Background: Pediatric patients with cancer have limited options to self-manage their health while they are undergoing treatments in the hospital and after they are discharged to their homes. Extended reality (ER) using head-mounted displays has emerged as an immersive method of improving pain and mental health and promoting health-enhancing physical activity among a variety of clinical groups, but there is currently no established protocol for improving both physical and mental health in pediatric cancer rehabilitation.
Objective: This phase I, pilot, feasibility randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the potential effects of a 14-week ER program on physical activity participation and indicators of health among pediatric patients with cancer who undergo bone marrow transplantation.
Virtual community-based programming for people with disabilities has become a popular method for advocating for health promotion, specifically exercise, for people with disabilities (PWD). Using theoretical frameworks to better understand the perspective of PWD who participate in virtual exercise programs allows strategies of implementation following completion of virtual exercise programs. The objective of this study was to examine the effect adherence had on perceptions, experiences, and post-program exercise maintenance in participants with disabilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In the absence of direct evidence supporting how to use nasal endoscopy findings to judge chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) disease control, experts' practice patterns could provide guidance.
Methodology: Participants consisted of a diverse group of twenty-nine rhinologists. Participants were presented with every possible combination of bilateral nasal endoscopy findings represented by the modified Lund-Kennedy (MLK; range: 0-12) endoscopic scoring system and Nasal Polyp Score (NPS; range: 0-8).
Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol
January 2025
Objective: Nasal airway surgery is often applied when treatment fails to relieve nasal obstruction. However, surgery that improves airflow does not always alleviate the symptoms of nasal obstruction. The perception of nasal breathing is likely more related to changes in mucosal temperature than the mechanical sensation of flow or pressure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRising global temperatures are often identified as the key driver impacting ecosystems and the services they provide by affecting biodiversity structure and function. A disproportionate amount of our understanding of biodiversity and function is from short-term experimental studies and static values of biodiversity indices, lacking the ability to monitor long-term trends and capture community dynamics. Here, we analyse a biennial dataset spanning 32 years of macroinvertebrate benthic communities and their functional response to increasing temperatures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Severe asthma poses a significant health burden in those with the disease, therefore a timely diagnosis can ensure patients receive specialist care and appropriate medication management. This study qualitatively explored the patient experience of adult Australians with severe asthma regarding specialist referral, to identify potential opportunities to streamline the process of severe asthma diagnosis and treatment and optimise referral pathways.
Patients And Methods: Adults currently being treated with medication for severe asthma were invited to participate in this study.
The human gut microbiome can be impacted by a range of environmental and lifestyle factors including diet, antibiotics, physical fitness and acute and chronic stressors. There is also evidence to suggest that specific compositional and/or functional features of the gut microbiome are mediators of aspects of health and performance including disease susceptibility, cognitive and physical states and the immune response. Therefore, understanding microbe-to-microbe and nutrient-to-microbe interactions in the gut and how they interact with host biology (eg, via the gut-brain axis) could enable better design of interventions aimed at modulating the gut microbiome to improve the health and performance of the military.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tension pneumocephalus (PMC) is a rare and feared complication following the endonasal endoscopic approach (EEA) to skull base procedures. This is a neurosurgical emergency that requires urgent decompression to avoid catastrophic neurologic damage or death. An avoidable cause is the application of positive pressure ventilation (PPV) in EEA patients for postoperative hypoxia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: When pedaling a coupled-crank arm ergometer, individuals with hemiplegia may experience nonparetic arm overcompensation, and paretic arm resistance, due to neuromechanical deficits. Technologies that foster independent limb contributions may increase the effectiveness of exercise for people poststroke.
Objective: Examine the speed during uncoupled pedaling with the Advanced Virtual Exercise Environment Device among individuals poststroke and non-impaired comparisons.
Background: People with physical disabilities (PWD) have a higher prevalence of obesity than populations without disability, but most evidence-based weight loss programs have not included this population. The () program is an evidence-based weight loss program that has demonstrated success in producing weight loss in populations without disability, but it has not been adapted for or evaluated in PWD.
Methods: The SOS program was systematically adapted using the evidence-informed Guidelines, Recommendations, and Adaptations Including Disability (GRAIDs) framework.
