Background and Aim: Balance is an essential part of motor development. Assessment of balance in children with neurological disorders is necessary before any treatment. There are various versions of balance tests for adult assessment however, little has been done with regard to a reliable test for evaluating the balance in children with spastic cerebral palsy.      

The purpose of this study was to investigate inter and intra rater reliability of Berg balance scale in children with spastic hemieplegia.

Material & Methods: 20 Spastic hemieplegia children were participated in this study (cross sectional).  Children were in the range of 6-12 Yrs (Mean & SD, 7/10 &1/58 yrs, correspondingly). Parents were asked to sign the informed consent. Berg Balance Scale tested in one session by two therapist for inter rater and repeated tests by the same therapist for intra rater reliability after a week.

Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) test was used for inter rater (between two therapists, ICC= 0.966, p<001 and intra rater reliability (repeated test by the same therapist, ICC= 0.988 , p<001 ).

Conclusion: The result of this study suggests that inter rater and intra rater reliability of Berg balance scale is acceptable. Therefore, it could be used in clinic for the assessment of children with spastic hemieplegia as a reliable scale.

Background and Aim:Whole body vibration (WBV) has been regarded as an exercise training method and as a non-pharmacological supportive treatment option appearing to be efficient for chronic disease conditions, such as bone disorders and cardio-respiratory fitness. Since, data on the safety and efficacy of vibration on plasma parameters are lacking, therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of WBV on the plasma parameters in adult male Wistar rat model.

Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats weighing 140-180 g were divided into control and the vibration group. Vibration training consisted of vertical sinusoidal whole body vibration for 8 weeks, followed by blood collection.

Results: The vibrated rats weighed more than the control group (approximately 14 % more). Plasma CK, E2 and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in the vibration group compared with the controls. The mean of Vit. D level was 15% higher hsCRP level was 11% lower and IL-6 level was 32% higher in the vibration group. No difference was observed for other selected plasma parameters.

 Conclusion: The potential effects of physiological responses of WBV on several physiological systems are without deteriorations in plasma parameters.