Objective: The present study examined variations in the degree of smartphone use behavior among male and female adolescents as well as the association between various degrees of smartphone use behavior and the vitality and mental health of each gender. Participants: A total of 218 adolescents were recruited from a junior college in September 2014. Methods: All the participants were asked to answer questionnaires on smartphone use. Results: The findings showed that adolescent females as compared with adolescent males exhibited significantly higher degrees of smartphone dependence and smartphone influence. Positive correlations were observed between the duration of smartphone use on weekends and the vitality/mental health of the male adolescents; negative correlations were found between smartphone dependence and the vitality/mental health of males. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that adolescent females are deeply affected by their smartphone use. Smartphone dependence may decrease the vitality and mental health of male adolescents.

[Purpose] This study investigated whether the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure is a suitable outcome measure for assessing patients with stroke in research and clinical settings. [Subjects and Methods] The study included into two parts: (1) an investigation of the reliability and validity of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure for patients with stroke and (2) an exploration of Canadian Occupational Performance Measure results in randomized controlled trials of patients with stroke. For this review, the study searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, and CINAHL Plus with Full Text databases for articles published before September 2015. [Results] Finally, three eligible articles were collected in part 1, and ten randomized controlled trials studies were collected in part 2. The findings of part 1 revealed that the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure had efficient test–retest reliability, however, the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure revealed weak associations with other assessment tools such as Barthel Index used for patients with stroke. Six of the randomized controlled trials studies used the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure as a primary outcome and two as a secondary outcome, while the other two as a goal-setting instrument. [Conclusion] This review indicates that the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure is appropriate for clinicians, including physiotherapists, in assessing outcome for patients with stroke. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure can assist patients in identifying their outcome performance and provide therapists with directions on interventions.

Farm tractors account for the majority of fatal injuries to adolescents working in agriculture and therefore remain a leading occupational priority. The question of whether these injuries occur because adolescents are assigned tractor jobs beyond their physical capabilities has not been answered. The purpose of this study was to estimate the activation forces required to operate controls on 40 tractors in common use in the US and compare them with existing estimates of physical strength for children of varying ages and with recommended ergonomic force limits for repeatedly engaging controls. Activation forces for steering, brakes and clutch were measured on each tractor. The main study finding was that the activation forces required to operate tractors typically exceeded the physical abilities of most children aged 13 to 17 years. This raises serious questions about the ability of children to safely operate tractors in common use on US farms. This study provides an ergonomic approach for evaluating the potential mismatch between young people's strength capabilities and forces required in operating farm tractors. This approach could be used in similar situations where adolescents may operate vehicles (e.g. all-terrain vehicles), machinery or other mechanical devices requiring activation of levers and controls. Study findings potentially inform the establishment of occupational policies surrounding tractor operation by young people.

This study focused on the integrated post-acute care (PAC) stage of stroke patients, and employed a retrospective study to examine the satisfaction with life quality in two groups, one that received home-based rehabilitation and one that received hospital-based rehabilitation. A secondary purpose was to analyze the correlations among the index and components concerning their quality of life (QOL) and compare the advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches to PAC. This research was a retrospective study of 112 post-acute stroke patients. The home-based group received rehabilitation for one to two weeks, and two to four sessions per week. The hospital-based group received the rehabilitation for three to six weeks, and 15 sessions per week. The home-based group mainly received the training and guidance of daily activities at the patients' residence. The hospital-based group mainly received physical facilitation and functional training in the hospital setting. The mean scores of QOL assessment for both groups were found to be significantly improved after intervention. Between-group comparisons showed that the hospital-based group had better improvement than the home-based group in mobility, self-care, pain/discomfort and depression/anxiety. In the home-based group, the MRS score and the participant's age can explain 39.4% of the variance of QOL scores. The home-based rehabilitation was of lower intensity and duration than the hospital-based one, but it still achieved a significant improvement in QOL for the PAC stroke patients. The hospital-based rehabilitation offered more time and treatment sessions. Therefore hospital-based patients responded with better QOL outcomes than the home-based patients.