Technology-Assisted Upper Limb Therapy (TAULT): Evaluation of Clinical Practice at a Specialised Centre for Spinal Cord Injury in Switzerland.

(1) Improving upper limb function is essential for people with tetraplegia. Although promising, technology-assisted upper limb training is understudied in this population. This article describes its implementation in a Swiss spinal cord injury rehabilitation centre and reports on the observed changes.

Minimal Clinically Important Difference of Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension Version 1 in Acute Cervical Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

The Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension Version 1 (GRASSP v1) is a validated measure of upper extremity impairment shown to be sensitive and responsive for traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) in both North American (NA) and European (EU) cohorts. The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is the quantitative change in an assessment scale that patients perceive as being beneficial. Our aim was to establish the MCID of all subtests of the GRASSP v1 for cervical SCI.

Characteristics of Upper Limb Impairment Related to Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Development of a Sensitive Hand Assessment (Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension Version Myelopathy).

Background: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) involves spinal cord compression, which causes neurological decline. Neurological impairment in DCM is variable and can involve complex upper limb dysfunction including loss of manual dexterity, hyperreflexia, focal weakness, and sensory impairment. The modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score relies on the patients' subjective perceptions, whereas existing objective measures such as strength and sensory testing do not capture subtle changes in dexterity and function.

The graded redefined assessment of strength sensibility and prehension version 2 (GV2): Psychometric properties.

GRASSP Version 1 (GV1) was developed in 2010, is an upper extremity measure specifically designed to assess recovery after traumatic tetraplegia. second version was developed to reduce length of the test and refine instructions/standardization. The purpose of this analysis was to calculate psychometric properties of GRASSP Version 2 (GV2).

Predicting upper limb compensation during prehension tasks in tetraplegic spinal cord injured patients using a single wearable sensor.

Upper limb (UL) compensation is a common strategy of patients with a high spinal cord injury (SCI), i.e., tetraplegic patients, to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) despite their sensorimotor deficits.

Reliability of Wearable-Sensor-Derived Measures of Physical Activity in Wheelchair-Dependent Spinal Cord Injured Patients.

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to have a positive influence on functional recovery in patients after a spinal cord injury (SCI). Hence, it can act as a confounder in clinical intervention studies. Wearable sensors are used to quantify PA in various neurological conditions.

The Graded and Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension Version 2 Provides Interval Measure Properties.

The Graded and Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility and Prehension (GRASSP) is a valid, reliable, and responsive outcome measure to evaluate upper limb function in individuals with tetraplegia. GRASSP generates ordinal total scores; therefore, applicability as an interval level measurement requires testing of its measurement properties. This study examined the metric characteristics with Rasch Analysis to derive interval level scales of the respective GRASSP subtests.

Monitoring Upper Limb Recovery after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: Insights beyond Assessment Scores.

Background: Preclinical investigations in animal models demonstrate that enhanced upper limb (UL) activity during rehabilitation promotes motor recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). Despite this, following SCI in humans, no commonly applied training protocols exist, and therefore, activity-based rehabilitative therapies (ABRT) vary in frequency, duration, and intensity. Quantification of UL recovery is limited to subjective questionnaires or scattered measures of muscle function and movement tasks.

Predictive Value of Upper Limb Muscles and Grasp Patterns on Functional Outcome in Cervical Spinal Cord Injury.

Objective: To determine which single or combined upper limb muscles as defined by the International Standards for the Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI); upper extremity motor score (UEMS) and the Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension (GRASSP), best predict upper limb function and independence in activities of daily living (ADLs) and to assess the predictive value of qualitative grasp movements (QlG) on upper limb function in individuals with acute tetraplegia.

Method: As part of a Europe-wide, prospective, longitudinal, multicenter study ISNCSCI, GRASSP, and Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM III) scores were recorded at 1 and 6 months after SCI. For prediction of upper limb function and ADLs, a logistic regression model and unbiased recursive partitioning conditional inference tree (URP-CTREE) were used.

Study participation rate of patients with acute spinal cord injury early during rehabilitation.

Study Design: Retrospective observational study.

Objectives: To investigate the study participation rate of patients with acute spinal cord injury (SCI) early during rehabilitation after conveying preliminary study information.

Setting: Single SCI rehabilitation center in Switzerland.

Prediction and stratification of upper limb function and self-care in acute cervical spinal cord injury with the graded redefined assessment of strength, sensibility, and prehension (GRASSP).

Background: There is inherent heterogeneity within individuals suffering from cervical spinal cord injury (SCI), and early prediction of upper limb function and self-care is challenging. As a result, considerable uncertainty exists regarding the prediction of functional outcome following cervical SCI within 1 year of injury.

Objective: To evaluate the value of Graded Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension (GRASSP) in predicting upper limb function and self-care outcomes in individuals with cervical SCI.

Epicritic sensation in cervical spinal cord injury: diagnostic gains beyond testing light touch.

Abstract Applied as a bedside test of gross dorsal column function, the testing of light touch (LT) sensation is of high clinical value in the diagnosis of human spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the assessment of overall dorsal column deficit by testing only LT may be limited, because the dorsal column pathway conveys several large diameter afferent modalities (e.g.

Nurses' intervention goal categories for persons with spinal cord injury based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: an international Delphi survey.

Aim: To examine whether the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health can be used as standard language to express intervention goals on the part of nurses caring for persons with spinal cord injury.

Background: This classification is multipurpose and is designed to organize a wide range of health-related information that can be used in any healthcare context and especially by interdisciplinary teams.

Design: A three-round, consensus-building, electronic-mail survey using the Delphi technique.

A systematic literature review of outcome measures for upper extremity function using the international classification of functioning, disability, and health as reference.

Objective: To provide information regarding the (1) responsiveness and reliability of different outcome measures used with persons who have impairments in upper extremity function and (2) their content validity based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF).

Data Sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE databases were systematically searched for studies on outcome measures used to evaluate upper extremity function; only studies written in English and published between July 1997 and July 2010 were considered.

Study Selection: One investigator reviewed titles and abstracts of the identified studies to determine whether the studies met predefined eligibility criteria (eg, study design, age <18 years).

Identification of problems in individuals with spinal cord injury from the health professional perspective using the ICF: a worldwide expert survey.

Study Design: Worldwide Internet survey.

Objectives: The specific aims of the study were (1) to identify problems of individuals with SCI in the early post-acute and the long-term context, respectively, addressed by health professionals and (2) to summarize these problems using the ICF.

Setting: International.