1,720,959 research outputs found
Implementation of a Virtual Reality Intervention in Outpatient Physiotherapy for Chronic Pain: Protocol for a Pilot Implementation Study
No full textBackground Chronic pain is a global health issue that causes physical, psychological, and social disabilities for patients, as well as high costs for societies. Virtual reality (VR) is a new treatment that provides an opportunity to narrow the gap between clinical practice and recommended care in the use of patient education and behavioral interventions in the outpatient physiotherapy setting. However, there is currently no implementation strategy to integrate VR treatments into this setting. Objective This protocol outlines a pilot implementation study that aims to (1) identify barriers and facilitators for implementing a VR intervention in outpatient physiotherapy care for people with chronic pain and (2) develop and pilot test an implementation strategy in 5 practices in Germany. Methods The study consists of 4 phases. The first phase involves adapting the treatment protocol of the VR intervention to the local context of outpatient physiotherapy practices in Germany. The second phase includes the collection of barriers and facilitators through semistructured interviews from physiotherapists and the development of a theory-driven implementation strategy based on the Theoretical Domains framework and the Behavior Change Wheel. This strategy will be applied in the third phase, which will also include a 6-month span of using VR interventions in practices, along with a process evaluation. The fourth phase consists of semistructured interviews to evaluate the developed implementation strategy. Results The recruitment process and phase 1, including the adaptation of the treatment protocol, have already been completed. We recruited 5 physiotherapy practices in Lower Saxony, Germany, where the VR intervention will be implemented. The collection of barriers and facilitators through semistructured interviews is scheduled to begin in February 2024. Conclusions This pilot implementation study aims to develop a theory-driven implementation strategy for integrating a VR intervention into outpatient physiotherapy care for people with chronic pain. The identified barriers and facilitators, along with the implementation strategy, will serve as a starting point for future randomized controlled implementation studies in different settings to refine the implementation process and integrate VR interventions into the outpatient care of people with chronic pain. Trial Registration German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00030862; https://tinyurl.com/3zf7uujx International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/5808
Estimation of average and maximum daily-life mobility performance using the Timed Up-and-Go (TUG): Exploring the added value of an instrumented TUG
Full text linkIntroduction: The association between specific motor capacity variables obtained in a laboratory and parameters of daily-life mobility performance obtained via wearables is still unclear. The Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) test is a widely used motor capacity tests available either as traditional hand-stopped TUG or as instrumented TUG (iTUG) providing specific information about its subphases. This study aimed to: 1) estimate the association between the TUG and specific parameters reflecting average and maximum daily-life mobility performance (MP), 2) estimate the benefits of the iTUG in terms of explaining MP in daily life compared to the TUG.
Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional analysis using baseline data of 294 older persons (mean age: 76.7 ± 5.3 years). Univariate linear regression analysis was performed to delineate the coefficient of determination between TUG time and participants' MP. MP variables containing mean cadence (MCA) to represent average performance and the 95th percentile of mean cadence of walks with more than three steps (p95>3stepsMCA) to represent maximum performance. To determine whether the iTUG variables give more information about MP, a stepwise multivariate regression analysis between iTUG variables and the p95>3stepsMCA variable to represent maximum performance was conducted.
Results: The univariate regression models revealed associations of the TUG with MCA (adjusted R2 = .078, p<0.001) and p95>3stepsMCA (adjusted R2 = .199, p<0.001). The multivariate stepwise regression models revealed a total explanation of maximum daily life MP (p95>3stepsMCA) of the TUG (adjusted R2 = .199, p<0.001) vs. iTUG (adjusted R2 = .278, p<0.010). Discussion/ Conclusion: This study shows that the TUG better reflects maximum daily life MP than average daily life MP. Moreover, we demonstrate the added value of the iTUG for a more accurate estimation of daily MP compared to the traditional TUG. The iTUG is recommended to estimate maximum daily life MP in fall-prone older adults. The study is a step toward a specific assessment paradigm using capacity variables from the iTUG to estimate maximum daily life MP
Reliability and validity of the German “Evidence-Based Practice Confidence (EPIC) Scale” for allied health professionals
Full text linkIntroduction: The Evidence-Based Practice Confidence (EPIC) Scale measures health professionals’ self-efficacy associated with evidence-based practice activities. The scale has been cross-culturally translated into German together with physical therapists. To support its use in German-speaking countries, the measurement properties of the scale need to be determined. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to assess the measurement properties of the German EPIC scale. In a preparatory step, we aimed to evaluate the comprehensibility of the scale among German-speaking occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and nurses.
Methods: First, semi-structured cognitive interviews were used to evaluate the comprehensibility of the EPIC scale. Second, a longitudinal online survey with repeated measures (baseline and retest survey) was conducted. The target group included physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and nurses from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Reliability, responsiveness, and validity were evaluated using internal consistency, test-retest reliability, standard error of measurement, known-groups method, exploratory factor analysis and the minimal detectable change, respectively.
