Clinical Rehabilitation

The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and long-term effects as well as other parameters of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on upper limb motor functional recovery after stroke.

The databases of PubMed, Medline, Science Direct, Cochrane, and Embase were searched for randomized controlled studies reporting effects of rTMS on upper limb motor recovery published before October 30, 2016.

The short- and long-term mean effect sizes as well as the effect size of rTMS frequency of pulse, post-stroke onset, and theta burst stimulation patterns were summarized by calculating the standardized mean difference (SMD) and the 95% confidence interval using fixed/random effect models as appropriate.

Thirty-four studies with 904 participants were included in this systematic review. Pooled estimates show that rTMS significantly improved short-term (SMD, 0.43; P < 0.001) and long-term (SMD, 0.49; P < 0.001) manual dexterity. More pronounced effects were found for rTMS administered in the acute phase of stroke (SMD, 0.69), subcortical stroke (SMD, 0.66), 5-session rTMS treatment (SMD, 0.67) and intermittent theta burst stimulation (SMD, 0.60). Only three studies reported mild adverse events such as headache and increased anxiety .

Five-session rTMS treatment could best improve stroke-induced upper limb dyskinesia acutely and in a long-lasting manner. Intermittent theta burst stimulation is more beneficial than continuous theta burst stimulation. rTMS applied in the acute phase of stroke is more effective than rTMS applied in the chronic phase. Subcortical lesion benefit more from rTMS than other lesion site.

To compare the effects of rTMS combined with sensory cueing, rTMS alone, and conventional rehabilitation on unilateral neglect, hemiplegic arm functions and performance of activities of daily living.

A single-blinded randomized controlled trial.

A convalescent hospital.

Sixty inpatients with left unilateral neglect after stroke.

Patients were randomly assigned to three groups: rTMS combined with sensory cueing, rTMS, and conventional rehabilitation alone. rTMS at 1 Hz was applied over P5 of the contralesional hemisphere while vibration cueing was emitted using a wristwatch device on the hemiplegic arm, five days per week for two weeks. The first two groups received the same dosage of conventional rehabilitation on top of their experimental interventions. Blinded assessments were administered at baseline, 2 weeks postintervention, and 6 weeks follow-up.

Neglect and arm motor performance.

Both rTMS combined with sensory cueing (99.6±33.0) and rTMS alone (88.2±28.7) significantly reduced unilateral neglect than conventional rehabilitation (72.7±33.1) when measured using the conventional subtests of the Behavioural Inattention Test, but the combination was better than rTMS alone. Hemiplegic arm functions and activities of daily living improved in all patients across the three groups but no significant differences were found between the groups.

The combination of inhibitory P5-rTMS with sensory cueing was better than either rTMS or conventional rehabilitation alone in producing a stronger and long-lasting improvement in unilateral neglect, but the improvement was not associated with improved arm function or independence in activities of daily living.

To follow up participants in a randomised controlled trial of relaxation training for anxiety after stroke at 12 months.

Twelve month follow-up to a randomised controlled trial, in which the control group also received treatment.

Community.

Fifteen of twenty one original participants with post-stroke anxiety participated in a one year follow-up study.

A self-help autogenic relaxation CD listened to five times a week for one month, immediately in the intervention group and after three months in the control group.

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale and the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status for inclusion. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale for outcome. All measures were administered by phone.

Anxiety ratings reduced significantly between pre and post-intervention, and between pre-intervention and one year follow-up (χ²(2) = 22.29, p < 0.001).

Reductions in anxiety in stroke survivors who received a self-help autogenic relaxation CD appear to be maintained after one year.

To assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of a twenty-week power-assisted exercise intervention in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of this intervention.

Pilot randomised controlled trial.

A large-scale twenty-four-hour residential facility in the Netherlands.

Thirty-seven persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

Participants in the intervention group received a power-assisted exercise intervention three times a week for thirty minutes over a twenty-week period. Participants in the control group received care as usual.

