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Introduction: Low-level laser is a pain-free and non-invasive treatment modality. It is used in many acute and chronic painful conditions. This study aimed to determine the correlation between pain intensity, functional disability, and range of motion using low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in patients with discogenic lumbar radiculopathy. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted as a part of a randomized controlled trial of LLLT to treat patients with discogenic lumbar radiculopathy in physical therapy departments of three different hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan, from August 2021 to September 2021. The study was conducted according to STROBE guidelines. Fifty-Five patients from the experimental group of the trial were invited to participate in this study. The outcomes of the treatment were recorded on a semi-structured questionnaire on the first day and last day of their treatment from each patient’s pain intensity, functional disability, and Lumbar range of motion (L-ROM) (flexion and extension) by using the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain intensity, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) for functional disability, and dual inclinometer for L-ROM. The data were analyzed through SPSS version 26.0. Results: The results of the correlation coefficient/Pearson’s correlation of VAS, ODI, and dual inclinometer were varied. The strength of correlation between variables was weak to moderate (r=0.033 to 0.425) with statistically insignificant correlation coefficient (P > 0.05, 95% CI) except for lumbar flexion (P

Purpose: To measure the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of active lumbar extension and flexion movements using dual inclinometer with two different landmarking techniques. Method: The reliability study was conducted at the Physical Therapy Department of the University Teaching Hospital, The University of Lahore, Pakistan, in January 2020, and comprised patients of either gender aged >18 years with mild or symptomatic lower back pain, and healthy subjects s controls. Repeated measurements with dual inclinometer were taken by two examiners and data was recorded by two separate observers. A set of three active lumbar extension and flexion movements were performed for an initial warm-up. The examiners repeated a palpation of bony landmarks prior to each trial. The two different landmarking techniques were applied on the lumbar spine to identify the start and end points. Both the examiners measured each participant thrice. For each examiner and each landmarking technique, the three data sets were acquired for active lumbar extension and flexion for a total of 120 sets per session per examiner per landmarking. Each set comprised three alternating active lumbar extension and flexion movements. Data was analysed using 26. Results: Of the 40 subjects with mean age 27.8+11.0 years, 19(48%) were males and 21(52%) were females. There were 15(38%) cases; 6(40%) males and 9(60%) females. The remaining 25(62%) were controls. The two landmarking techniques with dual inclinometer produced a high to very high intra-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient:0.73-0.91) ---Continue

Background Context. In recent times, the use of low-intensity lasers for physical therapy has been shown to significantly reduce pain with a variety of causes. Purpose. To determine the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in patients with discogenic lumbar radiculopathy and correlation among pain intensity, functional disability, and lumbar range of motion (LROM). Study Design/Setting. A double-blind RCT was conducted at physical therapy departments of different hospitals of Islamabad, Pakistan. The study period was March 2020 to August 2021. Patient Sample. The study comprised 110 patients with acute LBP and unilateral discogenic lumbar radiculopathy. Outcome Measures. The outcomes of the treatment were measured on the first day and then after 18 sessions from each patient’s pain intensity, functional disability, L-ROM, and straight leg raise by using visual analogue scale, Oswestry disability index, dual inclinometer, and straight leg raise test. Methods. A total of 110 participants with a mean age of 38 ± 7.4 years were randomly assigned into two groups of 55 each. The experimental group of 55 patients was treated with LLLT and conventional physical therapy. The control group of 55 patients was treated with conventional physical therapy alone. Both groups had received 18 treatment sessions. The data were analyzed through SPSS-21.0. Results. The results of the Wilcoxon signed-rank test score as well as Mann–Whitney U test indicated a statistically significant difference in values ( p

Women's health indicates an intimate health of a woman that is different from that of a man in many peculiar terms. The way a woman manifests her health and disease is quite different than that of a man with respect to her unique biological, behavioural and social perspectives. Although the biological differences are associated with high risk of developing ill health, the gender-differentiated access to medical interventions and basic education along with other socioeconomic factors play an important role in women's primary health care.1,2 In the whole world, woman's health is directly related to her reproductive health i.e. menstruation, birth control and menopause while ignoring all other health related issues.2,3 The WHO states that an undue focus on reproductive health deprives all women from getting good quality health care.4 So, the replacement of "Women's Health" with "The Health of Women" is a pressing need of time as women require health care and health care system more than that of men not just due to their reproductive and sexual health needs but also they have more chronic conditions like Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Cardiovascular diseases, mental illness and malignancies.5

Objective To compare the effectiveness of Muscle Energy Technique (MET) with Maitland mobilisations when using lumbopelvic stability exercises as an adjunct therapy with them in reducing pain and disability in patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction (SIJD). Methodology A randomised controlled trial was conducted at physical therapy departments of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and Rehab Polyclinic, Peshawar, Pakistan and comprised of data over a to a six-month period from January 2015 to June 2015. Sixty participants (both male and female with an age range of 25-55 years) were randomly assigned to two equal groups of 30 (50%) each by chit-box method. Group-A of 30 patients (experimental group) was treated with Muscle Energy Technique (MET). Group-B of 30 patients (control group) was treated with Maitland Mobilizations at sacroiliac joint. Lumbopelvic stability exercises were given to both groups. The treatment outcomes were measured on the first day and then after 4 weeks (12 sessions) from each subject's pain and disability levels by using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for measuring pain and Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI) for measuring disability. Results The paired sample statistics for intra-group analysis of the VAS and MODI showed a significant difference in values i.e. for Group-A, VAS was 16.699 with p-value 0.000 and MODI was 29.125 with p-value 0.000 while for Group-B, VAS was 18.687 with p-value 0.001 and MODI was 28.607 with p-value 0.001. The independent samples test for inter-group analysis of pre-VAS and post-VAS were 0.662 with 0.510 p-value and 1.000 with 0.321 p-value respectively while of pre-MODI and post-MODI were -1.482 with 0.144 p-value and -0.114 with 0.909 p-value respectively This showed an insignificant difference in pain and disability outcomes between the groups. Conclusions MET and Maitland mobilisations are both effective in treating the chronic sacroiliac joint dysfunction when using lumbopelvic stabilisation exercises as an adjunct therapy with them.