Outcome Measures for Persons With Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Recommendations From the American Physical Therapy Association Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy TBI EDGE Task Force.

Background And Purpose: The use of standardized outcome measures (OMs) is essential in assessing the effectiveness of physical therapy (PT) interventions. The purposes of this article are (1) to describe the process used by the TBI EDGE task force to assess the psychometrics and clinical utility of OMs used with individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI); (2) to describe the consensus recommendations for OM use in clinical practice, research, and professional (entry-level) PT education; and (3) to make recommendations for future work.

Methods: An 8-member task force used a modified Delphi process to develop recommendations on the selection of OMs for individuals with TBI.

Comparison of fallers and nonfallers at an inpatient rehabilitation facility: a retrospective review.

Unlabelled: Patients in an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) are at increased fall risk. However, little IRF research has focused on fall risk.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively examine differences between 35 patients who fell and 35 who did not during their IRF stay .

Effectiveness of polymer-coated extended-release morphine sulfate capsules in older patients with persistent moderate-to-severe pain: A subgroup analysis of a large, open-label, community-based trial.

Unlabelled: Abstract.

Background: Opioid analgesics may offer benefits over nonopioids in some older patients, especially those with moderate-to-severe pain. Polymer-coated extended-release morphine sulfate (P-ERMS) has been found to be efficacious and well tolerated in patients with chronic, moderate-to-severe, nonmalignant pain when used QD or BID.

Role of frontal cortex in inferential reasoning: evidence from the word context test.

Problem: Inferential reasoning in language involves the ability to deduce information based on context and prior experience. This ability has been generally studied as a right-hemisphere function. Recent research, however, has suggested that inferencing involves anterior regions of both the left and right hemispheres.

Mental status and behavioral changes in the early postacute phase of care.

Neurocognitive sequelae of stroke create a significant impact on the patient and frequently disrupt recovery from the physical manifestations. This article strives to review types of neurocognitive changes after stroke and discuss the underlying pathophysiology. Management options are presented for the diverse changes that may be encountered.

Influence of specific stroke diagnosis on prognostication, recovery, and early management.

Strokes are focal lesions in the brain and as such bring about deficits and portend a course of recovery depending on the nature of the lesion. Given the large number of possible combinations of locations, sizes, and types of lesions, a clear and reliable formula for predicting outcomes based on these characteristics has been statistically difficult, particularly early in the course of recovery. Severity of deficit and age of the patient accounts for sufficient variability that the influence of other factors becomes statistically harder to illustrate.

Modern stroke unit.

The modern stroke unit is making significant contributions to the care of stroke victims and is proving to be an effective, cost-saving enterprise. The precise factors that contribute to the efficacy of these units have yet to be identified, but a combination of protocolized approaches to patient care, critical paths, a focus of expertise, and heightened index of suspicion for comorbidities all probably play a role. This article outlines the basic features of a modern stroke unit and surveys the literature on stroke unit outcomes.

Using participant observation to study the meaning of occupations of young children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Understanding the individual meaning of daily activities for children with developmental disabilities such as autism is both important and challenging for researchers and practitioners. Rigorous participant observation offers a method for developing this knowledge base by including the child's perspective. Through literature and examples from an ethnography of young children with autism, this article illustrates the application of participant observation to children with developmental disabilities.