Europa medicophysica
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Europa medicophysica · Dec 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of cardiac rehabilitation on quality of life, anxiety and depression in patients with congestive heart failure. A randomized controlled trial, short-term results.
One of the major treatment goals in congestive heart failure (CHF) is to preserve the functional level of the patient and to improve psychosocial factors. For these purposes, exercise training is recommended for the management of CHF. With this background, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on quality of life, depression and anxiety levels in a Turkish patient population with CHF. ⋯ Patients with CHF tolerated aerobic exercise programs well. This resulted with improvement in both physical and psychologic wellbeing, but not in quality of life in the short term.
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Europa medicophysica · Dec 2007
Review Meta AnalysisMeta-analysis of respiratory rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A Cochrane systematic review.
The widespread application of pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should be preceded by demonstrable improvements in function attributable to the programs. ⋯ Rehabilitation relieves dyspnea and fatigue, improves emotional function and enhances patients' control over their condition. These improvements are moderately large and clinically significant. Rehabilitation forms an important component of the management of COPD.
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Europa medicophysica · Dec 2007
Rasch psychometric validation of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy questionnaire in people with Parkinson's disease.
The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA) questionnaire, in its two scales: IPA-I, perceived limitations in participation and autonomy; IPA-II, perceived problems in participation. ⋯ IPA-I shows promise as a tool for measuring participation in people with PD. IPA-II has acceptable psychometric characteristics for measuring perceived problems in participation. Additional steps to improve their metric properties and further studies in people with different kinds of health conditions need to be carried out.
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Europa medicophysica · Sep 2007
ReviewErgonomic and physiotherapeutic interventions for treating work-related complaints of the arm, neck or shoulder in adults. A Cochrane systematic review.
Conservative interventions such as physiotherapy and ergonomic adjustments (such as keyboard adjustments or ergonomic advice) play a major role in the treatment of most work-related complaints of the arm, neck or shoulder (CANS). Objectives. This systematic review aims to determine whether conservative interventions have a significant impact on outcomes for work-related CANS in adults. Search strategy. We searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register (March 2005) and Cochrane Rehabilitation and Related Therapies Field Specialised Register (March 2005), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (The Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2005), PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED and reference lists of articles. The date of the last search was March 2005. No language restrictions were applied. Selection criteria. We included randomised controlled trials and concurrent controlled trials studying conservative interventions (e.g. exercises, relaxation, physical applications, biofeedback, myofeedback and work-place adjustments) for adults suffering CANS. Data collection and analysis. Two authors independently selected trials from the search yield, assessed the methodological quality using the Delphi list, and extracted relevant data. We pooled data or, in the event of clinical heterogeneity or lack of data, we used a rating system to assess levels of evidence. ⋯ There is limited evidence for the effectiveness of keyboards with an alternative force-displacement of the keys or an alternative geometry, and limited evidence for the effectiveness of exercises compared to massage, breaks during computer work compared to no breaks; massage as an add-on treatment to manual therapy, and manual therapy as an add-on treatment to exercises.
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Europa medicophysica · Jun 2007
ReviewNeuroimaging experimental studies on brain plasticity in recovery from stroke.
Topographical cortical organization of sensorimotor area has been shown to be highly plastic, altering his configuration in response to training in different tasks in healthy controls and neurological patients. The term ''brain plasticity'' encompasses all possible mechanisms of neuronal reorganization: recruitment of pathways that are functionally homologous to, but anatomically distinct from, the damaged ones (eg, non-pyramidal corticospinal pathways), synaptogenesis, dendritic arborisation and reinforcement of existing but functionally silent synaptic connections (particularly at the periphery of core lesion). The study of neuroplasticity has clearly shown the ability of the developing brain--and of the adult and ageing brain--to be shaped by environmental inputs both under normal conditions (ie, learning) and after a lesion. ⋯ However, the use of objective methods that assess brain reactivity to a physical stimulus (i.e., TMS) or to a sensory input (ie, electrical stimulation to hand and fingers) can integrate information from self-paced motor tasks, because the resolution of abnormal activation over time could be secondary to recovery. Functional MRI (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), on their own, have insufficient time resolution to follow the hierarchical activation of relays within a neural network; however, because of their excellent spatial resolution, they can integrate the findings of TMS and MEG. An integrated approach constitutes, at present, the best way to assess the brain plasticity both under normal conditions and after a lesion.