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Background and purpose: Low back pain is a common and costly problem in pregnancy. Ït is one of the main reasons of disability and absence from work with extremly direct and indirect economical impact. Women are more prone to low back pain and pregnancy is one of the predisposition. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of an exercise program and ergonomic advices on the treatment of low back pain in pregnant women.
Materials and methods: Following ethical approval and through a randomized controlled clinical trial, 120 pregnant women with low back pain were recruited into experimental and control groups. The experimental group (n=60) received therapeutic exercise combined with ergonomic advices and the control group (n=60) was given no intervention. Pain experienced by patients was assessed using Visual Ânalogue Scale and functional disability on Ôswestry Low Back Disability Questionnaire after the planned intervention within three months follow-up.
Results: Ïntra-group changes indicated that there was a significant reduction on pain intensity and functional disability in the experimental group (P<0.01 in both instances) but no such difference was found in the control group (P>0.05). Ïnter-groups changes showed significant improvements in both pain intensity and functional disability following intervention (P<0.01) in the experimental group in comparison with the control group (P<0.01 in both instances). The significance of differences held up within three months follow–up between the two groups (P<0.01 in both instances).
Çonclusion: Ôur results demonstrate that therapeutic exercise and ergonomic advices could be considered as effective approaches in the treatment of low back pain during pregnancy. Therefore, we offer regular exercise and ergonomic advices during pregnancy and afterwards in order to prevent and to control low back pain.

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Background and purpose: Development of pulmonary complications after surgery is seen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some exercises are used to reduce these effects, but the results of these programs are incomplete. The aim of this study was to perform training programs and evaluation of lung function tests in two weeks before and after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

Materials and methods: A clinical trial was performed in which 40 patients with COPD who were candidate for CABG were randomly divided into two groups (n= 20 per group). Both groups performed routine exercises. From two weeks earlier, patients in experimental group also performed some other exercises including breathing exercise, hand exercise at width of shoulder, breathing muscle exercise, and walking. Lung function tests were conducted two weeks before and after the exercises in both groups. Paired t-test and ANCOVA were applied for data analysis.

Results: According to the study, forced vital capacity values (FVC) in experimental (3.34±1.03) and control group (2.2±0.79), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁₎ in experimental (2.98±0.81) and control group (1.67±0.79) (P =0.0001), the Values of FVC / FEV₁ in experimental (90.8±10.7) and control group (73.9±19.25), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) values in experimental (5.66±2.17) and control group (3.68±1.62) (P =0.002) were significantly different in experimental group.

Conclusion: Four-week exercise therapy in patients with COPD could improve lung function after CABG.

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Background and purpose: Aging and decreased physical activity can cause tribulation in physical functions and decline in postural stability. Women with hyperkyphosis have increased body sway, which can increase the risk of falls. This study examined the effects of corrective exercises on postural stability in elderly women with hyperkyphosis.

Materials and methods: A randomized controlled trial was carried out in 30 adults (60- 75 years old) who were chosen by purposive sampling from Jahandine Elderly Center in Arak, spring 2014. The participants were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n= 13) and a control group (n= 13). The subjects in exercise group participated in an 8 week (3 sessions a week) corrective exercise program. But no intervention was performed in the control group. TURN180 test and flexicurve ruler were used in pre and post-test for evaluation of postural stability and kyphosis angle. To analyze the data, dependent t-test and covariate analysis at significance level of P<0.05 were applied.

Results: Twenty six participants completed post-test measures. Kyphosis angle was changed in the experimental group from 50.58 to 48.84 degrees (P=.002) and significant improvements were seen in the TURN180 test (P=.008). But there was no significant difference in the control group.

Conclusion: According to current results corrective exercises could be effective in improving kyphosis angle, and postural stability which would consequently decrease the risk of fall.