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic respiratory condition that internationally continues to be burdensome and impacts quality of life. Despite availability of medicines and guidelines for healthcare providers for the optimal management of AR, optimisation of its management in the community continues to be elusive. The reasons for this are multi-faceted and include both environmental and healthcare related factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Children with mobility disabilities, including those with cerebral palsy, have limited options and limited time to exercise to manage their cardiometabolic health and cardiorespiratory fitness. Regular cardiovascular exercise during childhood is a critical health behavior for preventing health decline in adulthood. Thus, there is an urgent need for accessible, age-appropriate, convenient exercise modalities in this group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Nasal obstruction, triggered by allergic rhinitis, often does not resolve with allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) alone, thus inferior turbinate reduction surgery (ITR) may be required. This study aims to investigate the impact of combined treatment on nasal obstruction, as evidence is currently limited.
Methodology/principal: A retrospective cohort study of perennial allergic rhinitis patients experiencing nasal obstruction and undergoing ≥12 months AIT was conducted.
Rheumatology (Oxford)
February 2024
Int J Environ Res Public Health
December 2023
The recent World Health Organization report on disability noted that people with disabilities (PWD) have many unmet health and rehabilitation needs, face numerous barriers to accessing healthcare and specialized services, and have overall worse health than people without disability. In view of this urgency to better identify and address health inequities systematically, we convened an expert panel of 14 stakeholders to develop a strategic plan that addresses this issue. The panel identified two major obstacles to quality healthcare services for PWD: (1) lack of coordination between the various healthcare sectors and community well-being programs and (2) substantial challenges finding and accessing healthcare services that meet their specific needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds a quality improvement (QI) health promotion telewellness program for adults with physical disabilities.
Objective: The nutrition component of the parent program, Mindfulness, Exercise, and Nutrition to Optimize Resilience (MENTOR) program, from 2020 to 2021, was evaluated to assess changes in nutrition knowledge of people with physical disabilities.
Methods: This was a quasi-experimental program evaluation by pre-post survey of participating adults with physical disabilities.
Introduction: This study evaluated the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) Mindfulness, Exercise, and Nutrition To Optimize Resilience (MENTOR) program for people with physical disabilities.
Methods: This retrospective evaluation of MENTOR 2.0, an 8-week online group health promotion program, was based on improvements from its first implementation (MENTOR 1.
Twelve strains were isolated from fecal samples of inflammatory bowel disease patients and matched "household control" individuals. These include the species , , , , , and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: People with physical disabilities (PWD) participate in less physical activity than people without physical disabilities (PWoD), which increases the risk for several negative health consequences. Comparing physical activity between PWD and PWoD remains a challenge since no reliable and valid survey exists to measure physical activity in both populations. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was adapted to be inclusive of PWD using a recently developed survey adaption framework; however, the adapted IPAQ has not been assessed for reliability and validity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Adolescents with disabilities experience alarmingly higher rates of depression and isolation than peers without disabilities. There is a need to identify interventions that can improve mental health and isolation among this underserved population. Innovations in virtual reality (VR) gaming "standalone" headsets allow greater access to immersive high-quality digital experiences, due to their relatively low cost.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although most patients with post-traumatic olfactory dysfunction (PTOD) undergo MRI, there is no consensus about its diagnostic or prognostic value. The aims were: 1) to classify the extent of post-traumatic neurodegeneration; 2) to determine its relationship with chemosensory dysfunction (smell, taste, trigeminal); and 3) to establish whether MRI can predict olfactory improvement.
Methodology: We conducted a retrospective cohort study based on a series of 56 patients with PTOD.
Background: Chemosensory dysfunction (olfaction, taste, and trigeminal) affects quality of life, potentially impacting eating behaviors. We investigated which factors are associated with weight loss in patients with smell and taste disorders.
Methods: Retrospective study of consecutive adult patients seen in the smell and taste clinic during a 10-year period.
Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm
December 2023
Background: The Allergic Rhinitis Clinical Management Pathway (AR-CMaP) was developed to overcome the challenge of implementing current AR guidelines in the Australian community pharmacy practice and support pharmacists in optimally managing patients' AR.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of AR-CMaP on patients' behaviour and pharmacists' needs in managing AR in the pharmacy.
Methods: This study used a cross-sectional, pre-post study design in which the primary outcome was the appropriateness of medications purchased from community pharmacies in Australia.