Executive function after severe childhood traumatic brain injury - Age-at-injury vulnerability periods: The TGE prospective longitudinal study.

Background: Executive function (EF) impairment is a major predictor of overall outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI severity is a factor of poor outcome, but most studies include a majority of children with mild and moderate TBI. The aims of this study were to estimate EF impairment after severe childhood TBI and to explore factors predicting EF outcome.

A retrospective observational study of functional outcomes, length of stay, and discharge disposition after an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program in Saudi Arabia.

Functional outcomes, length of stay (LOS), and discharge disposition have become frequent outcome measures among stroke patients after rehabilitation programs. To examine the trends of changes in functional outcomes, LOS, and discharge disposition in stroke patients discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation facility.All patients (n = 432) were admitted to a tertiary inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with stroke diagnoses from November 2008 to December 2014.

A novel robot for imposing perturbations during overground walking: mechanism, control and normative stepping responses.

Background: The most common approach to studying dynamic balance during walking is by applying perturbations. Previous studies that investigated dynamic balance responses predominantly focused on applying perturbations in frontal plane while walking on treadmill. The goal of our work was to develop balance assessment robot (BAR) that can be used during overground walking and to assess normative balance responses to perturbations in transversal plane in a group of neurologically healthy individuals.

Optimizing the Management of Disabling Spasticity Following Spinal Cord Damage: The Ability Network-An International Initiative.

Optimizing the treatment of disabling spasticity in persons with spinal cord damage is hampered by a lack of consensus regarding the use of acceptable definitions of spasticity and disabling spasticity, and the relative absence of decision tools such as clinical guidelines and concise algorithms to support decision-making within the broader clinical community. Many people with spinal cord damage are managed outside specialist centers, and variations in practice result in unequal access to best practice despite equal need. In order to address these issues, the Ability Network-an international panel of clinical experts-was initiated to develop management algorithms to guide and standardize the assessment, treatment, and evaluation of outcomes of persons with spinal cord damage and disabling spasticity.

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Robustness of a Second Generation Implantable Stimulator in a Patient With Hemiplegia During 20 Years of Functional Electrical Stimulation of the Common Peroneal Nerve.

We evaluated the efficacy and robustness of a second generation implantable stimulator for correcting drop foot (DF) in a patient with left-sided hemiplegia over 20 years of functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the common peroneal nerve (CPN). Dorsal flexion and eversion of the affected foot was partially restored by FES of the superficial region of the CPN innervating mostly the tibialis anterior (TA) and partly peroneus longus (PL) and peroneus brevis (PB) muscles. The reasons for implant failure during the long-term follow-up assessment were analyzed and resolving procedures were identified.

The clinical utility of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in vocational rehabilitation: A qualitative study among occupational therapists in Slovenia.

Background: Few studies exist on the clinical utility of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) in vocational rehabilitation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore how Slovenian occupational therapists working in vocational rehabilitation, perceived the usefulness of the COPM in their everyday practice.

Methods: A qualitative study using two focus group discussions was conducted.

Long-term recovery of muscle strength after denervation in the fibular division of the sciatic nerve.

Introduction: The probability and degree of muscle recovery after lesions of long peripheral nerves have not been assessed quantitatively.

Methods: Twelve adults with closed injuries of the fibular division of the sciatic nerve with complete denervation of associated muscles were followed-up for 2-10 years. The onset of reinnervation was detected electromyographically.

Evaluation of a smartphone human activity recognition application with able-bodied and stroke participants.

Background: Mobile health monitoring using wearable sensors is a growing area of interest. As the world's population ages and locomotor capabilities decrease, the ability to report on a person's mobility activities outside a hospital setting becomes a valuable tool for clinical decision-making and evaluating healthcare interventions. Smartphones are omnipresent in society and offer convenient and suitable sensors for mobility monitoring applications.

Effectiveness of a fall-risk reduction programme for inpatient rehabilitation after stroke.

Purpose: To evaluate effectiveness of fall-risk-assessment-based fall prevention for stroke rehabilitation inpatients.

Method: A consecutive series of 232 patients admitted for the first time to a subacute stroke-rehabilitation ward during 2010-2011 was studied in detail. The Assessment Sheet for Fall Prediction in Stroke Inpatients (ASFPSI by Nakagawa et al.

Attitudes of Slovene paediatricians to end-of-life care.

Aims: The aims of this study were to assess the attitudes of Slovene paediatricians to aspects of end-of-life (EOL) care and compare these attitudes between paediatric intensivists, paediatric specialists and paediatric residents.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey, using a specifically designed 43-item anonymous questionnaire.

Results: We included 323 out of 586 Slovene paediatricians and residents, while 46.

Proposed Criteria for Appraising Goal Attainment Scales Used as Outcome Measures in Rehabilitation Research.

Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is a method for writing personalized evaluation scales to quantify progress toward defined rehabilitation goals. In the published literature, GAS methodology is used with different levels of rigor, ranging from precisely written GAS scales that ensure minimal bias and explicitly describe 5 levels of goal attainment to subjective ratings of goal attainment by adjectives (eg, worse/better than expected), which are transformed into a T score, wrongly giving the reader the impression of a truly standardized, interval scale. A drawback of GAS methodology is that it is highly dependent on the ability of the GAS setting team/person to generate valid, reliable, and meaningful scales; therefore, reliability and validity of GAS scales are idiosyncratic to each study.

Impact of silicone prosthesis on hand function, grip power and grip-force tracking ability after finger amputation.

