[Purpose] Exercise is one of the most important components of a healthy life. The purpose of this study was to analyze exercise beliefs and psychosocial factors in sedentary and active healthy women and observe the changes in these parameters resulting from clinical Pilates exercises and verbal education in healthy women. [Subjects and Methods] Sixty-six healthy women were included in the study. Participants were divided into clinical Pilates (n=21), verbal education (n=25), and control groups (n=20). Prior to and at the end of the study, demographic information, body mass index, waist-hip circumference, exercise beliefs, physical activity index, and psychosocial factors (Rosenberg self-esteem scale, Body Cathexis Index, SF-36 quality of life, Beck Depression Scale, visual analog scale for tiredness) of the subjects were recorded. [Results] Meaningful changes for all the parameters took place in the clinical Pilates and verbal education groups. Our analyses indicated that the changes in the clinical Pilates group were more meaningful than those in the verbal education group. When the data of the study groups were compared with those of the control group, the clinical Pilates group showed meaningful differences. [Conclusion] The result of this study indicate that both clinical Pilates and verbal education are effective in changing exercise beliefs and physical and psychosocial parameters.

Aerobic exercise and clinical Pilates exercises revealed moderate changes in levels of cognitive, physical performance, balance, depression, fatigue in MS patients.

Proprioceptive sense is the individual's ability to perceive the position and the motion of his/her body segments in the space via somatosensorial impulses sent by the receptors in the skin, muscles, and joints (1). Researchers have stated that the proprioceptive sense, which is the awareness sense of the body, consists of three fundamental senses: kinesthesia, joint position sense, and neuromuscular control (2). The proprioceptive sense plays a crucial role in carrying out and controlling daily activities, maintaining posture and balance, joint stability, and motor learning (3, 4). Neuromuscular control is affected by proprioceptive inefficiencies apart from motor dysfunctions. It has been shown that proprioceptive knowledge is of extreme importance for the neural control of motion and that the upper extremity proprioceptive sense is commonly decreased or evanished following stroke (5). It has been explained that the proprioceptive deficit incidence rate is 50-65% in stroke patients, which affects daily activities and quality of life negatively (6, 7). It has been stated that proprioceptive and motor deficits have different recovery rates in the first six months following stroke (8). In stroke patients, sensorimotor learning calls for a sound somatosensorial impulse, which is possible through sensorimotor rehabilitation (9). The Bobath, Brunnstrom, Johnstone, and Rood proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques and the motor learning method, commonly utilized by physiotherapists, are based upon treating sensorimotor functions (10). There exist several recent studies that report that the pain-free, non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) application decreases spasticity or that it has no effect (11-13). Stroke rehabilitation is provided by decreasing the transcallosal inhibition from the unaffected motor cortex to

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to determine the effects of clinical Pilates in multiple sclerosis patients. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty multiple sclerosis patients were enrolled in this study. The participants were divided into two groups as the clinical Pilates and control groups. Cognition (Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite), balance (Berg Balance Scale), physical performance (timed performance tests, Timed up and go test), tiredness (Modified Fatigue Impact scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), and quality of life (Multiple Sclerosis International Quality of Life Questionnaire) were measured before and after treatment in all participants. [Results] There were statistically significant differences in balance, timed performance, tiredness and Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite tests between before and after treatment in the clinical Pilates group. We also found significant differences in timed performance tests, the Timed up and go test and the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite between before and after treatment in the control group. According to the difference analyses, there were significant differences in Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite and Multiple Sclerosis International Quality of Life Questionnaire scores between the two groups in favor of the clinical Pilates group. There were statistically significant clinical differences in favor of the clinical Pilates group in comparison of measurements between the groups. Clinical Pilates improved cognitive functions and quality of life compared with traditional exercise. [Conclusion] In Multiple Sclerosis treatment, clinical Pilates should be used as a holistic approach by physical therapists.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, ofis çalışanlarının çalışma postürü, kas iskelet sistemi rahatsızlıkları, bel ağrısına bağlı özürlülük düzeyi, sağlıkla ilgili yaşam kalitesinin incelenmesi, aralarındaki ilişkinin belirlenmesidir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Araştırmaya toplam 213 ofis çalışanı dâhil edildi. Ofis çalışanları, Ovako Çalışma Postürü Analiz Sistemi, Cornell Kas İskelet Sistemi Rahatsızlığı Anketi, Oswestry Özürlülük Anketi ve Nottingham Sağlık Profili ile değerlendirildi. Sonuçlar: Oswestry Özürlülük Anketi ile omurga, alt ekstremite, üst ekstremite ağrı sıklığı, ağrı şiddeti ve ağrıya bağlı işin engellenmesi arasında ileri derecede anlamlı ilişkiler bulundu(p=0,000, r=0,328-0,505). Nottingham Sağlık Profilinin enerji, ağrı, fiziksel hareketlilik, uyku, emosyonel reaksiyonlar, sosyal izolasyon alt parametreleri ile omurga, alt ekstremite, üst ekstremite ağrı sıklığı, ağrı şiddeti, ağrıya bağlı işin engellenmesi ve bel ağrısı arasında ileri derecede anlamlı ilişkiler bulundu (p=0,020-0,000, r= 0,159-0,671<0,005). Tartışma: Kadın ofis çalışanlarının bel ağrısına bağlı özürlülük düzeyi, erkeklerden daha fazla bulundu. İlişki analizleri incelendiğinde, bel ağrısına bağlı özürlülük düzeyi ile kas iskelet sistemine bağlı ağrı sıklığı ve şiddeti ile ilişkili olduğu bu durumun işi engellediği görüldü. Ayrıca bel ağrısına bağlı özürlülük düzeyi; sağlıkla ilgili yaşam kalitesi ile de ilişkili bulundu. İleride yapılacak çalışmalarda, ofis çalışanlarının doğru çalışma postürü konusunda kapsamlı eğitim verilmesi ve yapılacak ergonomik düzenlemelerin sağlıkla ilgili yaşam kalitesine etkisi üzerine etkisinin araştırılması gereklidir.