Exploring physical activity in people after stroke: a substudy of the Falls After Stroke Trial.

Purpose: The Falls After Stroke Trial (FAST) intervention involves habit-forming functional exercise and mobility practice which may increase physical activity. This substudy of FAST explores physical activity in community-dwelling people after stroke comparing the FAST intervention to usual care.

Methods: This study used a subset of 49 participants from a randomised trial.

My Back My Plan is a feasible and acceptable individualised program for acute low back pain in primary care.

Background: Low back pain is the largest cause of years lived with a disability in Australia, and there is an urgent need for innovations to address global gaps between evidence and practice.

Methods: This study was a phase 1, single-group, pre-post pilot trial of My Back My Plan, a primary care program for acute low back pain. The trial was conducted at MQ Health Primary Care at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

Development of an individualised primary care program for acute low back pain using a hybrid co-design framework.

Background: Low back pain is the leading worldwide cause of years lost to disability and the problem is worsening. This paper describes and demonstrates the scholarly development and contextual refinement of a primary care program for acute low back pain in Sydney, Australia.

Methods: Hybrid theoretical frameworks were applied, and co-design was used to contextualise the program to the local healthcare setting.

Effectiveness of home-based exercise for improving physical activity, quality of life and function in older adults after hospitalisation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To determine if home-based exercise programmes for older adults after hospitalisation are effective at improving physical activity, quality of life, activities of daily living (ADL) and mobility compared to no intervention, standard care or centre-based exercise.

Methods: Databases were searched from inception to March 2022. Randomised controlled trials which included home-based exercise in older adults recently discharged from hospital were included.

Association of clinically significant weight loss with number of patient visits and months of attendance at an Australian multidisciplinary weight management clinic.

Despite the obesity epidemic, there are relatively few multidisciplinary obesity services in Australia, and only limited data on the effectiveness of these services. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a university hospital-based weight management clinic-the 'Healthy Weight Clinic' in supporting patients to achieve clinically significant weight loss (≥5% reduction in body weight), weight maintenance, and changes in body composition. A retrospective review was conducted to determine weight and associated health outcomes in patients who attended an initial consultation in the first 2 years of the clinic-between March 2017 and March 2019.

Prediction of Independent Walking in People Who Are Nonambulatory Early After Stroke: A Systematic Review.

Background And Purpose: One systematic review has examined factors that predict walking outcome at one month in initially nonambulatory patients after stroke. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine, in nonambulatory people within a month of stroke, which factors predict independent walking at 3, 6, and 12 months.

Methods: Prognostic factors: Any factors measured within one month after stroke with the aim of predicting independent walking.

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) on the islands of Puerto Rico and Vieques, U.S.A.

We conducted an island-wide survey of the Caribbean islands Puerto Rico and Vieques, U.S.A.

An Exploration of Sedentary Behavior Patterns in Community-Dwelling People With Stroke: A Cluster-Based Analysis.

Background And Purpose: Long periods of daily sedentary time, particularly accumulated in long uninterrupted bouts, are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. People with stroke are at high risk of recurrent events and prolonged sedentary time may increase this risk. We aimed to explore how people with stroke distribute their periods of sedentary behavior, which factors influence this distribution, and whether sedentary behavior clusters can be distinguished?

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of original accelerometry data from adults with stroke living in the community.

Home-based, tailored intervention for reducing falls after stroke (FAST): Protocol for a randomized trial.

Rationale: People with stroke experience falls at more than twice the rate of the general older population resulting in high fall-related injuries. However, there are currently no effective interventions that prevent falls after stroke.

Aims: To determine the effect and cost-benefit of an innovative, home-based, tailored intervention to reduce falls after stroke.

Students achieve comparable performance scores for clinical placements in public and private sectors: a longitudinal observational study.

Questions: Does student clinical performance differ according to healthcare sector? Does student clinical performance at Macquarie University differ from other Australian graduate entry-level programs?

Design: A longitudinal observational study with comparison to national data.

Participants: A total of 284 physiotherapy students from Macquarie University.

Outcome Measures: Each student's clinical performance was evaluated by a clinical educator using the Assessment of Physiotherapy Practice (APP) tool at the end of four 5-week clinical placements.

Sensorimotor, Cognitive, and Affective Functions Contribute to the Prediction of Falls in Old Age and Neurologic Disorders: An Observational Study.

Objective: To determine whether impairments across cognitive and affective domains provide additional information to sensorimotor deficits for fall prediction among various populations.

Design: We pooled data from 5 studies for this observational analysis of prospective falls.

Setting: Community or low-level care facility.

No Evidence That Salt Water Ingestion Kills Adult Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae).

