Content - Volume 39, Issue 1

Evidence for stroke rehabilitation

There is increasing scientific interest in developing a deeper neurobiological understanding of the recovery process after stroke and how it can be improved further through the plasticity of the brain, and of the best and most efficient care and management of stroke. With these issues in mind we arranged an international symposium ...

Motor disorders are a frequent consequence of stroke and much effort is invested in the re-acquisition of motor control. Although patients often regain some of their lost function after therapy, most remain chronically disabled. Functional recovery is achieved largely through reorganization processes in the damaged brain. Neural reorganization depends on the information provided by sensorimotor ef ...

For many individuals who have experienced a stroke, muscle weakness is the most prominent impairment. Both the theoretical and statistical relationships between muscle weakness and performance at functional activities suggest that weakness may be an appropriate target for therapeutic interventions. Researchers investigating the outcomes of strengthening regimens after stroke have routinely shown t ...

Objective: To explore the clinical and non-clinical factors involved in decision-making concerning admission to European stroke rehabilitation units. Design: Observational study on case-mix at intake combined with questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the medical consultants of each European stroke rehabilitation unit. Patients and settings: Clinical data on 532 first-ever patient ...

Background: More evidence of the efficacy of caregiver interventions is needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether counselling in the home setting reduces the caregiver burden. Methods: Thirty-six patients after stroke, median age 53 years, with a close family member, were selected for an evaluation of the burden of care and 35 participated. They were part of a randomized controlled t ...

Objective: The primary goal of this study was to identify clinical risk factors, in addition to muscle weakness, for upper-extremity hypertonia in patients with severe ischaemic supratentorial stroke. The secondary goal was to investigate the time course of upper-extremity hypertonia in these patients during the first 26 weeks post-stroke. Design: Inception cohort. Patients: Forty-three consec ...

Objective: The primary goal was to identify the neuroradiological and neurophysiological risk factors for upper-extremity hypertonia in patients with severe ischaemic supratentorial stroke. Design: Inception cohort. Patients: Forty-three consecutive patients with an acute ischaemic supratentorial stroke and an initial upper-extremity paralysis admitted to an academic hospital recruited over a ...

Objective: To examine rehabilitation interventions and resulting physical activity patterns of patients managed in acute stroke units to help inform development of a randomized controlled trial of very early rehabilitation. Design: An open observational study of patient activity and therapist report of patient interventions. A survey of stroke unit resources. Methods: Patients less than 14 day ...

Objective: Although severe burn injury is associated with long-term rehabilitation and disability, research on returning to work in burn patients is limited. The aims of this study were: (i) to explore injury- and personality-related predictors of returning to work, and (ii) to compare health-related quality of life and health outcome in working versus non-working individuals. Design: Cross-sect ...

Objective: To investigate the impact of age and co-morbidity on the functional independence and perceived physical functioning of patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis. Design: Cross sectional study. Subjects: A convenience sample of 168 patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis, aged 45–85 years, recruited from 2 university hospitals. Methods: Outcome measures were Functional Independence ...

Objective: To use the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to describe patient-reported disability in multiple sclerosis and identify relevant environmental factors. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 101 participants in the community. Their multiple sclerosis-related problems were linked with ICF categories (second level) using a checklist, consensus between ...

Objective: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is used increasingly to describe and classify functioning in medicine without being a psychometrically sound measure. All categories of the ICF are quantified using the same generic 0–4 scale. The objective of this study was to assess observer agreement when describing and classifying functioning with the ICF ...

Objective: To study the efficacy of a flexible orthotic device in patients with osteoporosis. Design: Open observational study. Patients: Fifty patients with osteoporosis. Methods: An open observational study was performed on 50 patients with osteoporosis in order to investigate the efficacy of a new osteoporosis orthotic device, which is an elastic back support with paravertebral air chambe ...

Objective: To investigate the outcome of a brief vocationaloriented intervention aiming to motivate disability pensioners with back pain to return to work, and to evaluate prognostic factors for having entered a return to work process during the following year. Design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Subjects: Participants (n = 89) (mean age 49 years, 65% women) who had received d ...

Objective: To assess the effects of exercise intervention on aerobic capacity, functional ability and lipid profile in patients after stroke with prior coronary artery disease. Patients: Fifteen patients after stroke with prior coronary artery disease. Methods: Patients were enrolled in a moderate-intensity exercise intervention using a graded treadmill for 12 weeks. Before and after the inter ...

Objective: A presentation of a novel apparatus for dynamic balance training during treadmill walking, which was tested in a case study. Subject: The subject was a man with incomplete chronic spinal cord injury (C5), graded D on the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale. Methods: Following a 6-month baseline period, 4 weeks of control treatment (treadmill walking) and a subsequent ...