Content - Volume 40, Issue 2

Objective: To compare individual, group and combined intervention formats for improving goal attainment and psychosocial function following acquired brain injury. Design: Randomized controlled trial, waiting list controls. Participants: Thirty-five participants with a mean time of 5. 29 years (standard deviation = 3. 9) since acquired brain injury were randomly allocated into 6 groups involving ...

Objective: To describe and enhance the understanding of how adults with acquired brain injury experience participation in daily life. Patients and methods: Qualitative interviews with 11 persons of working age with acquired brain injuries were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The informants’ experiences formed 5 categories: “Performing tasks”; “Making decisions and ...

Objective: To investigate the association between damage to different levels of the corticofugal tract and long-term hand motor recovery. Design: Prospective cohort study. Patients: Seventy-five first-ever middle cerebral artery stroke survivors. Methods: Hand motor function was assessed with the Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment Scale at one year post-stroke. Localization of the corticofugal trac ...

Objective: To demonstrate how the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) can be used to create coded functional status indicators specific for stroke from a simple stroke-specific functional index, the Stroke Impact Scale-16 (SIS-16). Subjects: Nineteen professionals for the mapping portion and 8 persons with stroke for the cognitive debriefing portion. Method ...

Objective: Active, voluntary training of the centrally paretic upper limb is crucial for functional recovery after brain damage. The aim of this study was to determine whether the type of voluntary contraction has a differential influence on corticomotor system excitability in healthy subjects and patients after stroke. Design: Experimental cross-sectional study. Subjects: Fifteen healthy volu ...

Objective: To describe the social, intimate and sexual relationships of Dutch adolescents with cerebral palsy compared with their able-bodied age mates. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: A total of 103 adolescents with cerebral palsy without severe learning problems aged 16–20 years. Methods: We used a structured interview and questionnaires to assess subject characteristics su ...

Background: Functional loss of respiratory muscles in persons with spinal cord injury leads to impaired pulmonary function and respiratory complications. In addition, respiratory complications are responsible for 50–67% of the morbidity in this population. Objective: To investigate the effects of normocapnic hyperpnoea training in acute spinal cord injury. Patients and methods: Fourteen ...

Objective: To assess the health-related quality of life of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury living in Hong Kong. Design: A cross-sectional retrospective study. Subjects: Subjects with paraplegia following traumatic spinal cord injury were recruited from our department, which is one of the 3 main regional spinal cord injury rehabilitation centres in Hong Kong. A total of 120 potential ...

Objective: To assess the prevalence and significance of impaired manual dexterity in hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type 1a (HMSN 1a), with the Sollerman hand function and the Functional Dexterity test, and compare the reliability and agreement of the tests. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Subjects: Forty-nine subjects with HMSN 1a. Results: Forty-six (94%) subjects had a ...

Objective: To compare the efficacy of aquatic exercise and a land-based exercise programme vs control in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: Primary outcome was change in pain, and in addition Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score questionnaire (KOOS). Standing balance and strength was also measured after and at 3-month follow-up. Seventy-nine patients (62 women), with a mean age ...

Objectives: To determine whether the addition of deep or superficial heating to stretching produces better clinical outcomes than stretching alone in the management of frozen shoulder. Design: A single-blinded, randomized controlled study. Subjects: Thirty subjects suffering from the stiffness phase of frozen shoulder. Methods: Subjects were randomly allocated to receive: (i) deep heating pl ...

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the principal determinants that are longitudinally associated with the performance of social roles in the first 3 years following a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Design: Inception cohort with 5 measurements over 3 years. Patients: A total of 156 patients recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Method: Performance of social roles was mea ...