Functional Approach in Spino-cerebellar Ataxia-Occupational Therapy Perspective Sawant Parag1, Gokhale Preetee2 1Occupational Therapist, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai 2Occupational Therapist, Goenka & Associates Educational Trust, Vasant Vihar Counselling Centre, Thane Online published on 28 September, 2015. Abstract Objectives The cerebellum is known to play a strong functional role in both motor control and motor learning. Diseases of cerebellum like Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA) leads to functional limitations leading to activity restriction. Ataxia following degenerative cerebellar disease becomes a major cause of disability. Literature talks about effectiveness of Occupational Therapy in rehabilitation of these patients but not much work is been documented on it. Objective of the study was to rate ataxia and assess the Functional Independence and Balance in the context of Occupational Therapy. Methodology 3 male patients with diagnosis of Spinocerebellar ataxia, in the age group of 20–30 years were screened on MMSE to rule out cognitive impairment and ensure the utility of intervention. Ataxia was rated using Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA). The subjects underwent 3 months of Occupational Therapy (OT) intervention including physical exercises, therapeutic activities, Intensive coordination training, prescription of adaptive aids, Balance retraining and functional retraining using Top Down Approach and were assessed on Functional Independence Measure Functional Assessment Measure FIM FAM Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) pre and post intervention and statistically analysed using paired't’ test. Results Pre intervention mean score on FIM FAM scale was 199 ± 5.57 which increased to 202.66 ± 6.03 post intervention and was statistically significant at t = 11, P< 0.01. The mean score on BBS increased from 38 ± 2 to 39.66 ± 2.08; post intervention and was statistically significant at t= 5, P< 0.05. Scores on SARA were also maintained which shows there was no worsening of symptoms. Conclusion As the results were statistically significant it can be concluded that OT intervention was effective in improving functional independence in Patients with SCA in the selected study population. Further research is recommended with larger sample size. Top Keywords Spinocerebellar Ataxia, Quality of life, Occupational Therapy. Top |