American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation
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Am J Phys Med Rehabil · Feb 2012
ReviewOral opioid analgesics vs. spinal steroid injections in the treatment of low back pain syndromes.
The aim of this study was to examine the outcomes related to analgesia, function, mortality, and adverse effects of oral opioid analgesics and spinal steroid injections on low back pain syndromes. ⋯ Oral opioid therapy may be helpful for the treatment of low back pain, but it is unclear from the high-quality literature whether there are limitations from adverse effects. Spinal steroid injections are beneficial for low back pain and disability in the short-term. The high dropout rates caused by insufficient pain relief and adverse effects suggest that opioids may not be as effective as spinal steroid injections. There is more high-quality literature to support the use of spinal steroid injections compared with oral opioids in this condition.
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Am J Phys Med Rehabil · Feb 2012
The interaction of aspiration pneumonia with demographic and cerebrovascular disease risk factors is predictive of discharge level of care in acute stroke patient.
This study aimed to evaluate factors that help determine the post-acute level of care for stroke patients with aspiration pneumonia (ASPNA). ⋯ Patients with ASPNA and an NIHSS value of 7.44 or greater are more likely to require additional postacute care. ASPNA and an NIHSS value of 10.93 or greater increased the chance of postacute care at a level suggestive of lower functional status (skilled nursing facility or subacute care compared with inpatient rehabilitation). Age greater than 69.30 yrs plus ASPNA increased the likelihood of placement in subacute care vs. a skilled nursing facility.
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Am J Phys Med Rehabil · Feb 2012
The development and preliminary validation of the pediatric survey of pain attitudes.
Biopsychosocial models of pain hypothesize patient attitudes, and beliefs about pain play a key role in adjustment to chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to facilitate research testing the utility of biopsychosocial models in youths with physical disabilities by developing and testing the validity of a measure of pain-related beliefs that could be used with younger patients. ⋯ The findings indicate the Peds-SOPA scales are reliable and that a subset of the scales is associated with an important pain-related domain (pain interference), providing preliminary support for the validity of the Peds-SOPA scales.
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Am J Phys Med Rehabil · Feb 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialInterferential current therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis: comparison of the effectiveness of different amplitude-modulated frequencies.
This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of different amplitude-modulated frequencies of interferential current (IFC) and sham IFC on knee osteoarthritis. ⋯ This study demonstrated the superiority of the IFC with some advantages on pain and disability outcomes when compared with sham IFC for the management of knee osteoarthritis. However, the effectiveness of different amplitude-modulated frequencies of IFC was not superior when compared with each other.