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Page 46
Volume 3
Current Research: Integrative Medicine
Nursing Care & ICNND 2018
October 22-23, 2018
October 22-23, 2018 Madrid, Spain
46
th
World Congress on
Nursing Care, Neurology and Neuromuscular Diseases
Upper limb rehabilitation in facioscapulohumeral dystrophy patients
Richa Kulshrestha
Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital, UK
F
acioscapulohumeral Dystrophy (FSHD) sufferers live a long life with disability. Symptoms may develop in early childhood
and weakness usually noticeable in the teenage years with 95% of affected individuals manifesting disease by age 20 years. The
disorder impacts on the upper extremity and torso, impacting negatively on the muscle mass, shoulder mobility and functional tasks.
Consequently, chronic disuse of the shoulder negatively impacts independence of sufferers, prospects of employment and staying at
work. At present there is no known cure and knowledge regarding the mechanisms underpinning FSHD is not sufficient to halt the
progression of the disease via pharmacological interventions or gene therapy. Surgical interventions are used to improve scapular
stabilization but long-term effect on disease progression is limited. The aim of this exercise was to understand views of patients for
compliance with exercise programs and understand the barriers for regular exercise. This is followed by a pilot of testing arm cycling
as potential rehabilitation method. We received 232 responses from the online survey. 92.6% responders are in agreement that upper
limb exercise is necessary as upper limb dysfunction impacts daily living in 86.9% patients. Arm cycling was considered to be a feasible
exercise by 57.1%. The focus group session echoed the need for home-based exercise program as attending a regular gymnasium was
not entertained by patients. In this particular group of patients’, pain, fatigue and lack of motivation were additional barriers identified
for compliance with exercise programs. Pilot study of arm cycling showed that patients with different level of function were able to
perform cycling at cadence and resistance to improve muscle function. There is a need for upper limb rehabilitation and arm cycling
offers a potential method to enhance muscle function, but its effectiveness is yet to be shown.
richakulshrestha2004@yahoo.co.ukJ Current Res: Int Medicine 2018, Volume 3
DOI: 10.4172/2529-797X-C2-006