Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Aug 1999
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialHome-based multicomponent rehabilitation program for older persons after hip fracture: a randomized trial.
To determine whether a home-based systematic multicomponent rehabilitation strategy leads to improved outcomes relative to usual care. ⋯ The systematic multicomponent rehabilitation program was no more effective in promoting recovery than usual home-based rehabilitation. Compared with previous cohorts, however, participants randomized to usual care in our study received more rehabilitative and home care services and experienced a higher rate of recovery. This finding is important given the current pressures to reduce home services. The challenge is to determine the composition and duration of rehabilitation and home services that will ensure optimal functional recovery most efficiently in older persons after hip fracture.
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Aug 1999
Correlates of life satisfaction among persons with spinal cord injury.
To analyze the correlates of life satisfaction for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). ⋯ Life satisfaction after SCI can be reliably measured by means of the SWLS. Correlates of subjective well-being parallel those suggested by earlier studies and those for the population at large. The effects of life satisfaction on social participation, health, and other aspects of life need further study.
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Jul 1999
Multicenter StudyA multicenter investigation of age-related differences in lengths of stay, hospitalization charges, and outcomes for a matched tetraplegia sample.
To examine the effects of age at injury on lengths of stay, treatment costs, and outcomes using a matched sample of tetraplegic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. ⋯ Along with neurologic and functional status, age should be considered when formulating treatment plans and prognostic statements. For older patients, alternative rehabilitation settings with lower-intensity treatment and lower charges may prove to be a more efficacious use of resources.
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Low back pain with pain radiating to the lower extremities is common in patients referred to a spine center. Lumbar spine pathology is commonly the etiology of such symptoms, but extraspinal causes of back and leg pain can manifest as a radicular disorder. Extraspinal etiologies must be considered in the workup of back and leg pain. This report describes an unusual case of spontaneously occurring bilateral femoral neck stress fractures presenting as low back pain with seemingly bilateral L4 radicular symptoms.
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Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Jun 1999
Measurement of mood states in stroke patients: validation of the visual analog mood scales.
The Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS) were recently developed by Stern and colleagues to assess mood state in neurologically impaired patients. These brief scales require that a patient place a single pen mark along a 100mm vertical line to indicate how he or she presently feels. Although previous studies have garnered evidence in support of the validity of these brief scales when administered to psychiatric patients and healthy young adult and geriatric control subjects, it is presently unknown whether the VAMS are valid measures of internal mood state in neurologically impaired stroke patients. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess reliability and validity of the VAMS in a stroke-patient population. ⋯ The VAMS possess good convergent and discriminant validity when administered to stroke inpatients, providing further support for the utility of these brief, easily administered scales.