Evaluation of occupational therapy in persons with COVID-19: a pre-post observational cohort study.

Background: Persons with COVID-19 may experience limitations in daily functioning and can be referred to occupational therapy.

Objectives: To evaluate changes in daily functioning, cognitive complaints, fatigue and self-management of persons with COVID-19 who received occupational therapy in primary care.To get insights in the volume and duration of occupational therapy.

One-year evaluation of people recovering from COVID-19 receiving allied primary healthcare: A nationwide prospective cohort study.

Background: A Dutch nationwide prospective cohort study was initiated to investigate recovery trajectories of people recovering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and costs of treatment by primary care allied health professionals.

Objectives: The study described recovery trajectories over a period of 12 months and associated baseline characteristics of participants recovering from COVID-19 who visited a primary care allied health professional. It also aimed to provide insight into the associated healthcare and societal costs.

Specialized Allied Health Care for Parkinson's Disease: State of the Art and Future Directions.

People with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience a range of progressive motor and non-motor symptoms, that negatively affect their daily functioning, social participation and quality of life. Allied health therapies have emerged as an effective treatment approach-complementary to pharmacological and neurosurgical treatments-which reduces the impact of PD in daily life. In this article, we propose criteria for what constitutes specialized allied health care for PD, and we review allied health research in PD in terms of meeting these criteria and its outcomes for monodisciplinary approaches as well as multi- or interdisciplinary allied health interventions.

The Use of the Voice Trainer App for Vocal Control in People with a Degenerative Ataxia: A Pilot Intervention Study.

Dysarthria is disabling in persons with degenerative ataxia. There is limited evidence for speech therapy interventions. In this pilot study, we used the Voice trainer app, which was originally developed for patients with Parkinson's disease, as a feedback tool for vocal control.

Evaluation of Primary Allied Health Care in Patients Recovering From COVID-19 at 6-Month Follow-up: Dutch Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Patients recovering from COVID-19 often experience persistent problems in their daily activities related to limitations in physical, nutritional, cognitive, and mental functioning. To date, it is unknown what treatment is needed to support patients in their recovery from COVID-19.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the primary allied health care of patients recovering from COVID-19 at 6-month follow-up and to explore which baseline characteristics are associated with changes in the scores of outcomes between baseline and 6-month follow-up.

The Complexity of Nutritional Problems in Persons with Dementia: Expanding a Theoretical Model.

Background: Persons with dementia are at risk of developing nutritional problems. Theoretical models on nutritional problems have been developed, but have not been evaluated with healthcare professionals.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the comprehensiveness and applicability of a theoretical model of nutritional problems in persons with dementia for daily nursing home practice.

Com-mens: a home-based logopaedic intervention program for communication problems between people with dementia and their caregivers - a single-group mixed-methods pilot study.

Background: Communication difficulties are common in people with dementia, and often present from an early stage. However, direct treatment options for people with dementia that positively influence their daily communication are scarce.

Aims: To evaluate the potential impact and feasibility of a personalized logopaedic intervention.

Muscle ultrasound is a sensitive biomarker in oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.

Introduction/aims: Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late-onset, progressive muscle disease. Quantitative muscle ultrasound (QMUS) assesses structural changes in muscles and is a sensitive biomarker in neuromuscular disorders. Our aim of this study was to determine whether QMUS can detect muscle pathology and can be used as longitudinal imaging biomarker in OPMD.

Experienced Respiratory Symptoms and the Impact on Daily Life from the Perspective of People with Parkinson's Disease: A Grounded Theory.

Background: Abnormal respiratory function tests can be observed early in the course of Parkinson's disease (PD). A better understanding of the impact of respiratory dysfunction on daily life in PD is needed to prevent later occurring complications as a (aspiration) pneumonia.

Objective: To explain which respiratory symptoms people with PD or a form of atypical parkinsonism experience and how these symptoms impact on their daily lives.

