Background Stroke is a major cause of disability with mainly affecting trunk mobility and function. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of core stabilization exercises versus conventional therapy on trunk mobility, function, ambulation, and quality of life of stroke patients. Design Assessor blinded randomized control trial. Setting Ibrahim polyclinic—Shadman, Ch Muhammad Akram teaching hospital-Raiwind, Rasheed hospital-Defence. Subjects Chronic ischemic stroke patients. Intervention Control group (n = 21) underwent conventional treatment for stroke for 40 min/ day, 5 times/ week for 8 weeks. Experimental group (n = 20) received core stability training for additional 15 min along with conventional treatment. Main measures Main outcome measures were Trunk impairment scale (TIS), functional ambulation category (FAC), stroke specific quality of life (SSQOL) and trunk range of motion (ROM). Results The differences between the control group and experimental group post-treatment were statistically significant for trunk impairment, functional ambulation, quality of life, and frontal plane trunk motion (p-value < 0.05) with higher mean values for core stabilization training. The frontal plane trunk mobility and rotation showed non-significant differences post-treatment (p-value > 0.05). Conclusion This study concluded that core stabilization training is better as compared to the conventional physical therapy treatment for improving trunk impairments, functional ambulation and quality of life among patients of stroke. The core stabilization training is also more effective in improving trunk mobility in sagittal plane. This study is registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT20210614051578N1 and was approved by the local research ethics committee of Riphah International University.

Objective: To determine the association of Upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and Exposure to Ergonomic risk factors among handicraft workers. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in a 12 weeks’ duration i.e. from November 2018 till January 2019. Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was used to determine the frequency of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders. Postural analysis was done using Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA). Data was collected from 100 Handicraft workers and the type of work included Art work (n=18), Ada Work (n=7), botanical arrangement (n=11), Textile, fashion designing and stitching (n=38), Fine arts (n=20), embroidery and knitting (n=6). Results: The frequency distribution of Rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) score for exposure to risk factors showed that 47 participants were at a high risk and required implementation of change. Most of the participants (n=35) reported pain in neck and shoulder (n=29). The chi square test for association between pain in upper extremity and exposure to risk factors showed that only wrist pain had statistically significant association with overall RULA score (p-value<0.05). Conclusion: The study concluded that neck and shoulder are more frequently affected among handicraft workers. The frequency of workers who were at high ergonomic risk and required implementation of change in working conditions was high. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.749 How to cite this:Mahmood W, Bashir MS, Ehsan S, Qureshi MA. Upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and exposure to Ergonomic risk factors among handicraft workers. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(2):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.749 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background & Objective:Neck and shoulder are the most susceptible areas for developing musculoskeletal symptoms among computer users. The modifiable risk factors for these work related musculoskeletal disorders include physical office environment and psychosocial work related factors. Computer workstation layout had been shown to be an important physical aspect of work environment that influences the upper quadrant symptoms. Our objective was to find the frequency of neck and shoulder pain and use of adjustable computer workstation among bankers of Islamabad/Rawalpindi/MultanMethods:A cross sectional study was conducted and 120 participants were questioned. Purposive sampling technique was used in this study. Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ) was remodeled and important questions were extracted from its detailed version. The tool was then validated by taking expert opinion. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical variables.Results:Pain in the neck during working hours was experienced by 71.67% of the respondents and 48.33% of the participants had experienced shoulder pain during working hours. Adjustable keyboards were used by 16.67% of respondents. Back care material was used by 40% bankers. Adjustable chairs were used by 95.83% of the participants. Only 3% of the bankers did not have chairs with adjustable heights. Chairs with adjustable armrests were used by 25% bankers.Conclusion:Neck and shoulder pain are common occurrences among bankers. Most of the components of workstations of bankers were adjustable but some of them still need attention.