Motor Imagery in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Motor imagery (MI) can be defined as a dynamic process in which the person is mentally stimulated without performing the given motor movement. Studies of imagery; demonstrated that it alters a person's ability to learn, performance skills, and important cognitive skills (self-efficacy, self-confidence, effort, motivation). In recent years, it has been shown that motor imagery techniques are used for therapeutic purposes as a current neurorehabilitation approach and that imagery can have positive effects on improving motor activity and functions. However, it has been reported that the biggest difficulty in the use of imagery techniques is the inability to determine to what extent the individual can perform mental representation of movements. For this reason, it is thought that it is necessary to evaluate the motor imagery ability first in order to identify the patients who are suitable for motor imagery training. The Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ) is a motor imagery questionnaire developed for individuals with limited mobility for different reasons. The questionnaire assesses both the visual and kinesthetic dimensions of motor imagery. of the KVIQ; It has also been shown in the literature that it is a valid and reliable questionnaire that enables the appropriate evaluation of motor imagery in different neurological disease groups such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. However, the literature When examined, no evidence was found about the motor imagery ability of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). It is foreseen that KVIQ will be especially suitable for patients with DMD of different functional levels, since all its items have been developed to be applied to people with limited physical mobility or physically disabled people in a sitting position. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire for patients with DMD.

DMD and age matched healthy individuals will be participate the study between the ages of 7 and 18 years.

Children who cannot cooperate with the physiotherapist adequately and who have had any injury and/or surgery to the lower/upper extremities in the last 6 months will not be included in the study.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Having a diagnosis of DMD confirmed by a genetic test result,
* Be between the ages of 7-18,
* More than 27 (27-35 indicates normal cognitive level) from the Modified Mini Mental Test of children aged 7-15 years to be able to cooperate with the physiotherapist's instructions; Children between the ages of 16-18 get more than 24 points from the Mini Mental State Test (24-30 points indicate no cognitive impairment, 20-23 indicates mild, 10-19 moderate, and below 9 indicates severe cognitive impairment),
* Ability to sit for at least 30 minutes with/without support,
* Volunteering to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Insufficient cooperation with the physiotherapist,
* Any injury and/or surgery to the lower/upper extremities in the last 6 months
* Having any additional neurological/orthopedic problems other than DMD.