Normative values in healthy adults for the 6-minute and 2-minute walk tests in Belgium and Vietnam: implications for clinical practice.

Objective: To establish reference values for the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and 2-minute walk test (2MWT) distances, to investigate the correlation between these 2 tests, and to establish prediction equations for these distances in healthy populations of Belgium and Vietnam.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Subjects And Methods: The 6MWT and 2MWT were administered to a convenience sample of 239 Belgian and 303 Vietnamese participants between the ages of 18 and 80 years.

Reliability and construct validity of the ACTIVLIM-Hemo and Haemophilia Activities List (HAL) questionnaires in individuals with haemophilia.

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the reliability and construct validity of ACTIVLIM-Hemo, a newly developed Rasch-built questionnaire designed to evaluate activity limitations in people with haemophilia (PwH), in comparison with the Haemophilia Activities List (HAL), which was developed using Classical Test Theory.

Methods: A total of 130 participants with haemophilia A or B were included. They underwent various assessments, including joint health scoring (HJHS), functional tests (TUG and 2MWT) and completed questionnaires such as the BPI, IPAQ, HAL and ACTIVLIM-Hemo.

ACTIVLIM-Hemo: A new self-reported, unidimensional and linear measure of activity limitations in persons with haemophilia.

Introduction: To assess activity limitations in people with haemophilia (PwH), the self-reported Haemophilia Activity List (HAL) is widely employed, despite several methodological limitations impacting the interpretation of categorical scores. Modern psychometric approaches avoid these limitations by using a probabilistic model, such as the Rasch model. The ACTIVLIM is a Rasch-built measurement of activity limitations previously validated in several clinical conditions like neuromuscular disorders.

Recognizing Manual Activities Using Wearable Inertial Measurement Units: Clinical Application for Outcome Measurement.

The ability to monitor activities of daily living in the natural environments of patients could become a valuable tool for various clinical applications. In this paper, we show that a simple algorithm is capable of classifying manual activities of daily living (ADL) into categories using data from wrist- and finger-worn sensors. Six participants without pathology of the upper limb performed 14 ADL.

Manual ability in hand surgery patients: Validation of the ABILHAND scale in four diagnostic groups.

Background: Patients treated in hand surgery (HS) belong to different demographic groups and have varying impairments related to different pathologies. HS outcomes are measured to assess treatment results, complication risks and intervention reliability. A one-dimensional and linear measure would allow for unbiased comparisons of manual ability between patients and different treatment effects.

Lower Limb Kinematics Using Inertial Sensors during Locomotion: Accuracy and Reproducibility of Joint Angle Calculations with Different Sensor-to-Segment Calibrations.

Inertial measurement unit (IMU) records of human movement can be converted into joint angles using a sensor-to-segment calibration, also called functional calibration. This study aims to compare the accuracy and reproducibility of four functional calibration procedures for the 3D tracking of the lower limb joint angles of young healthy individuals in gait. Three methods based on segment rotations and one on segment accelerations were used to compare IMU records with an optical system for their accuracy and reproducibility.

A robust machine learning enabled decomposition of shear ground reaction forces during the double contact phase of walking.

Background: Dynamic analyses of walking rely on the 3D ground reaction forces (GRF) under each foot, while only the resultant force of both limbs may be recorded on a single-belt instrumented treadmill or when both feet touch the same force platform.

Research Question: This study aims to develop a robust decomposition of the shear GRF to complete the most accurate decomposition of the vertical GRF [8].

Methods: A retrospective study of 374 healthy adults records (age: 22.

Determinants of Social Participation at 1, 3, and 6 Months Poststroke in Benin.

Objective: To build a model of prediction of social participation of community-dwelling stroke survivors in Benin at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months.

Design: An observational study with evaluations at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months poststroke. Correlational analyses and multivariate linear regressions were performed.

Measuring Participation After Stroke in Africa: Development of the Participation Measurement Scale.

Objective: To develop a valid stroke-specific tool, named the Participation Measurement Scale (PM-Scale), for the measurement of participation after stroke.

Design: Observational study and questionnaire development.

Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation centers.

How robust is ACTIVLIM for the follow-up of activity limitations in patients with neuromuscular diseases?

This study aims to investigate the clinimetric properties of ACTIVLIM, a measure of activity limitations, when it is used in daily practice in a large nationwide representative cohort of patients with neuromuscular diseases. A cohort of 2986 patients was assessed at least once over 2 years in 6 national neuromuscular diseases reference centers. Successive Rasch analyses were conducted in order to investigate the scale validity, reliability, consistency across demographic and clinical sub-groups and its sensitivity to change.

