Content - Volume 23, Issue 2

An increase of physical activity is commonly recommended to those with physical disability, but it is necessary to distinguish competitive sport from fitness programmes, remedial gymnastics and active recreation. Potential benefits of enhanced activity are reviewed. Likely psychological gains include an improvement of mood-state, with a reduction of anxiety and depression, an increase of self-este ...

Some socio-demographic variables were registered by structured interview in a consecutive series (n = 149) of subjects referred for vocational rehabilitation with a diagnosis of somatic disease. Two years later the subjects were re-interviewed about current occupational and financial status. Initially 43% received sickness allowance and 18% unemployment compensation, the remaining 39% were vocatio ...

In this prospective investigation a consecutively referred series of vocational rehabilitation clients was studied using eleven socio-demographic and psycho-social items. Subjected to a factor analyses these items were included in five factors which explained 74% of the variance. By discriminant analysis the items could correctly classify 57% of those subjects who faced major vocational changes or ...

Levels of global (1 item) and domain-specific (8 items) life satisfaction were explored at the commencement of vocational rehabilitation and two years later in a consecutive series of subjects who were partly or completely vocationally disabled with a diagnosis of bodily impairment. At the onset of vocational rehabilitation, global life satisfaction (satisfaction with life as a whole) and satisfac ...

Compensation for the loss of postural activity of the erector spinae (ES) muscle in spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects was investigated. All SCI subjects had clinically complete lesions below the T3 level. Body disbalance was invoked by requiring sitting subjects to execute reaching movements over individually predetermined distances in a horizontal plane. Myoelectric activity of the latissimus do ...

The results of a comprehensive 4-week treatment program including intensive physical training were evaluated in 65 chronic low back pain patients. Marked increases in measures of spinal mobility, trunk muscle strength and lifting capacity were found during the treatment, but no average increase in pain ratings. At 3-week and 12-month follow-ups a statistically significant decrease in subjective di ...

Activations of the triceps surae (TS) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles during gait were studied in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) immediately before and after 30 min of standing on a tilt-table with the ankle dorsiflexed to stretch the TS in the experimental group (n = 8) or after a rest period in the control group (n = 11). The EMG activity from the TS and TA was recorded concomitant ...