Pilgrimage of pain: the illness experiences of women with repetition strain injury and the search for credibility.

Repetition strain injury (RSI), a non-specific and controversial constellation of work-related hand, arm and neck symptoms, became epidemic in Australian industry in the early 1980s. Fifty-two women who worked in a telecommunications organisation and a chicken processing factory and had been diagnosed as having RSI were interviewed about their perceptions and experiences of the illness. Their accounts of the search for caring and treatment, including their encounter with health and medical practitioners, suggest that the need to be believed and to establish their integrity dominated their 'pilgrimage'.

Academic performance of mature-age and other students in a physiotherapy program.

Students enrolled in the physiotherapy undergraduate program of the University of Sydney comprise school leavers (students who have completed secondary school-category A) and non-school leavers (category B), including mature-age students (23 years and older). Student selection is based upon academic performance (categories A and B) and personal interview (category B only). Statistical evaluations of the academic performance of 799 students who commenced the undergraduate course between 1982 and 1986 revealed a) no significant difference between the time taken to complete the undergraduate program; b) in 26 of 31 compulsory subjects, category A and category B students performed equally well; in one subject category, B students performed significantly better; in three subjects, the mature-age students performed significantly better; and only in one subject did mature-age students perform less well; c) no difference in the academic performance of male and female students; d) the Higher School Certificate aggregate provided a poor to moderate indicator of academic performance.

Embryotoxicity of xylene and toluene: an in vitro study.

Exposure to aromatic hydrocarbon solvents during pregnancy has been reported to adversely affect human embryonic development. This exposure may be due to deliberate abuse or may occur in the workplace. Xylene and toluene are the most common solvents encountered in the workplace and toluene is a constituent of commonly abused substances.

Effects of prolonged exercise at a similar percentage of maximal oxygen consumption in trained and untrained subjects.

Six trained male cyclists and six untrained but physically active men participated in this study to test the hypothesis that the use of percentage maximal oxygen consumption (%VO2max) as a normalising independent variable is valid despite significant differences in the absolute VO2max of trained and untrained subjects. The subjects underwent an exercise test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer to determine VO2max and lactate threshold. The subjects were grouped as trained (T) if their VO2max exceeded 60 ml.

The effect of surgical handwashing routines on the microbial counts of operating room nurses.

Many factors may affect the efficiency of handwashing techniques. This study examined two interdependent factors: the time taken to wash the hands and the type of antiseptic solution used. A 3-minute initial scrub and 30-second consecutive scrub regimen was compared with a current standard regimen of a 5-minute initial scrub and a 3-minute consecutive scrub.

The development of the New South Wales Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS): the first year.

Many immigrants to Australia are refugees, some of whom have experienced acute stress and trauma, including torture, prior to or during their escape from their home countries. In response to a growing recognition that the health care services may not be meeting the needs of these people the NSW Department of Health funded the establishment of a community-based rehabilitation service for traumatised refugees. This paper provides an overview of the recent history of the service, some of the organisational and staffing issues faced during its first year, some characteristics of the first 200 clients, principles of treatment, clinical, nosological and therapeutic issues and relationships with other agencies.

Direct early intervention with stuttering: some preliminary data.

Many clinicians recognize a need for direct intervention with cases of early stuttering. However, this recognition is not supported by adequate empirical information about how such cases should be managed. One possibility is that early stuttering might be controllable by parent-administered, operant, verbal stimulation procedures.

Measurement of stiffness during simulated spinal physiotherapy.

A new device was designed to simulate a physiotherapist's assessment of spinal stiffness. The device applies an oscillating postero-anterior force over a spinous process and the force-displacement relation is measured. From these data the stiffness of the movement can be computed.

Cardiovascular responses to arm cranking and FNS-induced leg exercise in paraplegics.

Twelve spinal cord-injured males performed arm-crank exercise (ACE) with and without concurrent functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) of paralyzed leg muscles to investigate the hypothesis that FNS would augment cardiovascular performance during submaximal ACE. Six men who exhibited vigorous isometric contractions of thigh and calf muscles were classed as "responders" to FNS (R), and the remaining subjects with poor or nonexistent contractions served as "nonresponder controls" (C). Steady-state heart rate and oxygen uptake during ACE at 30, 60, and 90 W were not appreciably different from the ACE + FNS condition.

Reciprocal aided gait in paraplegia.

A group of 9 male paraplegics, experienced in the use of walking aids for ambulation, were tested using an alternate four-point gait. Data were collected pertaining to the axial load transmitted through the crutches, the upper limb joint displacements and the moments about the elbow and shoulder joints during the period of contact of the walking aid with the ground. This gait was found to be slow with long periods of load transmission through the walking aids.

Biomechanical comparison of two paraplegic gait patterns.

A study is presented comparing the kinetic and kinematic characteristics of two gait patterns in common use by paraplegics. Data were collected using a combined kinetic and kinematic process from a total of 14 subjects with lesion of the spinal cord. Significant differences were derived for gait velocity and for the axial load transmission by the walking aids in both gaits.

Aided gait in rheumatoid arthritis following knee arthroplasty.

A study is presented of a biomechanical comparison of two different aided gait patterns used by rheumatoid arthritis patients after knee joint surgery. Subjects using alternating and step-to gait patterns were compared when ambulating with forearm-support crutches. Data were collected via instrumented walking aids and 16mm cameras.

Effect of feedback on learning a vertebral joint mobilization skill.

