Gender differences in participation one year after stroke: exploring biopsychosocial predictors for women and men.

Background: Women appear to have a higher risk for long term restrictions in participation than men. This gender difference is poorly understood, as solely biomedical factors have been examined to date.

Objectives: The aims of this study are (1) to map gender differences in participation outcome one year after stroke, and (2) to identify demographic, stroke-related, or psychological predictors of participation for women and men separately.

Participation in daily life activities at two months after stroke predicts long-term health-related quality of life.

Background: After stroke, many patients experience problems with participation in daily activities. Improving participation is the main goal in stroke rehabilitation. However, the longitudinal relationship between participation and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) remains unclear.

The longitudinal association between movement behavior patterns and the course of participation up to one year after stroke.

Purpose: (1) To investigate the differences in the course of participation up to one year after stroke between distinct movement behavior patterns identified directly after discharge to the home setting, and (2) to investigate the longitudinal association between the development of movement behavior patterns over time and participation after stroke.

Materials And Methods: 200 individuals with a first-ever stroke were assessed directly after discharge to the home setting, at six months and at one year. The Participation domain of the Stroke Impact Scale 3.

Validity of the Utrecht scale for evaluation of rehabilitation-participation restrictions scale in a hospital-based stroke population 3 months after stroke.

Background: The Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation Restrictions scale (USER--R) is a promising patient-reported outcome measure, but has currently not been validated in a hospital-based stroke population.

Objective: To examine psychometric properties of the USER--R in a hospital-based stroke population 3 months after stroke onset.

Methods: Cross-sectional study including 359 individuals with stroke recruited through 6 Dutch hospitals.

Comparison between EQ-5D-5L and PROMIS-10 to evaluate health-related quality of life 3 months after stroke: a cross-sectional multicenter study.

Background: Although the use of patient-reported outcome measures to assess Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has been advocated, it is still open to debate which patient-reported outcome measure should be preferred to evaluate HRQoL after stroke.

Aim: To compare the measurement properties (including concurrent validity and discriminant ability) between the 5-dimensional 5-level EuroQol (EQ-5D-5L) and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System 10-Question Global Health Short Form (PROMIS-10) to evaluate HRQoL 3 months after stroke.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Exploring the fitness hypothesis in ALS: a population-based case-control study of parental cause of death and lifespan.

Objective: To investigate the theory of premorbid fitness in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we studied whether a common genetic profile for physical or cardiovascular fitness was manifest in progenitors leading to less cardiovascular death and a longer lifespan in parents of patients with ALS compared with parents of controls.

Methods: Patient and disease characteristics, levels of physical activity, parental cause and age of death were obtained using a structured questionnaire from a population-based, case-control study of ALS in the Netherlands. Logistic regression was used for the analyses of parental cause of death and levels of physical activity.

Long-term restrictions in participation in stroke survivors under and over 70 years of age.

Purpose: This study aims to (1) assess differences in participation restrictions between stroke survivors aged under and over 70 years and (2) identify predictors associated with favorable and unfavorable long-term participation in both age groups.

Methods: Prospective cohort study in which 326 patients were assessed at stroke onset, two months and one year after stroke. The Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (USER-Participation) was used to measure participation restrictions one year after stroke.

First human case of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection acquired in the Netherlands, July 2016.

In July 2016, the first autochthonous case of tick-borne encephalitis was diagnosed in the Netherlands, five days after a report that tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) had been found in Dutch ticks. A person in their 60s without recent travel history suffered from neurological symptoms after a tick bite. TBEV serology was positive and the tick was positive in TBEV qRT-PCR.