FUNCTIONAL STATUS AMONG PATIENTS WITH STAGE III PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Aims Of Study: The purpose of the study was to assess the functional capabilities of patients with Stage III Parkinson's disease (PD). Functional status of PD patients declines due to impaired postural reflexes and characteristic loss of balance which became evident at Stage III thus activities of daily living (ADLs) are compromised as the severity of the disease increases. Methodology:  Descriptive case series was conducted on stage III PD patients (n=64). Patients with age ranges from 45 to 75 years were recruited and patients with other neurological issues were excluded. They were assessed using a Functional independence measure scale having reliability 0.95. Results: Out of 64 patients, 75% required minimal assistance and 9.4% required supervision while performing the ADLs. Whereas, 81% of patients need 2 hours of personal care assistance according to burden of care. Limitations & Future Implications: Only functional status of PD patient is determined no exercise regime or intervention were incorporated to assess their impact on the PD patient functional activities. Thus, future studies should be carried out to find the correlation between aerobic exercises and their impact on PD patient level of functional independence. Originality: Information added was all taken from databases and reduced to similarity index and was not submitted to any other journal. Conclusion: Stage III Parkinson’s disease patient required minimal level of assistance while performing tasks of daily living. However, majority of these patients required 2 hours of personal care assistance on average per day to compete with daily living.

Individual Conflicts, Abilities and Situational Forces As Redictor of Decision Making Behavior and Organizational Performance

This research work was performed to study the antecedents of individual decision making in the higher education sector of Pakistan and to examine the effects of such decisions on organizational performance. Specifically, eight theoretically driven and significant antecedents, including work-family conflict and interpersonal conflict as individual conflicts; leadership skills, emotional intelligence and self-efficacy as individual abilities; and time pressure, information level and risk as situational forces, were studied in relation to faculty decision making, which was measured in terms of rational, intuitive, dependant, avoidant and spontaneous decision-making styles employed by faculty members. In addition, the consequent effects of such faculty decision-making styles on organizational (University) performance were examined. Nine hypotheses (H1-H9) were formulated to test the theoretical model based on the relationships among individual conflicts, abilities, situational forces, decision-making styles and organizational performance in the higher education environment. The hypotheses were partially supported, except for one fully supported hypothesis (H4). The questionnaire method was utilized to collect data using quota sampling from a targeted sample that consisted of faculty members working in these higher education institutions (HEIs) of Pakistan. A total of 722 questionnaires were distributed to these faculty members, from which 516 valid questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 72%. The survey results showed that individual conflicts are significant predictors of individual decision-making behavior because individual conflicts inversely predict rational and intuitive decision-making styles, resulting in higher usage of avoidant and spontaneous decision-making styles. Correspondingly, higher individual abilities resulted in more use of rational and intuitive decision making by faculty members, which made them less inclined towards avoidant and spontaneous decision making. Similarly, time pressure, information level and risk as situational forces were also found among the significant antecedents of individual decision-making styles. Likewise, faculty conflicts and situational forces were also found to be significant moderators for the relationships between faculty abilities and University performance. Such faculty decision-making styles also significantly contribute towards University performance and mediate the relationship of their antecedents and University performance. The significance and implications of the study findings are also discussed. These findings can be comprehensively utilized in the formulation of faculty development programs and for the betterment of the higher education institutions in Pakistan.