Abstract

Purpose. to evaluate effect of concurrent training on hand grip after gunshot wounds in upper extremity. Design. single blind randomized controlled trial. Methods. Forty patients with Gunshot Wounds in Upper Extremity participated in the study, they were recruited from the police hospital, Egypt; their ages ranged from 20-50 years old. Confidentiality was assured. They were assigned randomly into two groups equally in number; 20 patients each: study Group (A) received concurrent training In addition to their traditional physical therapy program while control group (B) received traditional physical therapy program only. All treatments were administered on the affected upper limb, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. Measurement of disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire (DASH) scale was used to evaluate upper limb disability and Jamar hand dynamometer was used to assess hand grip strength (HGS). Descriptive statistics as mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum were calculated for each group. Unpaired t test was conducted for comparison of (HGS) and (DASH) between both groups. Paired t test was conducted for comparison of (HGS) and (DASH) between pre and post treatment in each group. Alpha point of 0.05 was used as a level of significance. Results. When compared to the pre-treatment condition, HGS / DASH improved in the post test condition in group A and B. Between the groups, There was statistically significant difference was noted between the mean value of all dependent variables in group A and their corresponding value in group B. Conclusion: Concurrent training was effective and beneficial in improving hand grip strength after gunshot wounds in upper extremity as manifested by the highly increased (HGS) and the significant decrease in (DASH).

Key words:

Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH), concurrent training, hand grip strength, gunshot wounds in upper extremity, and Jamar held dynamometer