Content - Volume 41, Issue 5

Brain stimulation for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases has been used for more than 50 years. Although its development has been slow, current advances in the techniques of brain stimulation have improved its clinical efficacy. The use of non-invasive brain stimulation has significant advantages, such as not involving surgical procedures and having relatively mild adverse effects. In this ...

Objective: To investigate whether transcutaneous electrical stimulation, when applied to acupuncture points in patients after acute stroke, decreases spasticity and/or increases muscle strength more effectively than placebo stimulation and standard rehabilitation. Design: Randomized control trial. Subjects: Sixty-two patients aged 70. 0 (standard deviation 7. 4) years and 9. 2 (standard deviat ...

Objective: To investigate whether muscle strength is selectively more affected at shorter lengths of thigh muscles as result of stroke and to determine whether this is associated with impaired neural activation at shorter muscle lengths. Design: Case-control study. Subjects: Fourteen patients with sub-acute stroke, and 12 able-bodied controls. Methods: In patients (bilaterally) and able-bodi ...

Objective: To study the effect of comorbidity on the course of physical functioning in patients after stroke and with multiple sclerosis. Subjects: Patients after a first-ever supratentorial stroke (n = 198), who had been admitted for inpatient rehabilitaion, and patients with recently diagnosed multiple sclerosis (n =146). Design: Prospective, observational study over a period of 3 year ...

Objective: To examine the associations between actual performance in daily life and function, capacity and self-perceived performance of the paretic upper limb following stroke. Population: Seventeen individuals with stroke. Outcome measures: Correlation coefficients between actual performance (measured with the Stroke-Upper Limb Activity Monitor), function (Fugl-Meyer Assessment), capacity (A ...

Objective: To compare the effectiveness and safety of supervised aerobic exercise and home aerobic exercise in female Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Design: Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Subjects: Thirty female Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis were assigned to either supervised aerobic exercise or home aerobic exercise groups. Methods: The supervised aerobi ...

Objective: To evaluate the effects of hand exercise in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and to compare the results with healthy controls. Methods: Forty women (20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 20 healthy controls) performed a hand exercise programme. The results were evaluated after 6 and 12 weeks with hand force measurements (with a finger extension force measurement device (EX-it) ...

Objective: To determine the minimum detectable change at 95% confidence for the Berg Balance Scale in a group of elderly people, undergoing physiotherapy rehabilitation. Design: Multi-centre, test-retest design. Subjects: Cross-sectional sample of convenience of people over 65 years (n = 118) without a previous history of stroke, Parkinson’s disease or recent hip arthroplasty. Raters: ...

Objective: To identify the beliefs and perceptions of patients with chronic neck and low back pain that influence adherence to home exercise during exacerbation and/or remission of pain. Design: Qualitative study using a focus group technique. Subjects: Thirty-four patients (23 women, age range 26–70 years) with chronic neck or low back pain who had participated in a home exercise programme. ...

Objective: The aims of this study were: to describe the frequency of whiplash-related symptoms and psychological factors in persons 5 years after a whiplash injury; to study the relationship between symptoms and psychological factors; to examine gender differences; and to investigate the cause of sick leave. Methods: Questionnaires addressing neck pain, pain intensity, whiplash-related symptoms, ...

Objective: To examine restrictions in daily functioning from a rehabilitation perspective in patients one year after discharge from the intensive care unit, and to identify prognostic factors for functional status. Design: Cross-sectional design. Patients: Consecutive patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit for more than 48 h (n = 255). Methods: One year after intensive car ...

Objective: To determine the prevalence of motor impairments and activity limitations and their inter-relationships in Dutch children with spastic cerebral palsy. Patients and methods: In a population-based survey 119 children, age range 6–19 years, with spastic cerebral palsy were examined. Anthropometry, muscle tone, abnormal posture, joint range of motion, major orthopaedic impairments and g ...

Objective: To quantify the level of everyday physical activity in adults with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy, and to study associations with personal and cerebral palsy-related characteristics. Participants and methods: Fifty-six adults with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (mean age 36. 4 (standard deviation (SD) 5. 8) years, 62% male) participated in the study. Approximately 75% had high gro ...

Objective: To determine bias due to loss of participants (attrition bias) in a prospective cohort study. Design: A multi-centre prospective cohort study. Subjects: A total of 225 individuals with a spinal cord injury from 8 Dutch rehabilitation centres. Methods: Participants were considered non-participants when no information was collected at the measurement one year after discharge from in ...

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess if, and how, upper body muscles are activated in a person with high thoracic spinal cord injury, clinically classified as complete, during maximal voluntary contractions and in response to balance perturbations. Methods: Data from one person with spinal cord injury (T3 level) and one able-bodied person were recorded with electromyography from 4 ab ...

We describe here a case of cognitive rehabilitation in a young patient with closed head injury, who had dense anterograde amnesia and such disabling neurological defects (tetraplegia and anarthria) that the condition evoked some features of an incomplete locked-in syndrome. After a prolonged period of no communicative possibility, the patient underwent a specific training, based on principles of e ...

This article does not have an abstract.

This article does not have an abstract.

This article does not have an abstract.