A Sense of Being Needed: A Phenomenological Analysis of Hospital-Based Rehabilitation Professionals' Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore lived experiences of rehabilitation professionals working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the ethical issues and moral distress that these professionals might have encountered.

Methods: An interpretative phenomenological study was performed. First-person experiences of rehabilitation professionals (dieticians, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech-language therapists) were collected with semi-structured interviews and analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Design of the PERSPECTIVE study: PERsonalized SPEeCh Therapy for actIVE conversation in Parkinson's disease (randomized controlled trial).

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of personalized and home-based speech therapy on quality of life, intelligibility, and social participation for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have a reduced intelligibility of speech.

Background: Speech problems in PD have a profound negative impact on social interaction and quality of life. Evidence for speech therapy in PD is growing, but more work remains needed to explore its full potential.

Clinimetric Evaluation of the Experienced Communication in Dementia Questionnaire.

Background And Objectives: Tools to measure self-perceived communication between persons with early-stage dementia and their caregivers are lacking. Therefore, we developed a questionnaire for Experienced Communication in Dementia (ECD) with a patient version (ECD-P) and a caregiver version (ECD-C), which contains items on (a) caregiver competence, (b) social communication, (c) communication difficulties, and (d) experienced emotions. This article describes the feasibility and clinimetric evaluation of this instrument.

Validation of the pediatric Radboud Dysarthria Assessment.

Purpose: The Radboud Dysarthria Assessment (RDA) was published in 2014. Adaptation into a pediatric version (p-RDA) was required because of relevant differences between children and adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of the p-RDA and to test intra-rater and inter-rater reliability as well as the validity of the two severity scales (function and activity level).

Longitudinal Assessment of Strength, Functional Capacity, Oropharyngeal Function, and Quality of Life in Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy.

Background And Objectives: Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late-onset, progressive muscle disease. Disease progression is known to be slow, but details on the natural history remain unknown. We aimed to examine the natural history of OPMD in a large nationwide cohort to determine clinical outcome measures that capture disease progression and can be used in future clinical trials.

Development of the Experienced Communication in Dementia Questionnaire: A Qualitative Study.

Communication problems with their caregivers are common in people with dementia. Although interventions for improvement of communication are being developed, a tool to measure how participants experience their communication is lacking. The objective of this article is to describe the development of a questionnaire that measures the "experienced communication" of persons with dementia (ECD-P) as well as of their caregivers (ECD-C).

The Effects of Respiratory Training in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review.

Background: Signs of respiratory dysfunction can be present already early in the course of Parkinson's disease (PD). Respiratory training could alleviate this, but its effectiveness is not well understood.

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to review the efficacy of different respiratory training interventions in PD.

Age-Associated Salivary MicroRNA Biomarkers for Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy.

Small non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of mRNA stability. Their features, including high stability and secretion to biofluids, make them attractive as potential biomarkers for diverse pathologies. This is the first study reporting miRNA as potential biomarkers for oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD), an adult-onset myopathy.

Swallowing, Chewing and Speaking: Frequently Impaired in Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy.

Background: Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late onset progressive neuromuscular disorder. Although dysphagia is a pivotal sign in OPMD it is still not completely understood.

Objective: The aim of this study was to systematically investigate oropharyngeal functioning in a large OPMD population.

The Development and Outcome of Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure After Surgical Interventions.

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a syndrome with high short-term mortality. Precipitating events, including hemorrhage and infections, contribute to ACLF development, but the role of surgery remains unknown. We investigated the development of ACLF in patients with cirrhosis undergoing surgery.

Improving Communication between Persons with Mild Dementia and Their Caregivers: Qualitative Analysis of a Practice-Based Logopaedic Intervention.

Objective: To identify the essential elements of a newly developed, practice-based logopaedic intervention, which focuses on communication between persons with dementia (PwDs) and their caregivers.

Methods: The intervention of 6 one-hour sessions was conducted and evaluated with 4 PwD-caregiver dyads. Eighteen therapy sessions were video recorded and semi-structured interviews with all dyads and an interview with the speech-language therapist (SLT) were audio recorded.