Disability and rehabilitation
-
To alert health professionals on presence and extent of phantom pain and sensation following bilateral upper limb amputation. ⋯ At this time there is no healing for phantom pain; medical and surgical modalities only bring temporary relief, and less than 1% of the respondents achieve permanent relief through different treatment methods.
-
The aim of this study was to assess the clinical course of patients with acute low back pain (LBP) throughout 12 weeks and to identify the prognostic factors for non-recovery in the short term. ⋯ Acute LBP patients with disability generally recover in the first weeks. General health perception (NHP) - pain subgroup score was identified in particular as the best prognostic factor for non-recovery in the short term. Hence, pain should be given particular consideration in baseline assessments of acute LBP patients.
-
World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule II: contribution to the Italian validation.
The World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS II) is an instrument developed by the World Health Organisation in order to assess behavioural limitations and restrictions to participation experienced by an individual, independently from a medical diagnosis. The conceptual frame of reference of this instrument is the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: ICF. Specifically, the instrument is designed to evaluate the functioning of the individual in six activity domains: Understanding and communicating, Getting around, Self-care, Getting along with people, Life activities, Participation in society. ⋯ The WHODAS II is a useful instrument for measuring disability and functioning in normal and disabled people. It shows high reliability and a stable factor structure; although an additional psychometric evaluation of a representative sample of Italian disabled should be carried out in order to reach standard scores for each macro-category of disability.
-
Comparative Study
Comparing the self concept of children with cerebral palsy to the perceptions of their parents.
Understanding self concept is important for therapists treating children with cerebral palsy because knowing what children and parents think about perceived competencies and adequacies can be taken into account in determining treatment goals. This study investigated: (i) If differences existed between the self concept ratings of children with cerebral palsy compared to their parent's perception of their child's abilities and attributes, and (ii) the strength of association between the child and parent ratings. ⋯ Parents were unable to evaluate their child's self concept accurately suggesting health professionals should gather such information from the child themselves.
-
Few studies on disabilities relate to neurogenic chronic pain conditions and how pain influences the patient's ability to maintain life roles. Polyneuropathy is a condition with muscle weakness, sensory impairment and sometimes additional pain of neurogenic origin. The aim was to investigate disability reported in daily activities and quality of life in patients with polyneuropathy, with and without neurogenic pain. ⋯ Symptoms in polyneuropathy, especially when accompanied by pain, give rise to disability that affects daily activities and ought to be considered in planning a successful intervention programme.