Clinical feasibility of the Nintendo Wii™ for balance training post-stroke: a phase II randomized controlled trial in an inpatient setting.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and potential efficacy of the Nintendo Wii™ for balance rehabilitation after stroke.

Design: Phase II, single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Upper-limb assessment in people with Parkinson disease: is it a priority for therapists, and which assessment tools are used?

Purpose: To investigate the frequency of physiotherapy and occupational therapy assessment of the upper limb (UL) in people with Parkinson disease (PD) and to identify the impairments and activity limitations assessed and the methods used.

Method: A custom-designed questionnaire was used to survey physiotherapists and occupational therapists with previous experience in managing people with PD, using targeted recruitment to invite physiotherapy conference attendees, clinicians employed in movement disorders programmes, and practitioners in neurology and gerontology to respond either on paper or online.

Results: Of the 190 respondents (122 physiotherapists, 68 occupational therapists), 54% reported consistently assessing the UL.

Feasibility and Efficacy of the Nintendo Wii Gaming System to Improve Balance Performance Post-Stroke: Protocol of a Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting.

Objective: Balance deficits following stroke are common and debilitating. Commercially available gaming systems, such as the Nintendo(®) (Kyoto, Japan) Wii™, have been widely adopted clinically; however, there is limited evidence supporting their feasibility and efficacy for improving balance performance following stroke. The aim of this trial is to investigate the clinical feasibility and efficacy of using the Nintendo Wii gaming system as an adjunct to standard care to improve balance performance following stroke in an inpatient rehabilitation setting.

Striding out with Parkinson disease: evidence-based physical therapy for gait disorders.

Although Parkinson disease (PD) is common throughout the world, the evidence for physical therapy interventions that enable long-term improvement in walking is still emerging. This article critiques the major physical therapy approaches related to gait rehabilitation in people with PD: compensatory strategies, motor skill learning, management of secondary sequelae, and education to optimize physical activity and reduce falls. The emphasis of this review is on gait specifically, although balance and falls are of direct importance to gait and are addressed in that context.

Quantifying the profile and progression of impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life in people with Parkinson disease: protocol for a prospective cohort study.

Background: Despite the finding that Parkinson disease (PD) occurs in more than one in every 1000 people older than 60 years, there have been few attempts to quantify how deficits in impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life progress in this debilitating condition. It is unclear which tools are most appropriate for measuring change over time in PD.

Methods And Design: This protocol describes a prospective analysis of changes in impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life over a 12 month period together with an economic analysis of costs associated with PD.