The COVID-19 pandemic led to a global transition from in-person to online instruction leaving many higher education faculty with little time or training for this responsibility. Physical therapist education programs were especially impacted since a large part of the development of skills rely on face-to-face onsite practice. This phenomenological study explored the perceptions of physical therapist educators in three countries—Brazil, Cyprus, and the United States, who transitioned to an entirely virtual medium of teaching during the pandemic. Sixteen faculty participated in 1:1 semi-structured interviews. Trustworthiness of qualitative inquiry was ascertained using triangulation, thick descriptions, and peer reviews. Four major themes emerged from analysis of participants’ interview data: adapting pedagogy in real-time, expected excellence, limitations of the medium, and informing future teaching practice. All participants described teaching during the pandemic as one of the most challenging experiences of their professional careers. Despite available resources, faculty noted challenges in making authentic connections with students, adapting to technological interruptions, assessment of student understanding of content, and managing work-life balance. Despite the challenges, faculty worked collaboratively with peers to innovate new approaches of creating social, cognitive, and teaching presence. Unique opportunities arose from the pandemic to enhance future teaching practice.

Background: Clinical pilates exercises have been shown to improve balance. Our study aims to compare effects of clinical Pilates and conventional physiotherapy exercises on balance and postural control in Parkinson’s disease patients. Materials & methods: Forty patients were randomly assigned into either clinical Pilates (CLP) or conventional physiotherapy (COP) group. Exercises were performed twice a week for 8 weeks. Balance, lower-extremity strength, fall risk and functional mobility were assessed at the beginning and end of the exercise period. Results: All measurements indicated significant increase in two groups (p < 0.05). Compared with the COP group, the CLP group showed significant improvement in dynamic balance values (p < 0.05). Conclusion: CLP was as effective as COP, with better dynamic balance results, and could be used in rehabilitation for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Clinical trial registration number: NCT04063605 .

In this study, researchers aimed to determine exercise habits, physical activity (PA) levels and anxiety levels of postmenopausal women (PMw) during the self-quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic. 104 PMw (59.00 ± 6.61 years old) participated in the study. It was found that PMw who had exercise habits before the pandemic period had higher PA levels, and the women with high anxiety levels during the pandemic had lower PA levels (p < .05). Anxiety levels and PA were negatively associated with each other. Numbers of grandchildren also affected the PA and anxiety levels of the PMw negatively. Women should be encouraged to initiate or maintain PA levels in all circumstances.

Introduction: The study aimed to investigate how pain severity in the shoulder region affects balance ability, postural stability and fall risk.Material and methods: Sixty participants with shoulder pain, aged 42.45 ±6.51 years, were assessed using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS); they were divided into 2 subgroups as a mild pain group (group 1) and a moderate/severe pain group (group 2). According to VAS-at rest the mild-pain group included 39 and the moderate/severe-pain group included 21 subjects. According to VAS-during movement, the mild-pain group included 19 and the moderate/severe-pain group included 41 subjects. Balance ability-postural stability, fall risk and fear of falling were assessed by the Sportkat System, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Fall Efficacy scale (FES) respectively. Differences of variables between mild pain and moderate/severe pain groups were analyzed by the independent groups t-test in groups conforming to a normal distribution and the Mann-Whitney U test for the variables that did not fit a normal distribution.Results: A positive relationship was found between VAS-at rest and double-foot static balance test score right-left (RL) ratio, while a negative relationship was found between VAS-at rest and BBS score (p < 0.05). Significant differences were found between right foot static balance left score and RL ratio according to pain at rest (p < 0.05).Conclusions: The results indicated that shoulder pain severity affects balance parameters. As pain level at rest increases, postural sway increases in a medio-lateral direction, and towards the left while standing on the right foot. Approaches regarding increasing balance and postural instability should be included in physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs of patients with shoulder pain at an early phase to protect patients from balance problems and fall risk.

We aimed to analyze physical activity level and body awareness of mothers of children with physical disability and to compare with mothers without a disabled child. A total of 102 participants including 51 mothers with a disabled child and 51 mothers without a disabled child were included (average age 38.59 +/- 5.98). Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) were used as data collection tools. It was found that physical activity levels and body awareness of the mothers with a disabled child were lower than mothers without a disabled child. In conclusion, during rehabilitation of children with physical disability, mothers should become a part of the treatment, their participation in physical activity programs and body awareness training should be encouraged.