The Role of Walking Experience in the Emergence of Gait Harmony in Typically Developing Toddlers.

The ability to walk without support usually develops in the first year of a typically developing toddler's life and matures further in the following years. Mature walking is characterized by the correct timing of the different gait phases that make up a full gait cycle formed by stance, swing, and double support phases. The harmony of mature walking is given by a specific self-similar structure of the ratios between the durations of these phases (stride/stance, stance/swing, swing/double support), that in adults all converge to the golden ratio (phi, about 1.

Effects of a posture shirt with back active correction keeper on static and dynamic balance in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) suffer from postural disorders. This study aims at investigating the short- and medium-term effects of a shirt with appropriate tie-rods that allows to correct the posture of the trunk.

Methods: This is a longitudinal clinical study in which a pressure platform was used to assess the static and dynamic baropodometry and the static stabilometry of 20 patients with PD (70.

Continuity of Care During COVID-19 Lockdown: A Survey on Stakeholders' Experience With Telerehabilitation.

To explore professionals', adult patients', and children's caregivers' perception and satisfaction with telerehabilitation during COVID-19 lockdown. An observational transversal study on a web-based survey was conducted in order to explore participants' perception and satisfaction of telerehabilitation during COVID-19 lockdown. The study was conducted at our Outpatient Neurorehabilitation Service.

Influence of systemic infection and comorbidities on rehabilitation outcomes in severe acquired brain injury.

Background: Severe infectious complications are a frequent problem in patients with disability due to a severe acquired brain injury. Previous studies reported that the rehabilitation outcome is significantly lower in patients colonized or infected. However, these results could be influenced by comorbidities of those patients admitted in rehabilitation hospital with a lower functional status.

Covid-19: A Dynamic Analysis of Fatality Risk in Italy.

Italy was the second country in the world to face a wide epidemic of Covid-19 after China. The ratio of the number of fatalities to the number of cases (case fatality ratio, CFR) recorded in Italy was surprisingly high and increased in the month of March. The older mean age of population, the changes in testing policy, and the methodological computation of CFR were previously reported as possible explanations for the incremental trend of CFR, a parameter theoretically expected to be constant.

Assistive products and childhood neurodisability: a retrospective study on factors associated with aids/orthoses prescription.

Background: Children affected by pathologies causing neurodisability go through motor, cognitive, sensory and other limitations. The selection of assistive products can influence their level of independence and quality of life.

Aim: The present study investigated the possibility to assess the equipment needs of children with neurodisabilities, based on their clinical characteristics.

Clinical features of fallers among inpatient subacute stroke: an observational cohort study.

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study is to observe the differences between fallers, common fallers, and non-fallers in stroke patients compared with the global ability in a rehabilitation setting.

Materials And Methods: An observational and prospective study has been carried out. A total of 476 subacute stroke patients have been observed.

Robot-assisted therapy for arm recovery for stroke patients: state of the art and clinical implication.

: Robot-assisted therapy is an emerging approach that performs highly repetitive, intensive, task oriented and quantifiable neuro-rehabilitation. In the last decades, it has been increasingly used in a wide range of neurological central nervous system conditions implying an upper limb paresis. Results from the studies are controversial, for the many types of robots and their features often not accompanied by specific clinical indications about the target functions, fundamental for the individualized neurorehabilitation program.

Stable or able? Effect of virtual reality stimulation on static balance of post-stroke patients and healthy subjects.

Over the last decades, virtual reality (VR) emerged as a potential tool for developing new rehabilitation treatments in neurological patients. However, despite the increasing number of studies, a clear comprehension about the impact of immersive VR-treatment on balance and posture is still scarce. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of VR cues on balance performances of subjects affected by stroke, age-matched healthy subjects, and young healthy subjects.

Exercise treatment effect modifiers in persistent low back pain: an individual participant data meta-analysis of 3514 participants from 27 randomised controlled trials.

Background: Low back pain is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Exercise therapy is widely recommended to treat persistent non-specific low back pain. While evidence suggests exercise is, on average, moderately effective, there remains uncertainty about which individuals might benefit the most from exercise.

Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Rehabilitation Outcomes in Subacute Stroke With Dysphagia.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between body mass index and rehabilitation outcome in hemiparetic patients with stroke in subacute phase.

Design: This was a prospective study testing the correlation between body mass index and the effectiveness of rehabilitation, measured using Barthel Index scores. We enrolled patients with subacute stroke (n = 664; age, 68 ± 14 yrs; length of hospital stay, 84 ± 34 days).

A stimulus for eating. The use of neuromuscular transcutaneous electrical stimulation in patients affected by severe dysphagia after subacute stroke: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a common problem in subacute stroke patients leading to aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition. Non-invasive neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) coupled with traditional therapy could be best treatment option for patients with post-stroke dysphagia, however results are still inconclusive and more studies are requested.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of laryngopharyngeal neuromuscular electrical stimulation on dysphagia caused by stroke.

Rehabilitative devices for a top-down approach.

Introduction: In recent years, neurorehabilitation has moved from a 'bottom-up' to a 'top down' approach. This change has also involved the technological devices developed for motor and cognitive rehabilitation. It implies that during a task or during therapeutic exercises, new 'top-down' approaches are being used to stimulate the brain in a more direct way to elicit plasticity-mediated motor re-learning.