Background: Literature mostly describes the cosmetic role of prostheses for finger amputation. The impact on hand function has not been systematically explored.

Objectives: Our aim was to describe the impact of silicone finger prostheses on hand function and gripping ability.

Training of selective attention in work-active stroke patients.

The aim was to examine the effects of computer-based cognitive rehabilitation of attention in work-active patients after stroke. The study included 11 patients treated as inpatients at the University Rehabilitation Institute, Republic of Slovenia, who were included in intensive selective attention training four times a week for 3 months. Each patient was assessed at the initial and the final rehabilitation stage with the TAP system (Test of Attentional Performance), alertness, and divided attention tasks.

A survey of overuse problems in patients with acquired or congenital upper limb deficiency.

Background: Little is known about secondary impairments and overuse problems in patient with acquired or congenital upper limb deficiency.

Objectives: Our aim was to estimate the frequency of overuse problems in persons after unilateral upper limb deficiency and identify the factors relevant for development of these problems.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study conducted at the University Rehabilitation Institute in Ljubljana.

The white matter structural network underlying human tool use and tool understanding.

The ability to recognize, create, and use complex tools is a milestone in human evolution. Widely distributed brain regions in parietal, frontal, and temporal cortices have been implicated in using and understanding tools, but the roles of their anatomical connections in supporting tool use and tool conceptual behaviors are unclear. Using deterministic fiber tracking in healthy participants, we first examined how 14 cortical regions that are consistently activated by tool processing are connected by white matter (WM) tracts.

Influence of finger amputation on grip strength and objectively measured hand function: a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Finger amputations are common and hands are essential for functioning, but studies on factors influencing functioning after finger amputation are lacking. Therefore, we aimed to explore the influence of the number and level of amputated fingers on hand function and grip strength. A prospective descriptive cross-sectional study involving 69 patients with partial or complete amputation of one or more fingers of one hand was carried out.

Validity, internal consistency reliability and one-year stability of the Slovene translation of the Measure of Processes of Care (20-item version).

Background: The Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) was developed as a self-administered questionnaire for parents to report on behaviours of healthcare providers. The original (MPOC-56) and the 20-item version (MPOC-20) have established reliability and validity, but the instrument must be rechecked whenever translated and applied in a different social and cultural setting. The aim of our study was to evaluate validity, internal consistency reliability and 1-year stability of the Slovene translation of MPOC-20.

Kinematics of turning during walking over ground and on a rotating treadmill.

Background: After neurological injury, gait rehabilitation typically focuses on task oriented training with many repetitions of a particular movement. Modern rehabilitation devices, including treadmills, augment gait rehabilitation. However, they typically provide gait training only in the forward direction of walking, hence the mechanisms associated with changing direction during turning are not practiced.

Toward minimum effort reaching trajectories formation in robot-based rehabilitation after stroke: an innovative guidance scheme proposition.

In therapy after stroke, intensive and repetitive training is crucial for relearning of motor abilities and functionalities. Besides conventional therapy, rehabilitation robotic systems are used in the treatment, where a minimum jerk model is used widely in the formation of the point-to-point movement trajectory, which is not necessarily the appropriate choice for hemiparetic upper extremity training. This paper examines and analyzes the influence of a selected form of a flexor muscle tightness on trajectory formation and proposes a guidance scheme that yields minimum effort in robot-assisted arm reaching movement.

Trigger points and pressure pain hypersensitivity in people with postmeniscectomy pain.

Objectives: The objectives of this study are (1) to assess the presence of myofascial trigger points (TrPs) and widespread pressure hyperalgesia; and (2) to assess the relationship between the presence of active TrPs, pain intensity, and widespread pressure hypersensitivity in individuals with postmeniscectomy pain.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with postmeniscectomy pain, 46 to 60 years of age, and 33 matched controls participated. TrPs were explored bilaterally within the tensor fasciae latae, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, adductor magnus, adductor longus, semitendinosus, biceps femoris, and gastrocnemius muscles in a blinded manner.

Golf in the United States: an evolution of accessibility.

Golf affords physical and psychological benefits to persons who are physically challenged. Advances in adaptive technology, changes in golf course design, and rules modifications have enabled persons with neurological, musculoskeletal, and other impairments to play golf at a recreational, elite amateur, or professional level. The Americans with Disabilities Act has been cited in both federal and US Supreme Court rulings that have improved access for physically challenged golfers.

Effect of eccentric versus concentric exercise training on mitochondrial function.

Introduction: The effect of eccentric (ECC) versus concentric (CON) training on metabolic properties in skeletal muscle is understood poorly. We determined the responses in oxidative capacity and mitochondrial H2 O2 production after eccentric (ECC) versus concentric (CON) training performed at similar mechanical power.

Methods: Forty-eight rats performed 5- or 20-day eccentric (ECC) or concentric (CON) training programs.

A comparison of the University of New Brunswick Test of Prosthetic Function and the Assessment of Capacity for Myoelectric Control.

Background: Valid outcome measures are required for gathering evidence on when, how and using which prosthetic components to start prosthetic fitting to children with congenital upper limb deficiencies and those following acquired upper limb amputation. We have been using the University of New Brunswick Test of Prosthetic Function (UNB, which measures skill and spontaneity of prosthetic use) in our country since 1996, and the Assessment of Capacity for Myoelectric Control (ACMC, which was developed for persons using a myoelectric prosthesis) since 2008.

Aim: We wanted to explore whether the UNB and the ACMC measure the same construct (i.