Content - Volume 40, Issue 3

This paper presents the panel discussion from the "Meet the Editor" symposium held at the 4th World Congress of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in Seoul in June 2007. It includes contributions by four Editors of international journals in rehabilitation. Some of the topics discussed are of a general nature, but will provide useful guidance for the more junior scien ...

Objective: To examine whether the addition of either electroacupuncture or interferential electrotherapy to shoulder exercises would be more effective in the management of frozen shoulder. Design: A double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial. Methods: A total of 70 subjects were randomly allocated to receive either: (i) electroacupuncture plus exercise; (ii) interferential electrotherapy plu ...

Objective: To evaluate the Painmatcher®, in terms of reliability, and to explore the relationship between pain magnitude matching and pain threshold assessments in patients with whiplash-associated disorders. Also, to investigate gender differences in pain thresholds and explore the correlation between pain-related cognitions and pain threshold. Design: A test-retest study. Subjects: Forty-se ...

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate possible differences between local social insurance offices with regard to their selection of clients for vocational rehabilitation. A further aim was to determine whether social insurance officers from different local insurance offices have uniform attitudes regarding professional practice in their application of the insurance system. Methods: ...

Objective: Patients in intensive care exhibit a high degree of loss of muscle mass. Appropriate instruments are needed to document muscle wasting in these patients. The aim of this pilot study was to describe muscle wasting in patients in the intensive care unit. Design: Two-fold study setting: prospective longitudinal and cross-sectional single-blind. Patients: A total of 118 patients in the ...

Objective: To explore perceptions of goal setting from the perspective of patients, lay carers and rehabilitation staff. Design: Semi-structured interviews analysed independently by 2 researchers using content analysis. Setting: Neurological rehabilitation inpatient unit for adults. Subjects: Four samples of 10 subjects each, comprising: (i) inpatients, (ii) patients discharged within the la ...

Objective: To assess the relationship between lifestyle prior to the event and functional recovery at hospital discharge after acute stroke. Design: Cohort study. Patients: A sample of 191 patients with first stroke episode (87. 4% ischaemic). Methods: Severity of the event at admission was measured by the Modified National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. The Frenchay Activity Index was u ...

Objective: To assess the interaction of foot placement, trunk frontal position, weight-bearing and knee moment asymmetry at seat-off when rising from a chair. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: Seventeen subjects with hemiparesis and 15 healthy controls. Methods: Trunk position, weight-bearing and knee moment asymmetry were quantified by kinetic and kinematic analysis when the subjects ...

Objective: To evaluate the change in motor evoked potential parameters following transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with chronic complete thoracic cord injury. Design: A cross-sectional study. Subjects: Eighteen patients with chronic complete thoracic cord injury and 18 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. The mean post-injury duration was 13. 0 (standar ...

Objective: To identify independent predictors of depressive symptoms in a cohort of patients with coronary artery disease entering cardiac rehabilitation. Design: Cross-sectional cohort study. Patients and methods: Consecutive patients entering a cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention programme underwent screening for depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiological Studies De ...

Objective: To confirm that electrical myostimulation is a good alternative to conventional aerobic training in patients with chronic heart failure and to compare the effects of both training programmes in patients with different exercise capacities. Patients and methods: A total of 44 patients with stable chronic heart failure underwent 5 weeks of exercise training, with electrical myostimulatio ...

Objective: To examine gender differences in clinical characteristics and physiological and psychosocial outcomes at entry into phase II cardiac rehabilitation. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: The study comprised 442 consecutive patients with cardiac diseases assessed at entry into a phase II cardiac rehabilitation programme. Methods: Clinical characteristics of the patients, such as ...

Objective: To highlight the prevalence of manual and/or powered wheelchair use within the general French population living at home or in institutions, to describe the users and to identify factors determining wheelchair use. Methods: Data were obtained from national community-based Handicaps-Incapacités-Dépendance surveys on disability and dependency carried out on 2 representative samples of ...