Results: Comprehensibility of the German EPIC scale was confirmed by eleven health care professionals (four occupational therapists, two speech and language therapists, five nurses). The baseline and the retest surveys were completed by 708 and 222 participants, respectively. The measure demonstrated an internal consistency of .930, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for test-retest reliability of .936 (95% CI: .917 to .951). The standard error of measurement was 4.92, and the minimal detectable change at the 95% confidence level was 6.02. All hypotheses in the known-groups method were confirmed, and construct validity was acceptable. Factor analysis revealed two main factors affecting the results of the scale.
Conclusion: The findings provide evidence that supports the use of the German EPIC scale among health professionals. For instance, it can be used to evaluate self-efficacy during EBP training.Hintergrund: Die „Evidence-Based Practice Confidence Scale“ (EPIC-Skala) misst die Selbstwirksamkeit von Angehörigen der Gesundheitsberufe bei Aktivitäten der evidenzbasierten Praxis. Die englischsprachige Skala wurde 2019 ins Deutsche übersetzt und anschließend mit Physiotherapeut*innen interkulturell adaptiert. Jedoch kann die Skala im deutschsprachigen Raum bislang nicht verwendet werden, da noch keine Bestimmung der psychometrischen Gütekriterien durchgeführt wurde. Deshalb ist das primäre Ziel dieser Studie die Ermittlung der psychometrischen Gütekriterien der deutschen EPIC-Skala. In einem vorbereitenden Schritt sollte die Verständlichkeit der Skala bei deutschsprachigen Ergotherapeut*innen, Logopäd*innen und Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger*innen evaluiert werden.
Methode: Zunächst wurde die Verständlichkeit der EPIC-Skala anhand von semistrukturierten kognitiven Interviews untersucht. In einem zweiten Schritt wurde eine Online-Umfrage im Längsschnittdesign durchgeführt, wobei zunächst eine Basiserhebung und anschließend eine Retest-Erhebung stattfand. Die Zielgruppe der Untersuchung bildeten Physiotherapeut*innen, Ergotherapeut*innen, Logopäd*innen und Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger*innen aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Die Reliabilität, Responsivität und Validität wurden anhand der internen Konsistenz, der Test-Retest-Reliabilität, des Standardmessfehlers, der Known-Groups-Methode, der explorativen Faktorenanalyse und der minimalen nachweisbaren Veränderung beurteilt.
Ergebnisse: Die Verständlichkeit der deutschen EPIC-Skala wurde von elf Angehörigen der Gesundheitsberufe (vier Ergotherapeut*innen, zwei Logopäd*innen, fünf Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger*innen) bestätigt. Die Baseline- und Retest-Erhebungen wurden von 708 bzw. 222 Teilnehmenden abgeschlossen. Die Berechnungen zeigten eine interne Konsistenz von .930, mit einer Intraklassen-Korrelation für die Test-Retest-Reliabilität von .936 (95% CI: .917 - .951). Der Standardmessfehler betrug 4,92 und der minimale messbare Unterschied 6,02 (95%-Konfidenzintervall). Alle Hypothesen in der Known-Groups-Methode wurden bestätigt, sodass eine akzeptable Konstruktvalidität festgestellt wurde. Die Faktoranalyse ergab zwei Faktoren für die Skala.
Schlussfolgerung: Die Ergebnisse unterstützen die Anwendung der deutschen Version der EPIC-Skala durch Angehörige der Gesundheitsfachberufe, insbesondere bei der Evaluation von Fortbildungen zur Vermittlung von Kompetenzen im evidenzbasierten Arbeiten
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Usage of Virtual Reality Technology in Physiotherapy in Germany: Results from a Survey
No full textWith an aging population and an increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, Germany’s healthcare system is facing significant challenges that require innovative solutions such as digitalization. Among digital technologies, virtual reality (VR) has shown promise in various healthcare settings; however, its use in physiotherapy practice is unknown. This study aimed to assess the frequency and use of therapeutic VR among physiotherapists in Germany and to identify barriers to its adoption. A cross-sectional survey of 296 physiotherapists was conducted, with responses indicating that only 2.7% had used therapeutic VR in the past year. Most physiotherapists were unfamiliar with VR therapy, suggesting that lack of awareness is the primary barrier. Despite limited current use, a significant proportion of physiotherapists were open to integrating VR technologies in the future. Our findings highlight the need for increased information about therapeutic VR within the physiotherapy community and suggest potential growth as awareness and institutional support increases. Future strategies should focus on promoting the benefits of VR and integrating it into reimbursement frameworks to facilitate wider adoption in patient care
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