Strength training with electrical stimulation has no or little effect on the very weak muscles of patients with spinal cord injury: a randomised trial.

Question: Is electrical stimulation (ES) combined with strength training and usual care more effective than usual care alone in increasing the strength of very weak muscles in people with recent spinal cord injury (SCI)?

Design: A randomised controlled trial with concealed allocation, intention-to-treat analysis and blinded outcome assessors.

Participants: Sixty participants with recent SCI were recruited from three SCI units in Australia and Bangladesh.

Interventions: Participants were randomised to either a treatment or control group.

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.

Patients', physiotherapists' and other stakeholders' experiences and perceptions about supported home physiotherapy for people with musculoskeletal conditions: a qualitative study.

Objectives: Exercise, support and advice are the key treatment strategies of musculoskeletal problems. The aims of this study were to determine patients', physiotherapists', and other stakeholders' perspectives about supported home physiotherapy for the management of musculoskeletal problems and to identify the barriers and facilitators to rolling out this model of physiotherapy service delivery.

Methods: This study was conducted as part of a process evaluation run alongside a large trial designed to determine whether supported home physiotherapy is as good or better than a course of in-person physiotherapy.

A case report of three people experiencing intractable autonomic dysreflexia following instillation of Uro-Tainer Polyhexanide 0.02.

Introduction: Historically, bladder washouts were used to instil therapeutic reagents directly into the bladder. This practice has expanded to include instillation of solutions that deal with catheter issues such as encrustation or formation of bio-film. They appear to provide a promising strategy for people with long term catheters.

Using the benefit-harm trade-off method to determine the smallest worthwhile effect of intensive motor training on strength for people with spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Interviews using the benefit-harm trade-off method and an online survey.

Objectives: To determine the smallest worthwhile effect (SWE) of motor training on strength for people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: SCI units, Australia.

A therapist-administered self-report version of the Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury II (WISCI): a psychometric study.

Objective: To develop a self-report version of the Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury II (WISCI II) and to test its reliability and validity.

Study Design: Psychometric study.

Setting: Spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation centres in Australia and Italy.

Remotely delivered physiotherapy is as effective as face-to-face physiotherapy for musculoskeletal conditions (REFORM): a randomised trial.

Question: Is remotely delivered physiotherapy as good or better than face-to-face physiotherapy for the management of musculoskeletal conditions?

Design: Randomised controlled, non-inferiority trial with concealed allocation, blinded assessors and intention-to-treat analysis.

Participants: A total of 210 adult participants with a musculoskeletal condition who presented for outpatient physiotherapy at five public hospitals in Sydney.

Intervention: One group received a remotely delivered physiotherapy program for 6 weeks that consisted of one face-to-face physiotherapy session in conjunction with weekly text messages, phone calls at 2 and 4 weeks, and an individualised home exercise program delivered through an app.

Orthotic interventions for restoring proximal interphalangeal joint motion for patients with hand injuries or conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Limitations to proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) motion can result in significant functional impairment for people with hand injuries and conditions. The role of orthotic intervention to improve PIPJ motion has been studied; however, high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses are lacking.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of orthotic intervention for restoring PIPJ extension/flexion following hand injuries or conditions.

Early and Intensive Motor Training for people with spinal cord injuries (the SCI-MT Trial): protocol of the process evaluation.

Introduction: People with spinal cord injury receive physical rehabilitation to promote neurological recovery. Physical rehabilitation commences as soon as possible when a person is medically stable. One key component of physical rehabilitation is motor training.

The 2022 Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to train physiotherapists in the management of people with spinal cord injuries: a qualitative and quantitative analysis of learners' experiences and its impact.

Study Design: Observational.

Objectives: To determine the learners' experience and the impact of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) conducted to teach physiotherapists about the management of people with spinal cord injuries (SCI).

Methods: A SCI MOOC for physiotherapists was run in 5 different languages at the end of 2022.

Early and intensive Motor Training for people with spinal cord injuries (the SCI-MT Trial): description of the intervention.

Study Design: Descriptive.

Objectives: The primary objective is to describe the intervention that will be provided in a large multi-centre randomised controlled trial titled: Early and Intensive Motor Training for people with Spinal Cord Injuries (the SCI-MT Trial). The secondary objective is to describe the strategies that will be used to operationalise and standardise the Motor Training provided to participants while keeping the intervention person-centred.

Early and intensive motor training to enhance neurological recovery in people with spinal cord injury: trial protocol.

Study Design: Protocol for a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (the SCI-MT trial).

Objectives: To determine whether 10 weeks of intensive motor training enhances neurological recovery in people with recent spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Fifteen spinal injury units in Australia, Scotland, England, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium.

