Validation of the Music Therapy Assessment Tool for Awareness in Disorders of Consciousness With the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised.

Objective: To examine (1) the concurrent validity of the Music Therapy Assessment Tool for Awareness in Disorders of Consciousness (MATADOC) with the criterion standard Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) for outcomes of awareness in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDoC), (2) the relationship between MATADOC items and CRS-R function subscales in similar domains, and (3) determine if items/function subscales measure different constructs.

Design: A prospective multicentric blinded study with repeated concurrent measures.

Setting: Three inpatient rehabilitation units.

Impaired metacognition and reduced neural signals of decision confidence in adults with traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Metacognition reflects our capacity to monitor or evaluate other cognitive states as they unfold during task performance, for example, our level of confidence in the veracity of a memory. Impaired metacognition is seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and substantially impacts their ability to manage functional difficulties during recovery. Recent evidence suggests that metacognitive representations reflect domain-specific processes (e.

Memory During the Presumed Vegetative State: Implications for Patient Quality of Life.

A growing number of studies show that a significant proportion of patients, who meet the clinical criteria for the diagnosis of the vegetative state (VS), demonstrate evidence of covert awareness through successful performance of neuroimaging tasks. Despite these important advances, the day-to-day life experiences of any such patient remain unknown. This presents a major challenge for optimizing the patient's standard of care and quality of life (QoL).

Specifying clinical assessment schedules for the European framework of rehabilitation service types: the perspective of the physical and rehabilitation medicine Section and Board of the European Union of Medical Specialists.

Introduction: In light of global mandates and in recognition of the value of data collection and reporting based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), the UEMS PRM Section and Board established an action plan to implement the ICF in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, rehabilitation and health care at large. This includes, among other steps, the development of a framework of rehabilitation service types for Europe (European Framework) and corresponding clinical assessment schedules (CLASs) for each service type. A CLAS encompasses the recommendation for what aspects of functioning to document, for whom and when, and the data collection tools to use.

European Framework of Rehabilitation Services Types: the perspective of the Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Section and Board of the European Union of Medical Specialists.

Background: Effectiveness in health services is achieved if desired clinical outcomes are reached. In rehabilitation the relevant clinical outcome is functioning, with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as the reference system for the standardized reporting of functioning outcomes. To foster the implementation of the ICF in clinical quality management (CQM) across the rehabilitation services continuum, the UEMS-PRM Section and Board approved an ICF implementation action plan that includes the identification of types of currently provided rehabilitation services in Europe.

European survey of management of patients with multidrug-resistant organisms in rehabilitation facilities.

Background: Rehabilitation facilities have among the highest prevalence of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) colonization of any inpatient population. There is no formal consensus on how patients with MDROs should be managed in the rehabilitation setting.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess how rehabilitation hospitals throughout Europe manage patients with MDROs, and the impact of MDRO carriage on outcomes.

An analysis of the effects of using Zolpidem and an innovative multimodal interdisciplinary team approach in prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDOC).

Zolpidem has been used with mixed effects in patients presenting with Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness (PDOC). This single case report describes an interdisciplinary team (IDT) protocol combined with Zolpidem 10 mg in a single case of a patient in PDOC. 'Emily', a 44-year-old lady was admitted to a rehabilitation unit in Ireland one year post onset of subarachnoid haemorrhage.

The approach of physiatrists to low back pain across Europe.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the most common type of musculoskeletal pain, thus it is one of the most commonly encountered conditions in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. The physicians who are primarily responsible for the nonsurgical management of LBP are physiatrists.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the approaches of physiatrists to low back pain across Europe.

Evidence-based position paper on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine professional practice for Adults with Acquired Brain Injury. The European PRM position (UEMS PRM Section).

Background: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is damage to the brain that occurs after birth caused either by a traumatic or by a nontraumatic injury. The rehabilitation process following ABI should be performed by a multi-professional team, working in an interdisciplinary way, with the aim of organizing a comprehensive and holistic approach to persons with every severity of ABI. This Evidence Based Position Paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) Section and designates the professional role of PRM physicians for people with ABI.

Barriers and facilitators associated with return to work after stroke: a qualitative meta-synthesis.

Purpose: To enhance the employment outcomes of individuals who experience a stroke, it is essential to understand the factors that determine successful return to work. The aim of this systematic review was to examine barriers to and facilitators of return to work after stroke from the perspective of people with stroke through the process of a qualitative meta-synthesis.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted.

Symptoms of gonadal dysfunction are more predictive of hypopituitarism than nonspecific symptoms in screening for pituitary dysfunction following moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.

Objective: The economic and logistic burden of screening for hypopituitarism following moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considerable. A key recommendation in published guidelines is to prioritize for screening those patients with symptoms suggestive of pituitary dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of targeted screening for hypopituitarism in long-term survivors after moderate/severe TBI using referrals on the basis of symptoms.

Impaired self-awareness after traumatic brain injury: inter-rater reliability and factor structure of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) in patients, significant others and clinicians.

Aims: This study sought to address two questions: (1) what is the inter-rater reliability of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) when completed by patients, their significant others, and clinicians; and (2) does the factor structure of the DEX vary for these three groups?

Methods: We obtained DEX ratings for 113 patients with an acquired brain injury from two brain injury services in the UK and two services in Ireland. We gathered data from two groups of raters-"significant others" (DEX-SO) such as partners and close family members and "clinicians" (DEX-C), who were psychologists or rehabilitation physicians working closely with the patient and who were able to provide an opinion about the patient's level of everyday executive functioning. Intra-class correlation coefficients and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated between each of the three groups (self, significant other, clinician).

The contribution of retrospective memory, attention and executive functions to the prospective and retrospective components of prospective memory following TBI.

Primary Objective: Despite the prevalence of prospective memory (PM) problems, relatively little is known about the processes underlying impairment following TBI. This study sought to examine PM performance, using a multiple-task, multiple-response video-based paradigm in which initial encoding of the cue-action associations was ensured (Video-Assessment of Prospective Memory; VAPM).

Research Design: VAPM was designed to allow easy identification of reasons for failure (i.

Emotional distress and awareness following acquired brain injury: an exploratory analysis.

Background: Symptoms of depression and anxiety are commonly reported following brain injury, providing ongoing challenges to patients, clinicians and carers. There is increasing interest in the influence of impaired awareness on emotional distress, supported by psychological investigations.

Objective: To explore the relationship between awareness and time since injury on reported emotional distress.

Late multidisciplinary rehabilitation in young people after stroke.

Purpose: Stroke has a major impact on physical and cognitive ability, and quality of life. This study aims to examine the effect of multidisciplinary rehabilitation on outcome in an Irish young stroke population.

Methods: Fifty consecutive patients younger than 65 were prospectively recruited to this observational study.