Various products and insecticides are available that purport to reduce wild populations of adult mosquitoes. Recently, several manufacturers and general public comments on the internet have promoted devices that claim that ingestion of salt will significantly reduce populations of wild mosquitoes to near zero; there are no known scientific efficacy data that support these claims. We tested the survival of nine mosquito species of pest and public health importance across four adult diets: Water Only, Sugar Water Only (8.

Prospective surveillance model in the home for breast cancer-related lymphoedema: a feasibility study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of delivering a prospective surveillance model in the home over 6 months for women at high risk of developing lymphoedema.

Methods: A single-group, intervention study recruited 20 women who had surgical and medical treatment for confirmed node-positive invasive breast cancer and therefore at high risk of developing arm lymphoedema. Participants received a package including Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (BIS) monitoring, lymphoedema education and support to promote self-management and physical activity.

Management of acute low back pain: the practices and perspectives of primary care clinicians in Australia.

Low back pain (LBP) is the highest cause of years lived with a disability in Australia and the most frequent musculoskeletal condition for which patients seek primary care. The aims of this study were to: (1) evaluate the current practices and perspectives of Australian GPs and physiotherapists managing acute back pain; and (2) explore alignment of care with clinical guidelines. This was a prospective cross-sectional Internet survey conducted from March 2018 to May 2018 of experienced Australian GPs and physiotherapists.

Active and sedentary bouts in people after stroke and healthy controls: An observational study.

Background And Purpose: Understanding how both active and sedentary time is accumulated in people after stroke may help to better target interventions to reduce stroke recurrence. This study aimed to determine the difference between stroke and healthy controls in (a) time spent in sedentary and active behaviour, (b) frequency of short and long active and sedentary bouts and (c) time spent in short and long active and sedentary bouts.

Methods: Analysis of secondary outcomes from a cross-sectional study.

Body Positional Effects on Bioimpedance Spectroscopy Measurements for Lymphedema Assessment of the Arm.

Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) measurements have conventionally been performed using a device that uses gel-backed electrodes with the patient in a supine position. More recently, impedance devices that use stainless steel electrodes with the patient in a standing position have become available. The aim of this study was to assess and compare BIS measurements made in three different body positions using two different impedance devices (lead device and stand-on device) in women with and without arm lymphedema.

The experiences and needs of people seeking primary care for low-back pain in Australia.

Introduction: There is a knowledge gap about the current experiences and needs of people with low back pain (LBP) seeking primary care in Australia.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to understand the experiences and needs of Australians who have received treatment for LBP in primary care.

Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional internet survey conducted between July 2017 and September 2017.

Linking nutrient stoichiometry to Zika virus transmission in a mosquito.

Food quality and quantity serve as the basis for cycling of key chemical elements in trophic interactions; yet the role of nutrient stoichiometry in shaping host-pathogen interactions is under appreciated. Most of the emergent mosquito-borne viruses affecting human health are transmitted by mosquitoes that inhabit container systems during their immature stages, where allochthonous input of detritus serves as the basal nutrients. Quantity and type of detritus (animal and plant) were manipulated in microcosms containing newly hatched Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae.

Perceptions of Australian physiotherapy students about the potential implementation of physiotherapist prescribing in Australia: a national survey.

Objectives: To explore the perceptions of Australian physiotherapy students about (1) the potential implementation and use of non-medical prescribing by physiotherapists in Australia and (2) how physiotherapist prescribing might impact the care that the physiotherapy profession can provide in the future.

Design: A cross-sectional descriptive survey of physiotherapy students across Australia was completed using an online questionnaire developed by subject-experts and pretested (n=10) for internal consistency. A hyperlink to the questionnaire was emailed to all students enrolled in any accredited, entry-level Australian university physiotherapy programme.

Perceptions about the implementation of physiotherapist prescribing in Australia: a national survey of Australian physiotherapists.

Objectives: To explore: (1) the views of Australian physiotherapists regarding potential implementation of non-medical prescribing in Australia, (2) how the geographical location and health sector in which a clinician works may influence their perceptions and (3) the perceptions of Australian physiotherapists about how physiotherapist prescribing might impact the care that the profession can provide.

Design: A cross-sectional descriptive survey using open and closed questions.

Setting: Participants completed an online questionnaire.

Identifying factors associated with sedentary time after stroke. Secondary analysis of pooled data from nine primary studies.

: High levels of sedentary time increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, including recurrent stroke. : This study aimed to identify factors associated with high sedentary time in community-dwelling people with stroke. : For this data pooling study, authors of published and ongoing trials that collected sedentary time data, using the activPAL monitor, in community-dwelling people with stroke were invited to contribute their raw data.