Trial feasibility by recruitment process and outcomes completion rates; intervention feasibility by programme compliance rates; potential outcomes by functional abilities, alertness, body composition, muscle tone, oxygen saturation, cardiovascular fitness and quality of life.

Thirty-seven participants were recruited (M age = 32.1, SD = 14.6) and were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 19) and control (n = 18) groups. Programme compliance rates ranged from 54.2% to 97.7% with a mean (SD) of 81.5% (13.4). Oxygen saturation significantly increased in the intervention group. Standardised effect sizes on the difference between groups in outcome varied between 0.02 and 0.62.

The power-assisted exercise intervention and the trial design were feasible and acceptable to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities living in a residential facility. This pilot study suggests that the intervention improves oxygen saturation, but further implementation with the aim of improving other outcomes should be considered with caution.

To investigate a new botulinum neurotoxin type A, termed letibotulinumtoxinA(Botulax^®) and compare its efficacy and safety for post-stroke upper limb spasticity with that of onabotulinumtoxinA(Botox^®).

A prospective, double-blinded, multicenter, randomized controlled clinical study.

Six university hospitals in Korea.

A total of 187 stroke participants with upper limb spasticity.

Two kinds of botulinum neurotoxin type A were used. One set of injection was performed and total injected doses were 309.21±62.48U(Botulax) and 312.64±49.99U(Botox)(P>0.05).

Primary outcome was measured using the modified Ashworth scale for wrist flexors at week 4 and secondary outcome was measured using modified Ashworth scale for wrist flexors, elbow flexors, finger flexors, and thumb flexors as well as Global Assessment in spasticity, Disability Assessment Scale, and Caregiver Burden Scale. Safety measures including adverse events, vital signs and physical examination, and laboratory tests were also monitored.

The mean ages for the Botulax group were 56.81±9.49 and which for the Botox group were 56.93±11.93(P>0.05). In primary outcome, the change in modified Ashworth scale for wrist flexors was -1.45±0.61 in the Botulax group and -1.40±0.57 in the Botox group, and the difference between the two groups was -0.06(95% CI:-0.23–0.12,P>0.05). In secondary outcome, both groups demonstrated significant improvements with respect to modified Ashworth scale, Global Assessment in spasticity, Disability Assessment Scale, and Caregiver Burden Scale (P<0.05), and no significant difference was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). In addition, safety measures showed no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05).

The efficacy and safety of Botulax were comparable with those of Botox in treatment of post-stoke upper limb spasticity.

To investigate the impact of an in-reach rehabilitation team for patients admitted after road trauma.

Randomised control trial of usual care versus early involvement of in-reach rehabilitation team. Telephone follow-up was conducted by a blind assessor at three months for those with minor/moderate injuries and six months for serious/severe injuries.

Four participating trauma services in New South Wales, Australia.

A total of 214 patients admitted during 2012-2015 with a length of stay of at least five days.

Provision of rehabilitation services in parallel with ward based therapy using an in-reach team for the intervention group. The control group could still access the ward based therapy (usual care).

The primary outcome was acute length of stay. Secondary outcomes included percentage requiring inpatient rehabilitation, function (Functional Independence Measure and Timed Up and Go Test), psychological status (Depression Anxiety and Stress Score 21), pain (Orebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire) and quality of life (Short Form-12 v2).

Median length of stay in acute care was 13 days (IQR 8-21). The intervention group, compared to the control group, received more physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions (median number of sessions 16.0 versus 11.5, P=0.003). However, acute length of stay did not differ between the intervention and control groups (median 15 vs 12 days, P=0.37). There were no significant differences observed in the secondary outcomes at hospital discharge and follow-up.

No additional benefit was found from the routine use of acute rehabilitation teams for trauma patients over and above usual care.

This systematic review aimed to explore the acceptability, reliability, and validity of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life-39 (SAQOL-39) scale across languages.

We employed a systematic search of the online databases including MEDLINE (Pubmed), Science direct, Web of science, Psychinfo, Scopus, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library published between 2003 and 2016.

We used PRISMA guidelines for conducting and reporting this review. Subsequently, screening of the titles and abstracts, extraction of data as well as the appraisal of the quality of relevant studies were carried out.