Implementing digital devices to increase mobility training for people receiving inpatient rehabilitation: protocol for a feasibility hybrid type II randomized controlled trial.

Background: People with mobility limitations can benefit from rehabilitation programs incorporating intensive, repetitive, and task-specific exercises using digital devices such as virtual reality gaming systems, tablet and smartphone applications, and wearable devices. The Activity and MObility UsiNg Technology (AMOUNT) rehabilitation trial (n = 300) showed improvements in mobility in people using these types of digital devices in addition to their usual rehabilitation care when the intervention was provided by an additional study-funded physiotherapist. However, it is not clear if this intervention can be implemented by hospital physiotherapists with a usual clinical load.

The use of exercise relative motion orthoses to improve proximal interphalangeal joint motion: A survey of Australian hand therapy practice.

Study Design: Cross-sectional online survey.

Introduction: Exercise relative motion (RM) orthoses are prescribed by hand therapists to improve finger motion but there is limited scientific evidence to guide practice.

Purpose Of The Study: To describe Australian hand therapists' use of exercise RM orthoses to improve PIPJ motion, including trends in orthosis design, prescription, clinical conditions, and their opinions on orthosis benefits and limitations.

Are micro enemas administered with a squeeze tube and a 5 cm-long nozzle as good or better than micro enemas administered with a 10 cm-long catheter attached to a syringe in people with a recent spinal cord injury? A non-inferiority, crossover randomised controlled trial.

Study Design: Double blind, non-inferiority crossover randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To determine if micro enemas administered with a squeeze-tube and a 5 cm-long nozzle (squeeze-tube method) are as good or better than micro enemas administered with a 10 cm-long catheter attached to a syringe (catheter method) in people with a recent spinal cord injury.

Setting: Two inpatient spinal cord injury units located in Sydney, Australia.

Protocol for a process evaluation: face-to-face physiotherapy compared with a supported home exercise programme for the management of musculoskeletal conditions: the REFORM trial.

Introduction: The REFORM (REhabilitation FOR Musculoskeletal conditions) trial is a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (n=210) designed to determine whether a supported home exercise programme is as good or better than a course of face-to-face physiotherapy for the management of some musculoskeletal conditions. The trial is currently being conducted across Sydney government hospitals in Australia. This process evaluation will run alongside the REFORM trial.

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.

Incidence, severity and time course of pressure injuries over the first two years following discharge from hospital in people with spinal cord injuries in Bangladesh.

Design: Cohort study embedded in a clinical trial.

Setting: Community, Bangladesh.

Objectives: To determine the incidence, severity and time course of pressure injuries over the first two years following discharge from hospital in people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) in Bangladesh.

Do any physiotherapy interventions increase spinal cord independence measure or functional independence measure scores in people with spinal cord injuries? A systematic review.

Study Design: Systematic review.

Objective: To determine whether any physiotherapy interventions increase Spinal Cord Independence Measure or Functional Independence Measure scores (SCIM/FIM) in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), with the overall aim of determining whether any physiotherapy interventions need to be controlled for in studies examining the effects of novel experimental interventions on SCIM/FIM.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify all randomised controlled trials examining the effect of any physiotherapy intervention on SCIM/FIM in people with SCI.

Face-to-face physiotherapy compared with a supported home exercise programme for the management of musculoskeletal conditions: protocol of a multicentre, randomised controlled trial-the REFORM trial.

Introduction: Exercise, support and advice are considered core components of management for most musculoskeletal conditions and are typically provided by physiotherapists through regular face-to-face treatments. However, exercise can be provided remotely as part of a home exercise programme, while support and advice can be provided over the telephone. There is initial evidence from trials and systematic reviews to suggest that remotely provided physiotherapy can be used to manage a variety of musculoskeletal conditions safely and effectively.

Physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of spasticity in people with spinal cord injury: a systematic review.

Study Design: Systematic review.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of spasticity in people with spinal cord injuries.

Setting: Not applicable.

The effects of 10,000 voluntary contractions over 8 weeks on the strength of very weak muscles in people with spinal cord injury: a randomised controlled trial.

Study Design: A multi-centred, single-blinded randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To determine the effect of 10,000 voluntary contractions over 8 weeks on the strength of very weak muscles in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Settings: Seven hospitals in Australia and Asia.

Electrical stimulation for treating pressure ulcers.

Background: Pressure ulcers (also known as pressure sores, decubitus ulcers or bedsores) are localised injuries to the skin or underlying tissue, or both. Pressure ulcers are a disabling consequence of immobility. Electrical stimulation (ES) is widely used for the treatment of pressure ulcers.