Journal of rehabilitation medicine : official journal of the UEMS European Board of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
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Comparative Study
Ethnic background does not influence outcome for return-to-work in work-related interdisciplinary rehabilitation for long-term pain: 1- and 3-year follow-up.
It is often suggested that immigrants with long-term pain do not benefit from rehabilitation to the same extent as native Swedish patients. In this study, an 8-week rehabilitation programme was evaluated according to its adaptation for immigrants. ⋯ Immigrants can benefit from a rehabilitation programme to the same extent as native Swedes concerning return-to-work rate, but seem to have limitations in assimilating the other objectives of the programme.
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The smooth pursuit neck torsion test is thought to be a measure of neck afferent influence on eye movement control and is useful in assessing subjects with whiplash, especially those complaining of dizziness. Nevertheless, it is not known whether impairments identified relate only to abnormal cervical afferentation or are influenced by levels of anxiety or neck pain. ⋯ The results provide further evidence of the usefulness of the smooth pursuit neck torsion test to identify eye movement disturbances in patients with whiplash, which are likely to be due to disturbed cervical afferentation.
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This report aims to summarize the key findings of a recent, systematic review of the literature performed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Neurotrauma Task Force on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury published in a supplement of the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. The Task Force performed a comprehensive search and critical review of the literature published between 1980 and 2002 to assemble the best evidence on the epidemiology, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of MTBI. The Task Force identified 38,806 citations and 743 relevant studies, of which 313 (42%) were accepted on scientific merit and formed the basis of the best evidence synthesis.
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Comparative Study
Disability, pain, psychological factors and physical performance in healthy controls, patients with sub-acute and chronic low back pain: a case-control study.
To compare measures of disability, psychological factors, pain and physical performance in healthy controls, and patients with sub-acute and chronic low back pain. To evaluate the concept of the deconditioning syndrome and to explore factors that may contribute to chronicity. ⋯ The results suggest a stepwise deterioration of impairment and disability from healthy controls to patients with chronic low back pain. Most variables distinguished between healthy controls and patients with sub-acute or chronic low back pain. Deconditioning was more related to psychophysical measures of abdominal and back muscle endurance than to cardiovascular fitness. Comparable scores for fear-avoidance and working ability in the 2 patient categories suggest that these factors appear at an early stage and contribute to the transition from acute to chronic low back pain.