The initial search returned 8185 studies. Subsequent screening and study selection processes narrowed them to 20, needing detailed review. Forward-backward translation scheme was the preferred method for translation of the SAQOL-39 from English to other languages. Mainly, the socio-cultural and linguistic adaptations were performed in the translated versions. Most versions of the SAQOL-39 showed high test-retest reliability and internal consistency. However, several psychometric properties including the validity and responsiveness were seldom reported in these versions.

The SAQOL-39 scale showed high acceptability, and reliability across the languages reviewed in this study. Future translations may additionally focus on reporting the validity and responsiveness of the instrument.

To explore the reliability and feasibility of electronic visual analogue scales in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy individuals.

Cross-sectional observational study

Clinical setting

Convenience sample of 52 people with MS and 52 matched healthy controls

NA

Participants scored 15 statements assessing fatigue, pain, anxiety and quality of life on an electronic visual analogue scale (eVAS), either using a smartphone or a tablet (randomly allocated). To check for test-retest reliability, statements were administered in two separate randomly ordered groups. Subjects completed a feasibility questionnaire.

Mean (SD) eVAS scores ranged from 35 (28.1) to 80 (22.1) in MS group, and from 57 (28.0) to 86 (13.2) in controls. Intra Class Correlations ranged from 0.73 to 0.95 in MS sample; 0.61 to 0.92 in controls. For most statements, Bland-Altman plots indicated no systematic error, but relatively large random error of the eVAS scores (exceeding 20mm). Considerable ceiling effects (i.e. better health) were found in healthy controls. Similar reliability was found among smartphone or tablet, different demographic groups and the experience-groups.

Electronic visual analogue scales are reliable and useful for people with MS to register fatigue, pain, anxiety and quality of life.

The study compared the metric characteristics (discriminant capacity and factorial structure) of two different methods for scoring the items of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised and it analysed scale scores collected using the standard assessment procedure and a new proposed method.

Cross sectional design/methodological study.

Inpatient, neurological unit.

A total of 153 patients with disorders of consciousness were consecutively enrolled between 2011 and 2013.

All patients were assessed with the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised using standard (rater 1) and inverted (rater 2) procedures.

Coma Recovery Scale-Revised score, number of cognitive and reflex behaviours and diagnosis.

Regarding patient assessment, rater 1 using standard and rater 2 using inverted procedures obtained the same best scores for each subscale of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised for all patients, so no clinical (and statistical) difference was found between the two procedures. In 11 patients (7.7%), rater 2 noted that some Coma Recovery Scale-Revised codified behavioural responses were not found during assessment, although higher response categories were present. A total of 51 (36%) patients presented the same Coma Recovery Scale-Revised scores of 7 or 8 using a standard score, whereas no overlap was found using the modified score. Unidimensionality was confirmed for both score systems.

The Coma Recovery Scale Modified Score showed a higher discriminant capacity than the standard score and a monofactorial structure was also supported. The inverted assessment procedure could be a useful evaluation method for the assessment of patients with disorder of consciousness diagnosis.

Pilot studies are meritorious for determining the feasibility of a definitive clinical trial in terms of conduct and potential for efficacy, but their possible applications for planning a future trial are not always fully realized. The purpose of this review was to estimate the extent to which pilot/feasibility studies: (i) addressed needed objectives; (ii) led to definitive trials; and (iii) whether the subsequent undertaking of a definitive trial was influenced by the strength of the evidence of outcome improvement.

Trials published in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, since its inception, were eligible if the word ‘pilot’ or ‘feasibility’ was specified somewhere in the article. A total of 191 studies were reviewed, results were summarized descriptively, and between-group effect sizes were computed.

The specific purposes of piloting were stated in only 58% (n = 110) of the studies. The most frequent purpose was to estimate the potential for efficacy (85%), followed by testing the feasibility of the intervention (60%). Only 12% of the studies were followed by a definitive trial; <4% of studies had a main study underway or a published study protocol. There was no relationship between observed effect size and follow-up of pilot studies, although the confidence intervals were very wide owing to small number of trials that followed on.

