Relationships between fear of falling, balance confidence, and control of balance, gait, and reactive stepping in individuals with sub-acute stroke.

Fear of falling is common in individuals with stroke; however, the associations between fear of falling, balance confidence, and the control of balance and gait are not well understood for this population. This study aimed to determine whether, at the time of admission to in-patient rehabilitation, specific features of balance and gait differed between individuals with stroke who did and did not report fear of falling, and whether these features were related to balance confidence. Individuals with stroke entering in-patient rehabilitation were asked if they were afraid of falling, and completed the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale.

Meta-analyses with industry involvement are massively published and report no caveats for antidepressants.

Objectives: To identify the impact of industry involvement in the publication and interpretation of meta-analyses of antidepressant trials in depression.

Study Design And Setting: Using MEDLINE, we identified all meta-analyses evaluating antidepressants for depression published in January 2007-March 2014. We extracted data pertaining to author affiliations, conflicts of interest, and whether the conclusion of the abstract included negative statements on whether the antidepressant(s) were effective or safe.

Facilitating Community-Based Exercise for People With Stroke: Cross-Sectional e-Survey of Physical Therapist Practice and Perceived Needs.

Background: Educating people with stroke about community-based exercise programs (CBEPs) is a recommended practice that physical therapists are well positioned to implement.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the provision of education about CBEPs to people with stroke, barriers to providing education, and preferences for resources to facilitate education among physical therapists in neurological practice.

Design: A cross-sectional e-survey of physical therapists treating adults with stroke in Ontario, Canada, was conducted.

Factors Influencing Physical Therapists' Use of Standardized Measures of Walking Capacity Poststroke Across the Care Continuum.

Background: The use of standardized assessment tools is an element of evidence-informed rehabilitation, but physical therapists report administering these tools inconsistently poststroke. An in-depth understanding of physical therapists' approaches to walking assessment is needed to develop strategies to advance assessment practice.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the methods physical therapists use to evaluate walking poststroke, reasons for selecting these methods, and the use of assessment results in clinical practice.

A cross-sectional, population-based study of HIV physicians and outpatient health care use by people with HIV in Ontario.

Background: People with HIV are living longer and their care has shifted towards the prevention and management of comorbidities. However, little is known about who is providing their care. Our objective was to characterize the provision of HIV care in Ontario by physician specialty.

Beyond silence: protocol for a randomized parallel-group trial comparing two approaches to workplace mental health education for healthcare employees.

Background: Mental illness is a significant and growing problem in Canadian healthcare organizations, leading to tremendous personal, social and financial costs for individuals, their colleagues, their employers and their patients. Early and appropriate intervention is needed, but unfortunately, few workers get the help that they need in a timely way due to barriers related to poor mental health literacy, stigma, and inadequate access to mental health services. Workplace education and training is one promising approach to early identification and support for workers who are struggling.

Health administrative data can be used to define a shared care typology for people with HIV.

Objectives: Building on an existing theoretical shared primary care/specialist care framework to (1) develop a unique typology of care for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Ontario, (2) assess sensitivity of the typology by varying typology definitions, and (3) describe characteristics of typology categories.

Study Design And Setting: Retrospective population-based observational study from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2012. A total of 13,480 eligible patients with HIV and receiving publicly funded health care in Ontario.

The effect of prophylactic percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube placement on swallowing and swallow-related outcomes in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: a systematic review.

Patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer (HNC) often experience malnutrition and dehydration during treatment. As a result, some centres place PEG tubes prophylactically (pPEG) to prevent these negative consequences. However, recent research has suggested that pPEG use may negatively affect swallowing physiology, function and/or quality of life, especially in the long term.

Visual speech gestures modulate efferent auditory system.

Visual and auditory systems interact at both cortical and subcortical levels. Studies suggest a highly context-specific cross-modal modulation of the auditory system by the visual system. The present study builds on this work by sampling data from 17 young healthy adults to test whether visual speech stimuli evoke different responses in the auditory efferent system compared to visual non-speech stimuli.

Views of people with traumatic spinal cord injury about the components of self-management programs and program delivery: a Canadian pilot study.

Background: Given the increasing emphasis on the community management of spinal cord injury (SCI), strategies that could be developed and implemented in order to empower and engage individuals with SCI in promoting their health and minimizing the risk of health conditions are required. A self-management program could be one approach to address these complex needs, including secondary complications. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the importance attributed to the components of a self-management program by individuals with traumatic SCI and explore their views/opinions about the delivery of such a program.

Stroke survivors', caregivers', and health care professionals' perspectives on the weekend pass to facilitate transition home.

Objective: To explore stroke survivors', caregivers', and health care professionals' perceptions of weekend passes offered during inpatient rehabilitation and its role in facilitating the transition home.

Design: Qualitative descriptive.

Subjects: Sixteen stroke survivors, 15 caregivers, and 20 health care professionals' from a rehabilitation hospital.

Bioethical considerations.

The clinical literature notes that pregnancy has become an expected benefit of solid organ transplant. Establishing "best practices" in the management of this particular transplant population requires careful consideration of the ethical dimensions, broadly speaking, of posttransplant pregnancies and these women's lived experiences. In this article, we present the current clinical and social science posttransplant pregnancy research.

Dysphagia and associated risk factors following extubation in cardiovascular surgical patients.

