Efficacy and safety of TOMAC for treatment of medication-naïve and medication-refractory restless legs syndrome: A randomized clinical trial and meta-analysis.

Objective/background: There is a significant unmet need for safe and effective nonpharmacological therapies for restless legs syndrome (RLS). The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tonic motor activation (TOMAC) in patients with RLS.

Patients/methods: A multicenter, randomized, participant-blinded, sham-controlled trial enrolled 45 adults with primary moderate-to-severe RLS who were either medication-naïve (n = 20) or medication-refractory (n = 25).

Validation of Proprietary and Novel Step-counting Algorithms for Individuals Ambulating With a Lower Limb Prosthesis.

Objective: To compare the accuracy and reliability of 10 different accelerometer-based step-counting algorithms for individuals with lower limb loss, accounting for different clinical characteristics and real-world activities.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: General community setting (ie, institutional research laboratory and community free-living).

Reliability of home-based remote and self-assessment of transfers using the Transfer Assessment Instrument among wheelchair users with spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Objective: To evaluate the reliability of home-based remote and self-assessment of transfer quality using the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI) among wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Participant's home environment.

Limb accelerations during sleep are related to measures of strength, sensation, and spasticity among individuals with spinal cord injury.

Background: To evaluate the relationship between measures of neuromuscular impairment and limb accelerations (LA) collected during sleep among individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) to provide evidence of construct and concurrent validity for LA as a clinically meaningful measure.

Methods: The strength (lower extremity motor score), sensation (summed lower limb light touch scores), and spasticity (categorized lower limb Modified Ashworth Scale) were measured from 40 adults with chronic (≥ 1 year) SCI. Demographics, pain, sleep quality, and other covariate or confounding factors were measured using self-report questionnaires.

Effectiveness of a Web-Based Direct-to-User Transfer Training Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a web-based, direct-to-user transfer training program in improving transfer quality and maintaining improvements for up to 1 month after training as compared with a control group.

Design: Randomized controlled trial with participants randomized to an immediate intervention group (IIG) or waitlist control group (WLCG) that received the training after a 6-month delay.

Setting: Wherever the participants accessed the web-based training, likely the home environment.

Changes in Internet Use Over Time Among Individuals with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

Objective: To investigate the changes in total internet and mobile internet use over time and determine how demographic characteristics are related to changes in internet and mobile internet use among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of a multicenter cohort study.

Setting: National SCI Database.

Toward Improving the Prediction of Functional Ambulation After Spinal Cord Injury Through the Inclusion of Limb Accelerations During Sleep and Personal Factors.

Objective: To determine if functional measures of ambulation can be accurately classified using clinical measures; demographics; personal, psychosocial, and environmental factors; and limb accelerations (LAs) obtained during sleep among individuals with chronic, motor incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) in an effort to guide future, longitudinal predictions models.

Design: Cross-sectional, 1-5 days of data collection.

Setting: Community-based data collection.

Intra- and Interrater Reliability of Remote Assessment of Transfers by Wheelchair Users Using the Transfer Assessment Instrument (Version 4.0).

Objective: To evaluate the reliability, standard error of measurement, minimum detectable change, and item-level consistency of the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI) version 4.0 when used to evaluate transfer quality remotely.

Design: Participants transferred from their wheelchair to a mat table (transfer 1), repeated this after a 10-minute delay to assess intrarater reliability (transfer 2), and repeated this 1-2 days later to assess test-retest reliability (transfer 3).

Concurrent Validity and Reliability of the Transfer Assessment Instrument Questionnaire as a Self-Assessment Measure.

Objectives: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Transfer Assessment Instrument Questionnaire (TAI-Q), a self-assessment measure to evaluate transfer quality compared with clinician-reported measures.

Design: Participants self-assessed transfers from their wheelchair to a mat table using the TAI-Q. For session 1, participants self-assessed their transfer both before and after reviewing a video of themselves completing the transfer (session 1).

Reliability and Validity of the Revised Transfer Assessment Instrument.

Proper transfer technique is associated with improved biomechanics and decreased pain and pathology. However, many users do not use proper technique, and appropriate assessment and training are needed to address these deficits. The transfer assessment instrument (TAI) 4.

Investigating the Efficacy of Web-Based Transfer Training on Independent Wheelchair Transfers Through Randomized Controlled Trials.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of a web-based transfer training module at improving transfer technique across 3 groups: web-based training, in-person training (current standard of practice), and a waitlist control group (WLCG); and secondarily, to determine subject factors that can be used to predict improvements in transfer ability after training.

Design: Randomized controlled trials.

Setting: Summer and winter sporting events for disabled veterans.

Biomechanical Analysis of Internal Fixation Methods for Distal Interphalangeal Joint Arthrodesis.

Background: The biomechanical performance of distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) fixation techniques in response to cyclic and load-to-failure bending loads is generally unknown. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of 4 commonly used techniques for DIP arthrodesis.

Methods: Phalanges were fixed by one of the following techniques: (1) 2 parallel Kirschner wires (K-wires), (2) 1 longitudinal K-wire and 1 oblique K-wire, (3) an Acutrak® 2 Micro headless compression screw, or (4) 90-90 wiring.