Labelling and reporting of pilot studies needs to be improved to be concordant with the recently issued CONSORT guidelines. Feasibility needs to be fully tested and demonstrated prior to committing considerable human and monetary resources.

Scoping reviews are increasingly popular in rehabilitation. However, significant variability in scoping review conduct and reporting currently exists, limiting potential for the methodology to advance rehabilitation research, practice and policy. Our aim is to conduct a scoping review of rehabilitation scoping reviews in order to examine the current volume, yearly distribution, proportion, scope and methodological practices involved in the conduct of scoping reviews in rehabilitation. Key areas of methodological improvement will be described.

We will undertake the review using the Arksey and O’Malley scoping review methodology. Our search will involve two phases. The first will combine a previously conducted scoping review of scoping reviews (not distinct to rehabilitation, with data current to July 2014) together with a rehabilitation keyword search in PubMed. Articles found in the first phase search will undergo a full text review. The second phase will include an update of the previously conducted scoping review of scoping reviews (July 2014 to current). This update will include the search of nine electronic databases, followed by title and abstract screening as well as a full text review. All screening and extraction will be performed independently by two authors. Articles will be included if they are scoping reviews within the field of rehabilitation. A consultation exercise with key targets will inform plans to improve rehabilitation scoping reviews.

Ethics will be required for the consultation phase of our scoping review. Dissemination will include peer-reviewed publication and conferences in rehabilitation-specific contexts.

To describe how first-stroke survivors perceive their participation and the problems with such participation in life and to determine the factors associated with perceived participation at three months after hospital discharge.

A cross-sectional study.

Patients were recruited from a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China and they were followed up in their homes.

Two hundred and fifty-seven first-stroke survivors discharged for three months participated in this study.

The Chinese version of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy questionnaire, Barthel Index, Chinese Stroke Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Social Support Rating Scale.

One hundred thirty-four (52.1%) and 147 (57.2%) participants perceived their participation as poor to very poor in the domains of family role and autonomy outdoors, respectively. Conversely, 208 (80.9%) and 228 (88.7%) participants perceived their participation to be fair to good in the domains of social relations and autonomy indoors, respectively. The ability to perform activities of daily life was the strongest correlate of participation in the domains of autonomy indoors, family role, and autonomy outdoors, whereas anxiety was the strongest correlate of participation in the domain of social relations.

Activities of daily living were significantly associated with perceived participation in almost all domains. In contrast, anxiety was an important factor in predicting participation in the domain of social relations. These findings suggest the need to explore different strategies of promoting participation for each domain.

The purpose was to gain insight in the functioning of caregivers of cardiac arrest survivors at 12 months after a cardiac arrest. Secondly, the course of the wellbeing of the caregivers during the first year was studied. Finally, factors that are associated with a higher care burden at 12 months after the cardiac arrest were investigated.

A total of 195 family caregivers of cardiac arrest survivors were included.

Quality of life (SF-36, EuroQol-VAS), caregiver strain (CSI) and emotional functioning (HADS, IES) were measured at two weeks, three months and one year after the cardiac arrest. Thereby, the caregiver was asked to fill out the cognitive failure questionnaire (CFQ) to evaluate their view on the cognitive status of the patient.

Caregiver strain was high in 16 (15%) of the caregivers at 12 months. Anxiety was present in 33 (25%) caregivers and depression in 18 (14%) caregivers at 12 months. The repeated measures MANOVA showed that during the first year the following variables improved significantly: SF-36 domains social and mental health, role physical, role emotional and vitality, caregiver strain, HADS and IES (P<0.001). At 12 months caregiver strain correlated significantly (explained variance 63%, P=0.03) with caregiver HADS (P=0.01), EuroQol-VAS (P=0.02), and the CFQ (P<0.001), all measured at 12 months after the cardiac arrest.

Overall wellbeing of the caregivers improves during the first year up to normal levels, but caregivers with emotional problems or perceived cognitive problems at 12 months are at risk for developing a higher care burden.