Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

Emg Remains Fractionated In Parkinson's Disease, Despite Practice-Related Improvements In Performance, D. Flament, D. Vaillancourt, T. Kempf, K. Shannon, D. Cross

Timothy Kempf

Objective: We studied the ability of patients with Parkinson's disease to improve their performance in a motor task requiring both speed and accuracy in the execution of elbow flexion movements. Our goal was to investigate the changes in electromyographic activity associated with the changes in movement performance.

Methods: Eleven patients on anti-Parkinsonian medication were tested. The patients were selected for being bradykinetic, having little or no resting tremor or dyskinesias, and being in stages II or III of the Hoehn and Yahr rating scale.

Results: The untrained patients displayed multiple bursts of agonist activity, characteristic of Parkinsonian EMG recordings. All …

The Efficacy Of A Work-Station Intervention Program To Improve Functional Ability And Flexibility In Ageing Clients With Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study, Nancy Low Choy, Rosemary Isles, Ruth Barker, Jennifer Nitz

Nancy Low Choy

Purpose:
Health care workers associated with the long-term care of ageing clients with Cerebral Palsy have reported on the adverse effects of less active daily activity programmes with resultant decreased functional mobility. While the negative effects of ageing have been reported in these clients, programmes have not been implemented to determine whether these adverse changes can be reversed or prevented. The efficacy of a work-station intervention programme to improve functional ability and flexibility in ageing clients with cerebral palsy was investigated.

Method:
A clinical intervention study using repeated measures (pre/post-intervention and at follow-up) to evaluate efficacy was undertaken. Twenty-two clients …

Interdisciplinary Team Collaboration, Laura Greiss Hess, Kerrie Lemons, Lesley Deprey, Cynthia Winn

Laura Greiss Hess

Medial-Lateral Postural Stability And Balance In Community Dwelling Women Over 40 Years Of Age, Jennifer Nitz, Nancy Low Choy, Rosemary Isles

Nancy Low Choy

Objective:
To document the change in medial–lateral balance in women aged between 40 and 80 years.

Design:
A cross-sectional study of six measures of medial–lateral balance was undertaken.

Setting:
The Betty Byrne Henderson Centre for Women and Ageing, Royal Women's Hospital, Australia.

Subjects:
Five hundred and three community-dwelling women between 40 and 80 years of age were randomly recruited from a large metropolitan region with 366 subjects admitted after applying exclusion criteria.

Measurements:
The clinical measurements included the lateral reach and step tests while laboratory measurements were gathered from the Balance Master software programs for unilateral stance and limits of …

Assistive Technology And Augmentative Communication, Laura Greiss Hess, Kerrie Lemons

Laura Greiss Hess

Changes In Postural Stability In Women Aged 20 To 80 Years, Nancy Low Choy, Sandra Brauer, Jennifer Nitz

Nancy Low Choy

Background.
A study of postural stability was undertaken to identify the relationship between vision and support surface across age decades. Understanding when reliance on vision for postural stability emerges and the support conditions contributing to this instability may provide the evidence required to introduce falls-prevention strategies in younger age decades.

Methods.
We measured postural stability in 453 women aged 20 to 80 years using the Balance Master force-plate system while the women performed the modified Clinical Test for the Sensory Interaction and Balance (firm and foam surfaces, eyes open and closed) and the Single-Limb Stance Test (eyes open and closed). …

Shoulder Pain, Range Of Movement And Functional Recovery After Acute Tetraplegia, Susan Salisbury, Nancy Low Choy, Jennifer Nitz

Nancy Low Choy

Objectives:
To investigate (1) the prevalence and course of shoulder pain in acute tetraplegia and (2) its relationship with range of motion (ROM) and function and any associated risk factors.

Design:
A longitudinal prospective study.

Setting:
Spinal injury unit in an Australian hospital.

Participants:
Inpatients with acute tetraplegia.

Interventions:
Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures:
Demographics, pain intensity, shoulder ROM, and functional motor skills.

Results:
The prevalence of pain during rehabilitation was 85%. Risk factors associated with pain during rehabilitation included age less than 30 years or more than 50 years (F 8.892, P .064), admission motor level at C2-5 (F …