Europa medicophysica
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Europa medicophysica · Dec 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of cardiac rehabilitation on quality of life, anxiety and depression in patients with congestive heart failure. A randomized controlled trial, short-term results.
One of the major treatment goals in congestive heart failure (CHF) is to preserve the functional level of the patient and to improve psychosocial factors. For these purposes, exercise training is recommended for the management of CHF. With this background, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on quality of life, depression and anxiety levels in a Turkish patient population with CHF. ⋯ Patients with CHF tolerated aerobic exercise programs well. This resulted with improvement in both physical and psychologic wellbeing, but not in quality of life in the short term.
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Europa medicophysica · Sep 2006
Quality of life and aphasia. Multicentric standardization of a questionnaire.
It is important to assess aphasics' quality of life in order to plan a rehabilitation treatment. To date such a tool is still missing for Italian patients. This paper reports normative data of the Italian version of SAQOL-39, a British questionnaire aimed to assess aphasics' quality of life. It consists of 39 items, divided into 4 subdomains (Physical, Communication, Psychosocial and Energy). ⋯ In authors' opinion, the Italian SAQOL-39 shares many psychometric features with the English one. This questionnaire seems to be suitable for clinical practice.
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Europa medicophysica · Dec 2004
Improvement of muscle strenght independently of analgesic effect following spinal cord stimulation. A case report.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is frequently used for relief of chronic benign pain resistant to conservative therapies. Clinical practice suggests, at least in patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), the possibility that SCS significantly improves motor performances. We present here the case of a 41-years-old female patient with FBSS, who showed a clear improvement in muscle strength after SCS, persisting at 6-months follow-up. We speculate that the electrical stimulation of posterior columns could potentiate the caudal, segmental spinal reflexes resulting in a facilitation of motoneurons activation.
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Europa medicophysica · Mar 2006
Early rehabilitative treatment in patients with traumatic brain injuries: outcome at one-year follow-up.
The aim of this study was to analyze the outcome at one-year follow-up of patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) after 4 years of application of our organizing model and compare our results with the international data in terms of disability (functional independence measure [FIM], disability rating scale [DRS] scores) and social integration (community integration questionnaire [CIQ], work reentry) ⋯ Our data show that this kind of organizing model for the rehabilitative evolution of TBI patients can positively influence the cost-efficiency rate of rehabilitation process reducing care costs in terms of ICU and rehabilitation LOS without affecting outcome in terms of disability and reintegration.
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Europa medicophysica · Jun 2006
Long-term functional outcome measures in corticosteroid-treated complex regional pain syndrome.
The aim of this paper was to assess the effects of low-dose systemic corticosteroid therapy in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), to measure the long-term functional outcome, and to evaluate an arbitrary scale of severity of CRPS. ⋯ Corticosteroid therapy in CRPS provides a short-term response to the pain with a low risk of side effects. The improvement in all the variables considered persisted at one-year follow-up. The arbitrary scale of clinical severity of CRPS should be further tested in order to propose it as an instrument for use in following the course of CRPS.