluate the effect of number of groups and number of individuals per groups on the power of the test by simulation studies. The results show that choosing between 8 and 25 groups with sample sizes between 200 and 500 individuals will be enough to get a high power.     

Effect of telephone follow‐up on adherence to a diabetes therapeutic regimen

Aim: To determine whether a nurse telephone follow‐up service could improve the level of adherence to a diabetes therapeutic regimen for patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A total of 61 patients attended a 3 day diabetes self‐care program at the Iranian Diabetes Society. They were randomly assigned to one of the experimental or control groups. A telephone follow‐up program was applied to the experimental group for 3 months, twice per week for the first month and weekly for the second and third months. The data‐collection instruments included a data sheet to record the glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level and a questionnaire. The data were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks. Results: There were significant differences between the control and the experimental groups in their adherence to a diabetic diet, exercise, foot care, blood glucose monitoring, and medication‐taking. Also, the HbA1c levels differed significantly between the two groups after 3 months. Conclusion: A nurse‐led telephone follow‐up was effective in enhancing the level of adherence to a diabetes therapeutic regimen, such that the HbA1c level decreased.