Following cardiovascular (CV) surgery, prolonged mechanical ventilation of >48 h increases dysphagia frequency over tenfold: 51 % compared to 3-4 % across all durations. Our primary objective was to identify dysphagia frequency following CV surgery with respect to intubation duration. Our secondary objective was to explore characteristics associated with dysphagia across the entire sample.

Applying knowledge translation theory to physical therapy research and practice in balance and gait assessment: case report.

Background And Purpose: Knowledge translation (KT) is an emerging discipline with a focus on implementing health evidence in decision making and clinical practice. Knowledge translation theories provide conceptual frameworks that can direct research focused on optimizing best practice. The objective of this case report is to describe one prominent KT theory--the knowledge-to-action (KTA) framework--and how it was applied to research on balance and gait assessment in physical therapist practice.

Improving access to emergent spinal care through knowledge translation: an ethnographic study.

Background: For patients and family members, access to timely specialty medical care for emergent spinal conditions is a significant stressor to an already serious condition. Timing to surgical care for emergent spinal conditions such as spinal trauma is an important predictor of outcome. However, few studies have explored ethnographically the views of surgeons and other key stakeholders on issues related to patient access and care for emergent spine conditions.

Description of a formal clinical pathology on-call simulation workshop in preparing pathology residents to address common after-hours phone calls.

Objectives: Residents take clinical pathology call beginning in the second year of residency. However, this additional responsibility often causes anxiety in residents who may have had only limited contact with laboratory sections they will be covering on call. We set out to improve the practical knowledge and comfort of the residents before taking clinical pathology call.

Fracture risk assessment after BMD examination: whose job is it, anyway?

Unlabelled: Fracture risk assessments on bone mineral density reports guide family physicians' treatment decisions but are subject to inaccuracy. Qualitative analysis of interviews with 22 family physicians illustrates their pervasive questioning of reported assessment accuracy and independent assumption of responsibility for assessment. Assumption of responsibility is common despite duplicating specialists' work.

Development of an inter-professional clinical practice guideline for vocational evaluation following severe burn.

Purpose: To develop an inter-professional clinical practice guideline for vocational evaluation following severe burn.

Methods: The Canadian Medical Association's (CMA) handbook on clinical practice guideline and the appraisal of guidelines for research and evaluation (AGREE) were used to develop the guideline. The following steps from the CMA handbook were followed: (1) identifying the guideline's objective and questions; (2) systematic literature review; (3) study selection and quality appraisal and (4) development of clear recommendations by key stakeholders.

Effects of low intensity laser irradiation during healing of infected skin wounds in the rat.

Background And Objective: Low intensity laser irradiation remains a controversial treatment for non-healing wounds. This study examines the effect of low intensity light on healing of infected skin wounds in the rat.

Materials And Methods: Wounds on the rat dorsum were inoculated with .

Power mobility with collision avoidance for older adults: user, caregiver, and prescriber perspectives.

Collision avoidance technology has the capacity to facilitate safer mobility among older power mobility users with physical, sensory, and cognitive impairments, thus enabling independence for more users. Little is known about consumers' perceptions of collision avoidance. This article draws on interviews (29 users, 5 caregivers, and 10 prescribers) to examine views on design and utilization of this technology.

Randomized clinical trial of the Timing it Right Stroke Family Support Program: research protocol.

Background: Family caregivers provide invaluable support to stroke survivors during their recovery, rehabilitation, and community re-integration. Unfortunately, it is not standard clinical practice to prepare and support caregivers in this role and, as a result, many experience stress and poor health that can compromise stroke survivor recovery and threaten the sustainability of keeping the stroke survivor at home. We developed the Timing it Right Stroke Family Support Program (TIRSFSP) to guide the timing of delivering specific types of education and support to meet caregivers' evolving needs.

Examining the impact of familiarity on faucet usability for older adults with dementia.

Background: Changes in cognition caused by dementia can significantly alter how a person perceives familiarity, impacting the recognition and usability of everyday products. A person who is unable to use products cannot autonomously complete associated activities, resulting in increased dependence on a caregiver and potential move to assisted living facilities. The research presented in this paper hypothesised that products that are more familiar will result in better usability for older adults with dementia.

Potassium changes associated with blood transfusion in pediatric patients.

Storing packed red blood cells (pRBCs) increases the potassium concentration. This effect is characterized in citrate phosphate dextrose/citrate phosphate dextrose adenine units but not published for Adsol (AS-5) units. The change in whole-blood potassium concentration in pediatric patients during routine transfusion is also poorly characterized.

Workplace antistigma initiatives: a scoping study.

Objective: The purpose of this scoping study was to identify and describe the principles and characteristics embedded in workplace mental health antistigma initiatives. Research in this area is diffuse and not well synthesized. Therefore, a scoping study is useful in generating a breadth of coverage and identifying all relevant literature on the topic regardless of study design.

Impact of quality improvement strategies on the quality of life and well-being of individuals with spinal cord injury: a systematic review protocol.

Background: After a spinal cord injury, quality of life, as well as the determinants of quality of life, has been widely assessed. However, to date, there have been no systematic reviews on the impact of quality improvement strategies, including self-management strategies, on the quality of life and well-being of individuals with a spinal cord injury. The current protocol outlines a strategy for a systematic review that aims to identify, assess, and synthesize evidence on the impact of quality improvement strategies on the quality of life and physical and psychological well-being of individuals with spinal cord injury.