Dynamic balance assessment during gait in children with Down and Prader-Willi syndromes using inertial sensors.

Down (DS) and Prader-Willi (PWS) syndromes are chromosomal disorders both characterized by obesity, ligament laxity, and hypotonia, the latter associated with gait instability. Although these shared features may justify a common rehabilitation approach, evidence exists that adults with DS and PWS adopt different postural and walking strategies. The development of an instrumented protocol able to describe these strategies and quantify patients' gait stability in the current clinical routine would be of great benefit for health professionals, allowing them to design personalized rehabilitation programs.

Effect of Cerebellar Stimulation on Gait and Balance Recovery in Patients With Hemiparetic Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Gait and balance impairment is associated with poorer functional recovery after stroke. The cerebellum is known to be strongly implicated in the functional reorganization of motor networks in patients with stroke, especially for gait and balance functions.

Objective: To determine whether cerebellar intermittent θ-burst stimulation (CRB-iTBS) can improve balance and gait functions in patients with hemiparesis due to stroke.

Vestibular rehabilitation has positive effects on balance, fatigue and activities of daily living in highly disabled multiple sclerosis people: A preliminary randomized controlled trial.

Background: Balance disorders are present in patients with Multiple Sclerosis and part of these disorders could be of vestibular origin. Vestibular Rehabilitation was found to be effective in improving balance in patients with central vestibular dysfunction.

Objective: To investigate the clinical effects of vestibular rehabilitation on balance skills and secondly on fatigue and activity of daily living in highly disabled multiple sclerosis people.

Usefulness of Magnetoinertial Wearable Devices in Neurorehabilitation of Children with Cerebral Palsy.

Background: Despite the increasing use of wearable magnetoinertial measurement units (MIMUs) for gait analysis, the efficacy of MIMU-based assessment for planning rehabilitation has not been adequately documented yet.

Methods: The usefulness of a MIMU-based assessment was evaluated comparing the data acquired by three MIMUs located at the pelvis, sternum, and head levels in 12 children with cerebral palsy (CP, age: 2-9 years) and 12 age-matched children with typical development (TD). Gait stability was quantified in terms of acceleration attenuation coefficients from pelvis to head, pelvis to sternum, and sternum to head.

Proprioception sense in lymphedema affected upper limb.

This study aimed to provide information on proprioception alterations in lymphedema-affected limbs. Blindfolded subjects sat at a table with their forearms positioned on paddles. The hinges of the paddles were aligned with the elbow joint and an electronic goniometer was positioned to measure the angle of the forearm.

Watch your step! Who can recover stair climbing independence after stroke?

Background: After discharge, most patients who have suffered a stroke remain with some limitations in their stair climbing ability. This is a critical factor in order to be independent in real-life mobility. Although there are several studies on prognostic factors for gait recovery, few of them have focused on the recovery of stair climbing.

Vestibular rehabilitation training in patients with subacute stroke: A preliminary randomized controlled trial.

Background: Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) consists in a customized exercise program patient-centred that includes a combination of different exercise components with the aim to promote gaze stability, improve balance and gait, and facilitate somatosensory integration.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of customized vestibular rehabilitation training on gait stability of patients with subacute stroke.

Methods: Twenty-five inpatients (12 M, age: 64.

Bilateral upper limb rehabilitation with videogame-based feedback in corticobasal degeneration: a case reports study.

Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a combination of cortical and basal ganglia signs. We reported two cases treated with a bilateral upper limb rehabilitation tool with videogame based feedback for 3 time per week for 8 weeks. Both patients showed an improvement of pinch and grasp forces and motor function.

A new tool to assess responsiveness in disorders of consciousness (DoC): a preliminary study on the Brief Post-Coma Scale (BPCS).

Introduction: The Brief Post-Coma Scale (BPCS) is an easy diagnostic tool for individuals with disorders of consciousness (DoC), in a reduced version from a previously Post-Coma Scale, that could distinguish patients in the minimally conscious state (MCS) from those in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), formerly defined as vegetative state (VS).

Objective: Aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic validity of the BPCS in comparison with the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R), in its Italian validated version, the Disability Rating Scale (DRS), the Level of Cognitive Functioning (LCF), and the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).

Methods: In an Italian multicenter study on 545 patients with DoC, 36 post-acute rehabilitation wards, 32 long-term care centers, and 2 family associations participated to data collection.

Romberg ratio coefficient in quiet stance and postural control in Parkinson's disease.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to determine the function of visual afference in postural control in Parkinson patients. We enrolled 29 patients and 30 healthy controls. The stabilometry test was performed for posture and balance and Romberg ratio coefficients were calculated.

Prediction Model for the Presence of Complications at Admission to Rehabilitation After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

Complications frequently occur in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) during acute care or rehabilitation and have an impact on rehabilitation outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence and risk factors for complications in recently injured SCI patients. : Two hundred fifty patients with traumatic injuries with and without complications were counted for the following dichotomous parameters: gender (male/female), associated lesions (presence/absence), surgery (yes/no), American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade (A/other categories), lesion level (lumbar/other levels), and lesion-to-admission time (less than/longer than 1 month).