Investigation of the effects of head-neck control training on posture, cognitive perception and family in children with mental retardation

Dilşat Melek AKSU, Investigation of the Effects of head-neck control training on posture, cognitive perception and family in children with mental retardation, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Graduate School of Education, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Master's Thesis, Gaziantep, 2025. 20 individuals aged between 3-10 years were included in the study which was conducted to examine the effects of head and neck control training on posture, cognitive perception and family in children with mental retardation. The individuals were divided into two groups as study and control group. There were 10 individuals in each group. The control group received standard physiotherapy and the study group received convergence and eye coordination exercises in addition to the standard physiotherapy program. IPFAM (Family Impact Scale) was used to evaluate the psychosocial and economic impact levels of families due to their children's special needs, WeeFIM was used to evaluate the activities of daily living of individuals, MicroDicom digital application and tragus angle measurement were used to evaluate postural analysis. The individuals in the study and control groups were treated by a physiotherapist 2 days a week for 8 weeks and after 16 sessions, pre- and post-treatment evaluations were performed in both groups. When the results obtained were analyzed, in terms of head-neck control, posture, cognitive perception and effects on family, there was no change in tragus angles, WeeFIM scale and Familial sub-dimension of IPFAM scale (p>0.05). When the groups were compared, it was observed that the study group was more effective in all parameters evaluated except for the Personal and Material subscale of the IPFAM scale (p<0.05). In conclusion, in our study, the effects of head and neck control training on posture, cognitive perception and family in individuals with mental retardation in addition to standard physiotherapy, convergence and eye coordination exercises were limited and negative changes were observed in some parameters. Therefore, more comprehensive studies are needed to clarify the effectiveness.