Mehdi Kargarfard

Publications (2)5.4 Total impact

• Source

  Available from: Reza Hayatbakhsh

  Article: Effect of aquatic exercise training on fatigue and health-related quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis.

  Mehdi Kargarfard, Masoud Etemadifar, Peter Baker, Maryam Mehrabi, Reza Hayatbakhsh
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  ABSTRACT: Kargarfard M, Etemadifar M, Baker P, Mehrabi M, Hayatbakhsh R. Effect of aquatic exercise training on fatigue and health-related quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis. To examine the effectiveness of aquatic exercise training on fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with multiple sclerosis (MS). Randomized controlled trial, 4-week and 8-week follow-up. Referral center of a multiple sclerosis society. Women (N=32) diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (mean age ± SD, 32.6±8.0y) were recruited into this study. After undergoing baseline testing by a neurologist, participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention (aquatic exercise) or a control group. The intervention consisted of 8 weeks supervised aquatic exercise in a swimming pool (3 times a week, each session lasting 60min). At baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks, fatigue and HRQOL were assessed by a blind assessor using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale and the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 questionnaire, respectively. A mixed-model approach to repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to detect within- and between-subject effects. Findings are based on 21 patients (10 from the exercise group and 11 from the control group) who had data available on outcomes. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups at the baseline. Patients in the aquatic exercise group showed significant improvements in fatigue and subscores of HRQOL after 4 and 8 weeks compared with the control group. Results obtained from the intention-to-treat analysis were consistent with those of per-protocol analysis. The findings suggest that aquatic exercise training can effectively improve fatigue and HRQOL of patients with MS and should be considered in the management of this relatively common public health problem.
  Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation 05/2012; 93(10):1701-8. · 2.18 Impact Factor
• Article: The impact of an after-school physical activity program on health-related fitness of mother/daughter pairs: CASPIAN study.

  Mehdi Kargarfard, Roya Kelishadi, Vahid Ziaee, Gelayol Ardalan, Farzin Halabchi, Reza Mazaheri, Parinaz Poursafa, Mohammad R Hayatbakhsh
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  ABSTRACT: To examine the effectiveness of parental support and involvement in a low-cost intervention for the improvement of health-related fitness of high school girls through an after-school physical activity (PA) program. This multi-site study was conducted in 2006-2007 in 7 provinces in Iran. The study population comprised of two groups of children. The first group consisted of 206 children who were randomly selected from female students (7th-10th grade) and their mothers (n=204). Another 60 children (without their mothers) were randomly selected as the control group. Overall, during 12 weeks, 24 sessions of after-school aerobic exercise were held. Health-related fitness data were collected pre- and post-intervention. The findings are based on 470 participants. The after-school PA significantly improved body mass index, resting heart rate, cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility and muscle strength and endurance in children in both groups, and in mothers. Improvement in the physiological measures of the children in the mother/daughter group was significantly better than the control group. The findings suggest that after-school PA may provide an effective model for improving the health-related fitness of high school girls and their mothers. Our data show that family support, including mother's participation, contributes to enhanced health-related achievements in adolescent girls.
  Preventive Medicine 01/2012; 54(3-4):219-23. · 3.22 Impact Factor