This study was designed to investigate whether concurrent quantitative feedback of performance could improve the learning of a joint mobilization technique. A group of 110 physical therapy students had been randomly divided into two groups for teaching purposes. All students had previously learned mobilization of peripheral joints and were currently learning spinal mobilization.

Health and ageing in Australia: Is there culture after sixty?

This paper examines health and ageing in Australia using the concept of culture as a constitutive human process through which people create specific and different ways of life. Beliefs about and attitudes towards "frailty" and ill health among the old, and their associated practices, form the unifying theme. The ways in which such beliefs and practices are necessarily connected with material social structures and processes (especially class and gender relations) are emphasised.

Standing balance responses in two populations of elderly women: a pilot study.

A pilot study was conducted into the forces imposed on an instrumented, hand-held frame by two groups of elderly females. One group had been identified as having idiopathic gait disorders, and each subject had a history of falling for no apparent clinical reason. Tests were carried out to compare the responses of the two groups to single-leg-stance balance maneuvers.

Emerging patterns of disability distribution in developing countries.

A study based on the WHO model of community-based rehabilitation in Guangzhou City, China, is described. Preliminary epidemiological data are reported, and compared with analogous data from Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Confidence levels for estimates of the prevalence of limb dysfunction, visual dysfunction, hearing and/or speech dysfunction, and mental retardation are also reported.

Evaluation of reproductive function of female rats exposed to radiofrequency fields (27.12 MHz) near a shortwave diathermy device.

In recent years, there has been increased concern regarding effects of operator exposure to the electromagnetic (EM) field associated with shortwave diathermy devices. The present study was designed to investigate the effects, on rats, of repeated exposure to such an EM field. Following repeated exposure for 5 wk, a reduction in fertility occurred as indicated by a reduced number of matings in exposed rats compared to sham-irradiated rats and a reduction in the number of rats that conceived after mating.

Metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses relative to the anaerobic threshold.

The present study has compared the metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses for two groups of male subjects during 20 min of exercise at the anaerobic threshold (AT), at AT + 1/3, and at AT + 2/3 of the difference (delta) between AT and VO2max. A log-log transformation of the lactate (LA)-power output relationship was used to define AT and divide subjects into a high (N = 7, AT = 51.9 +/- 1.

The relationship between the ventilation and lactate thresholds following normal, low and high carbohydrate diets.

Five men performed an incremental exercise test following a normal, low and high carbohydrate dietary regimen over a 7-day period, to examine the influence of an altered carbohydrate energy intake on the relationship between the ventilation (VET) and lactate (LaT) thresholds. VET and LaT were determined from the ventilatory equivalents for O2 (VE.VO2(-1) and CO2 (VE.

Gender differences in allied health students' knowledge of disabled women and men.

Disabled women experience greater handicaps than disabled men do. A survey of 907 students in six allied health professions indicated that the majority lacked knowledge of 13 sex differences in frequency of occurrence of physical disabilities and handicaps. Female students revealed greater unawareness.

Effects of frontalis tension level on discrimination task accuracy and reaction time.

The frontalis muscle is a focal point of many relaxation training programmes, so the effects of varying frontalis tension levels on concurrent task performance need consideration when recommending in situ muscle relaxation. Two experiments are reported; performance on a discrimination task was examined across high, moderate, and low induced frontalis tension. When length of exposure to the task stimuli was unlimited, accuracy of discrimination was affected by tension; when exposure was limited, reaction time was affected.

Rectal and rectal vs. esophageal temperatures in paraplegic men during prolonged exercise.

This study investigated the rectal (Tre), esophageal (Tes), and skin (Tsk) temperature changes in a group of trained traumatic paraplegic men pushing their own wheelchairs on a motor-driven treadmill for a prolonged period in a neutral environment. There were two experiments. The first experiment (Tre and Tsk) involved a homogeneous group (T10-T12/L3) of highly trained paraplegic men [maximum O2 uptake (VO2max) 47.

Effects of prolonged exercise in highly trained traumatic paraplegic men.

This study investigated the cardiovascular and metabolic responses to prolonged wheelchair exercise in a group of highly trained, traumatic paraplegic men. Six endurance-trained subjects with spinal cord lesions from T10 to T12/L3 underwent a maximal incremental exercise test in which they propelled their own track wheelchairs on a motor-driven treadmill to exhaustion to determine maximal O2 uptake (VO2max) and related variables. One week later each subject exercised in the same wheelchair on a motorized treadmill at 60-65% of VO2max for 80 min in a thermoneutral environment (dry bulb 22 degrees C, wet bulb 17 degrees C).

PAIN MECHANISMS - A REVIEW: II. Afferent pain pathways.

This paper reviews some major advances in our understanding of the organization of afferent pain pathways, and relates these and other findings to the limited success rate achieved by various surgical interventions used in the treatment of chronic intractable pain. First-order pain afferents, many of which use the transmitter substance P, may enter the spinal cord via both the dorsal and ventral roots. After terminating superficially in the dorsal horn, information may apparently ascend to higher centres via numerous pathways, some of which are contralateral some ipsilateral.

Parent participation in paediatric physiotherapy home programmes.

Many studies attest to low levels of compliance behaviour by receivers of health care instructions. The present study investigated this problem in the context of physiotherapy. A questionnaire on parent participation was administered to 93 English-speaking mothers of young children receiving physiotherapy at eight Sydney hospitals or centres.