1,720,963 research outputs found
Effectiveness of back school program versus hydrotherapy in elderly patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: A randomized clinical trial
No full textBackground and aim of the work: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a major cause of disability, for which clinical practice guidelines suggest exercise programs, such as Back School program (stretching and selective muscle reinforcement techniques) and Hydrotherapy technique, as an effective treatment to reduce pain intensity and disability. Methods: We enrolled 56 elderly individuals, affected by non-specific CLBP, whose pain had worsened in the last three months, which were randomly allocated to Back School (group A) or to Hydrotherapy program (group B). Each group underwent two one-hour-treatment sessions per week, over a 12-week period. Each patient was evaluated using the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) V2.0 at the beginning (T0), at the end of treatment (T1) and at the 3-month follow-up (T2). Results: At T1 and T2 we observed a highly significant statistical difference in the values measured in both groups: at T1 in group A RMDQ improvement of 3.26±1.02 (p<0.001) and SF-36 of 13.30±1.44 (p<0.001); in group B RMDQ improvement of 4.96±0.71 (p<0.001) and SF-36 of 14.19±1.98 (p<0.001). We have also evaluated the difference in effectiveness of the two programs and no significant statistical differences were found between the two groups. Conclusions: Back School program and Hydrotherapy could be valid treatment options in the rehabilitation of non-specific CLBP in elderly people. Both therapies proved to be effective and can be used in association with other rehabilitation programs. We believe that Back School program should be favored for its simplicity and the small number of resources required
Efficacy of mechano-acoustic vibration on strength, pain, and function in poststroke rehabilitation: A pilot study
No full textBackground: Vibration therapy may be used to help cortical reorganization after stroke as it can cause different adaptive metabolic and mechanical effects. Objective: This study examined whether the application of mechano-acoustic vibration on upper limb muscles could induce changes in range of motion (ROM), function, pain, and grip strength in individuals with chronic stroke. Methods: Out of 52 individuals post stroke with upper limb spasticity who were eligible,16 received mechano-acoustic vibration therapy (ViSS device) 3 times weekly for 12 sessions. The frequency of vibration was set to 300 Hz for 30 minutes. The treated muscles were the extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis and triceps brachii during voluntary contraction. All participants were evaluated in both upper limbs before (T0) and at the end (T1) of treatment with a dynamometer (hand grip strength), Modified Ashworth Scale, QuickDASH, FIM score, Fugl-Meyer scale, Verbal Numerical Rating Scale of pain, and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test. Results: After 4 weeks, hand grip power had improved and pain and spasticity had decreased. Improvements were recorded for all parameters and were considered statistically significant. Conclusions: Application of vibratory stimuli to a muscle can increase the motor-evoked potential recorded from the muscle, suggesting an enhancement of corticospinal excitability. Low amplitude, high-frequency vibration treatment (300 Hz) can significantly decrease tone and pain and improve strength in upper limb of hemiplegic individuals, when applied for 30 minutes, 3 times a week over 4 weeks
Short-term effect of local muscle vibration treatment versus sham therapy on upper limb in chronic post-stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial
No full textBACKGROUND: In recent years, local muscle vibration received considerable attention as a useful method for muscle stimulation in clinical therapy. Some studies described specific vibration training protocol, and few of them were conducted on post-stroke patients. Therefore there is a general uncertainty regarding the vibrations protocol. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of local muscle high frequency mechano-acoustic vibratory treatment on grip muscle strength, muscle tonus, disability and pain in post-stroke individuals with upper limb spasticity. DESIGN: Single-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Outpatient rehabilitation center. POPULATION: Thirty-two chronic poststroke patients with upper-limb spasticity: 21 males, 11 females, mean age 61.59 years ±15.50, time passed from stroke 37.78±17.72 months. METHODS: The protocol treatment consisted of the application of local muscle vibration, set to a frequency of 300 Hz, for 30 minutes 3 times per week, for 12 sessions, applied to the skin covering the venter of triceps brachii and extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis muscles during voluntary isometric contraction. All participants were randomized in two groups: group A treated with vibration protocol; group B with sham therapy. All participants were evaluated before and after 4-week treatment with Hand Grip Strength Test, Modified Ashworth Scale, QuickDASH score, FIM scale, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test and Verbal Numerical Rating Scale of pain. Outcomes between groups was compared using a repeated-measures ANOVA. RESULTS: Over 4 weeks, the values recorded in group A when compared to group B demonstrated statistically significant improvement in grip muscle strength, pain and quality of life and decrease of spasticity; P-values were <0.05 in all tested parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Rehabilitation treatment with local muscle high frequency (300 Hz) vibration for 30 minutes, 3 times a week for 4 weeks, could significantly improve muscle strength and decrease muscle tonus, disability and pain in upper limb of hemiplegic post-stroke patients. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Local muscle vibration treatment might be an additional and safe tool in the management of chronic poststroke patients, granted its high therapeutic efficiency, limited cost and short and repeatable protocol of use
Efficacy of Whole-Body Vibration Board Training on Strength in Athletes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Randomized Controlled Study
No full textOBJECTIVE:: To evaluate whether an 8-week whole-body vibration training program may improve recovery of knee flexion/extension muscular strength in athletes after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. DESIGN:: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING:: Single outpatient rehabilitation center. PARTICIPANTS:: Thirty-eight female volleyball/basketball players (aged between 20 and 30), randomized into 2 treatment groups. INTERVENTIONS:: During a standardized six-month rehabilitation program, from week 13 to week 20 after surgery, the whole-body vibration group (n = 19) and the control group (n = 19) performed additional static knee flexor/extensor exercises on a vibration platform. For the whole-body vibration group, the vibration platform was set to 2.5 mm of amplitude and 26 Hz of frequency. The control group followed the same whole-body vibration board training with no vibrations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:: All patients were evaluated using an isokinetic strength test with a Biodex dynamometer at the beginning and at the end of the additional treatment protocol. The parameters tested were the peak torque and the maximum power of knee flexor and extensor muscles performing strength and endurance tests. RESULTS:: No vibration-related side effects were observed. Improvements were noticed in both groups, but increase in knee muscle isokinetic strength values was statistically significant in the whole-body vibration group when compared with the control group (differences in extension: peak torque 11.316/10.263 N·m and maximum power 13.684/11.211 W; flexion: peak torque 9.632/11.105 N·m and maximum power 10.158/9.474 W; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:: When combined with a standardized rehabilitation program, whole-body vibration may increase muscular strength and be an effective additional treatment option in the rehabilitation of athletes after ACL arthroscopic reconstruction
Return to run after partial amputation of the ankle: Clinical assessment and instrumental evaluation
No full textBackground and aimof thework: the traumatic amputation or partial amputation of a portion of the lower limb is one of the most serious and not so rare road accident and job injury. There are few cases reported of replantation of the lower extremities rather than amputation surgery. This work describes a case of partial amputation of the right ankle.Methods: the emergency treatment consisted of rigorous lavage and debridement, reduction, stabilization of the ankle and restoreation of the neurovascular and soft tissues lesions. Because of cutaneous necrosis another surgical treatment of reverse rotation flap was needed.The good outcome has been documented with foot pressure analysis, stabilometric evaluation and gait and jump analysis based on measurements of acceleration. Results: after seven months of personalized rehabilitation program the patient walks without devices, has recovered functional of range ofmovement and had no neurological deficit or subjective problems.Currently the subject has returned to his job and runs without pain. Conclusions: emergency foot salvage treatment was possible thanks to a close collaboration among different physicians with specialized skills, good emergency management and an adequate infrastructure. © Mattioli 1885
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
- …