Physical factors influencing pleasant touch during passive fingertip stimulation.

Objective: Tactile explorations with the fingertips provide information regarding the physical properties of surfaces and their relative pleasantness. Previously, we performed an investigation in the active touch domain and linked several surface properties (i.e.

Can manual ability be measured with a generic ABILHAND scale? A cross-sectional study conducted on six diagnostic groups.

Objectives: Several ABILHAND Rasch-built manual ability scales were previously developed for chronic stroke (CS), cerebral palsy (CP), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic sclerosis (SSc) and neuromuscular disorders (NMD). The present study aimed to explore the applicability of a generic manual ability scale unbiased by diagnosis and to study the nature of manual ability across diagnoses.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Rasch-Built Measure of Pleasant Touch through Active Fingertip Exploration.

Background: Evidence suggests that somatic sensation has a modality for pleasant touch.

Objective: To investigate pleasant touch at the fingertip level (i.e.

Validation of the ABILHAND questionnaire to measure manual ability in children and adults with neuromuscular disorders.

Background: Neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) can lead to specific manual disabilities due to hand muscle weakness and atrophy, myotonia or loss of sensory function. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the ABILHAND questionnaire in children and adults with NMDs using the Rasch model.

Methods: This questionnaire contained specific manual activities for children and for adults, as well as common manual activities.

Hand impairments and their relationship with manual ability in children with cerebral palsy.

Objective: To study hand impairments and their relationship with manual ability in children with cerebral palsy.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Patients: A total of 101 children with cerebral palsy (mean age 10 years, age range 6-15 years) were assessed.

Validation of the ABILHAND questionnaire as a measure of manual ability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Hand and upper limb involvement is common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, its impact on manual activities of daily life has not been fully evaluated. A measure of manual ability was developed, through the Rasch measurement model, by adapting and validating the ABILHAND questionnaire, which measures the patient's perceived difficulty in performing everyday manual activities.

Cross-cultural validity of functional independence measure items in stroke: a study using Rasch analysis.

Objective: To analyse cross-cultural validity of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) in patients with stroke using the Rasch model.

Settings: Thirty-one rehabilitation facilities within 6 different countries in Europe.

Participants: A total of 2546 in-patients at admission, median age 63 years.

A force measuring treadmill in clinical gait analysis.

This preliminary study presents the development and testing of an instrumented treadmill device measuring the ground reaction forces (GRFs) and the feasibility of using this force measuring treadmill (FMT) in clinical gait analysis. A commercially available treadmill was modified and fitted out with three-dimensional strain-gauge force transducers. Tests of linearity, centre of pressure position (CoP), cross talk, natural frequency, background noises, and belt speed were undertaken in order to assess the performance of the FMT.

ABILHAND-Kids: a measure of manual ability in children with cerebral palsy.

Objective: To develop a clinical tool for measuring manual ability (ABILHAND-Kids) in children with cerebral palsy (CP) using the Rasch measurement model.

Methods: The authors developed a 74-item questionnaire based on existing scales and experts' advice. The questionnaire was submitted to 113 children with CP (59% boys; mean age, 10 years) without major intellectual deficits (IQ > 60) and to their parents, and resubmitted to both groups after 1 month.

Assessing and adjusting for cross-cultural validity of impairment and activity limitation scales through differential item functioning within the framework of the Rasch model: the PRO-ESOR project.

Introduction: In Europe it is common for outcome measures to be translated for use in other languages. This adaptation may be complicated by culturally specific approaches to certain tasks; for example, bathing. In this context the issue of cross-cultural validity becomes paramount.

The effects of a change in gravity on the dynamics of prehension.

The objective of this study was to measure the forces applied on an object manipulated in different gravitational fields attained during parabolic flights. Eight subjects participated flights (ES) and four were inexperienced (NES). They had to move continuously an instrumented object up and down in three different gravitational conditions (1 g, 1.

Outcome evaluation of the hand and wrist according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health.

This article is a brief review of the outcome evaluation of the hand and wrist according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. Several tools currently exist to quantify outcome in hand surgery at the impairment level (eg, mobility, hand strength, cutaneous sensation, dexterity). According to the World Health Organization's paradigm, however, activity limitations and participation restrictions are also clinically relevant.

The effects of a change in gravity on the dynamics of prehension.

Investigating cyclic vertical arm movements with an instrumented hand-held load in an airplane undergoing parabolic flight profiles allowed us to determine how humans modulate their grip force when the gravitational and the inertial components of the load force are varied independently. Eight subjects participated in this study; four had already experienced parabolic flights and four had not. The subjects were asked to move the load up and down continuously at three different gravitational conditions (1 g, 1.