Journal of rehabilitation medicine : official journal of the UEMS European Board of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Health-related quality of life in fibromyalgia and refractory angina pectoris: a comparison between two chronic non-malignant pain disorders.
To compare health-related quality of life in 2 different populations with chronic pain: patients with fibromyalgia and patients with refractory angina pectoris. Previous separate studies have indicated that these patient groups report different impacts of pain on health-related quality of life. ⋯ Patients with fibromyalgia experience greater impairment in health-related quality of life compared with the normal population than do patients with refractory angina pectoris, despite the fact that the latter have a potentially life-threatening disease. The great impairment in health- related quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia should be taken into consideration when planning rehabilitation.
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To determine the frequency of missed acute care traumatic brain injury diagnoses in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury, and to examine risk factors for missed traumatic brain injury diagnosis. ⋯ In more than half of the traumatic spinal cord injury patients referred for in-patient rehabilitation, acute care diagnoses of traumatic brain injury were missed. A risk factor for missed diagnosis was an injury caused by a mechanism other than an MVC (e.g., falls, assaults), perhaps due to reduced expectations of traumatic brain injury in non-MVC patients. In our research study, we employed multiple assessments to aid diagnosis, which is particularly important for detecting the milder traumatic brain injuries often associated with spinal cord injury; unfortunately, limited resources may preclude a comprehensive diagnostic approach in clinical settings. Our findings point to the need to examine current acute care diagnostic protocols, and to increase vigilance in patients with traumatic injuries sustained outside of an MVC setting.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Somatosensory impairments are common after stroke but have only a small impact on post-stroke shoulder pain.
To investigate whether somatosensory impairments are more common in individuals with post-stroke shoulder pain than in those without post-stroke shoulder pain and healthy controls. ⋯ Somatosensory impairments are common among individuals with stroke compared with healthy controls. The non-significant differences in QST thresholds between the group with post-stroke shoulder pain and the group without post-stroke shoulder pain indicate that somatosensory impairments have only a small impact on post-stroke shoulder pain.