An assessment of patient satisfaction for a short-stay program in a physical and rehabilitation medicine day hospital

AbstractIntroductionThe aim of the Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) day hospital's short-stay program is to propose a one- or two-day medical and psychosocial assessment to patients with disabilities. The day hospital is run by an interprofessional team, using interdisciplinary cooperation and a hospital/community network.ObjectivesTo describe a tool for assessing patient satisfaction and to present the results of our survey.Patients and methodsA self-administered questionnaire about patient satisfaction was created and given to patients coming to the PRM day hospital. The questionnaire included 27 multiple-choice questions, two visual analogic scales, and one free-response question. The survey was conducted over two months. For the 603 annual day hospital sessions, 143 questionnaires on 143 sessions were filled out.ResultsPatients found the questionnaire easy to use, but a few needed help to fill it out. It permitted us to highlight the places where the short-stay program performed unsatisfactorily.ConclusionsThe self-administered questionnaire seems to be appropriate for assessing patient satisfaction. The highest scores helped to emphasize where the program was functioning correctly, and the lowest scores allowed us to identify the points that needed to be improved

Contributing to the growth of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM): call for a Cochrane Field in PRM

The European Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ESPRM), together with the European Journal of PRM and the PRM Section and Board of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), started an action to establish a relationship with Cochrane (formerl the Cochrane Collaboration). Cochrane is a global, independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health, with contributors from more than 130 countries. Its aim is to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from any conflicts of interest. Cochrane produces the Cochrane Ltbrary, an evidence-based resource that includes today more than 6300 Cochrane systematic reviews. Cochrane is made up of many different review groups and other entities (such as Centres and Branches), distnbuted around the world, that are mainly focused on specific healthcare problems (diseases, or organs). Inside Cochrane also Fields have been created, that focus on a dimension of health care other than a specific healthcare problem. A Cochrane Field represents a bridge between Cochrane and the stakeholders of the related healthcare area. The medical specialty of PRM is covering a broad medical domain: it deals with function, activities and participation in a large number of health conditions, mostly but not exclusively musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiorespiratory. Consequently, the currently more than 200 existing Cochrane Reviews are scattered among different groups. A PRM Field could greatly serve to the need of the specialty, spreading the actual Cochrane knowledge, focusing needs today not covered by Cochrane Reviews, facing the intrinsic methodological problems of the specialty. This paper introduces a call for the development of a PRM Cochrane Field, briefly reviewing what Cochrane is and how it is organized, defining the value and identifying a pathway toward the development of a PRM Cochrane Field, and finally shortly reviewing the Cochrane reviews of PRM interest

Contributing to the growth of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM): call for a Cochrane Field in PRM

The European Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ESPRM), together with the European Journal of PRM and the PRM Section and Board of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), started an action to establish a relationship with Cochrane (formerl the Cochrane Collaboration). Cochrane is a global, independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health, with contributors from more than 130 countries. Its aim is to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from any conflicts of interest. Cochrane produces the Cochrane Ltbrary, an evidence-based resource that includes today more than 6300 Cochrane systematic reviews. Cochrane is made up of many different review groups and other entities (such as Centres and Branches), distnbuted around the world, that are mainly focused on specific healthcare problems (diseases, or organs). Inside Cochrane also Fields have been created, that focus on a dimension of health care other than a specific healthcare problem. A Cochrane Field represents a bridge between Cochrane and the stakeholders of the related healthcare area. The medical specialty of PRM is covering a broad medical domain: it deals with function, activities and participation in a large number of health conditions, mostly but not exclusively musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiorespiratory. Consequently, the currently more than 200 existing Cochrane Reviews are scattered among different groups. A PRM Field could greatly serve to the need of the specialty, spreading the actual Cochrane knowledge, focusing needs today not covered by Cochrane Reviews, facing the intrinsic methodological problems of the specialty. This paper introduces a call for the development of a PRM Cochrane Field, briefly reviewing what Cochrane is and how it is organized, defining the value and identifying a pathway toward the development of a PRM Cochrane Field, and finally shortly reviewing the Cochrane reviews of PRM interest

Sensori-motor adaptation to knee osteoarthritis during stepping-down before and after total knee replacement

BACKGROUND: Stepping-down is preceded by a shift of the center of mass towards the supporting side and forward. The ability to control both balance and lower limb movement was investigated in knee osteoarthritis patients before and after surgery. It was hypothesized that pain rather than knee joint mobility affects the coordination between balance and movement control. METHODS: The experiment was performed with 25 adult individuals. Eleven were osteoarthritic patients with damage restricted to one lower limb (8 right leg and 3 left leg). Subjects were recruited within two weeks before total knee replacement by the same orthopedic surgeon using the same prosthesis and technics of surgery. Osteoarthritic patients were tested before total knee replacement (pre-surgery session) and then, 9 of the 11 patients were tested one year after the surgery when re-educative training was completed (post-surgery session). 14 adult individuals (men: n = 7 and women: n = 7) were tested as the control group. RESULTS: The way in which the center of mass shift forward and toward the supporting side is initiated (timing and amplitude) did not vary within patients before and after surgery. In addition knee joint range of motion of the leading leg remained close to normal before and after surgery. However, the relative timing between both postural and movement phases was modified for the osteoarthritis supporting leg (unusual strategy for stepping-down) before surgery. The "coordinated" control of balance and movement turned to be a "sequential" mode of control; once the body weight transfer has been completed, the movement onset is triggered. This strategy could be aimed at shortening the duration-time supporting on the painful limb. However no such compensatory response was observed. CONCLUSION: The change in the strategy used when supporting on the arthritis and painful limb could result from the action of nociceptors that lead to increased proprioceptor thresholds, thus gating the proprioceptive inputs that may be the critical afferents in controlling the timing of the coordination between balance and movement initiation control

White book on physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) in Europe. Chapter 10. Science and research in PRM: Specificities and challenges

In the context of the White Book of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM), this paper deals with Research, the future of PRM. PRM students and specialists are mainly involved in biomedical research, investigating the biological processes, the causes of diseases, their medical diagnosis, the evaluation of their consequences on functioning, disability and health and the effects of health interventions at an individual and a societal level. Most of the current PRM research, often interdisciplinary, originates from applied research which, using existing knowledge, is directed towards specific goals. Translational medical research, research and development, implementation research and clinical impact research are in this field. PRM physicians, mainly master or PhD students, are nowadays increasing their participation in basic research and in pre-clinical trials. PRM physicians are involved in primary research, which is an original first hand research, but also in secondary research, which is the analysis and interpretation of primary research publications in a field, with a specific methodology. Secondary research remains an important activity of the UEMS PRM section and it will be the field of the new created Cochrane Rehabilitation. Secondary research with interest for persons with disabilities, will be developed world wide on the basis of evidence based medicine, with the participation of PRM physicians and of all other health and social professionals involved in rehabilitation. The development of research activities with interest for PRM in Europe is a challenge for the future, which has to be faced now. The European PRM schools, the European master and PhD program with their supporting research and clinical facilities, the European PRM organizations with their websites, the PRM scientific journals and European congresses are a strong basis to develop research activities, together with the development of Cochrane Rehabilitation field and of our cooperation with European high level research facilities, European and international scientific societies in different fields. PRM will be a leader in this field of research