Content - Volume 23, Issue 1

The reproducibility of nine back function tests suitable for use in the occupational health service was determined in 30 male employees. The correlation of three tests made with a tape measure--forward bending, modified Schober, and side bending--was high in both intra- and inter-observer comparisons (r = 0.82-0.96). Immediate repetition of the testing procedure improved the performance in the for ...

We have evaluated two kinds of physiotherapy treatment for dentists with occupational cervico-brachial disorders. Group A received treatment with a psychosomatic approach and individual ergonomic instruction and group B received ergonomic instruction only. A reduction of the cervico-brachial disorders after the intervention was observed in both groups. In group A there was a significant decrease o ...

Social factors of 179 operated and 97 non-operated patients one year after hospitalization due to low back pain and sciatica were tested by multi-variate regression analysis in relation to the five-year outcome evaluated according to the WHO Handicap Classification. For operated men a subjective working incapacity (relative risk RR = 4.6) and co-morbidity (RR = 2.7) predicted a poor outcome. For o ...

The use of tibial anterior (TA) motor units in lower motoneurone disorders was studied during comfortable walking that was the main function of TA. The findings were compared to those in normal subjects. The loss of TA power was compensated either by increases of recruitment and firing rate of residual TA units or by a change from the normal plantigrade gait pattern to the infantile digitigrade pa ...

The response of skin blood cell flux (SBF) to locally applied pressure was evaluated by laser Doppler fluxmetry over the sacrum and the gluteus maximus muscle in twenty patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI)-ten with tetraplegia, ten with paraplegia-and ten healthy subjects. The SCI patients were further divided into two subgroups, one with sensation and the other without sensation over the sacr ...

Sixty-five geriatric patients with a mean age of 74 years (range 61-90) who were referred to the day care unit of a geriatric hospital were randomly allocated to an experimental and a control group in groups of 5-8 patients, respectively. Controls were cared for according to usual routines. Patients in the experimental groups were subject to a new organizational routine. These patient groups const ...