Identification of relevant ICF categories by geriatric patients in an early post-acute rehabilitation facility

PURPOSE: To describe functioning and health of elderly patients in an early post-acute rehabilitation facility and to identify the most common problems using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: Cross-sectional survey in a convenience sample of elderly patients requiring rehabilitation in an early post-acute rehabilitation facility. The second-level categories of the ICF were used to collect information on patients' problems. For the ICF components Body Functions, Body Structures and Activities and Participation, absolute and relative frequencies of impairments/limitations in the study population were reported. For the component Environmental Factors absolute and relative frequencies of perceived barriers or facilitators were reported. RESULTS: The mean age in the sample was 79.9 years. Sixty-nine percent of the patients were female. In 150 patients, 82 ICF categories (34%) had a prevalence of 30% or above. The 82 categories included 22 categories (45%) of the component Body Functions, six categories (15%) of the component Body Structures, 25 categories (34%) of the component Activities and Participation and 29 (57%) categories of the component Environmental Factors. CONCLUSION: This study is a first step towards the development of ICF Core Sets for geriatric patients in early post-acute rehabilitation facilities.     

Identification of relevant ICF categories by patients with neurological conditions in early post-acute rehabilitation facilities

PURPOSE: To describe functioning and health of patients with neurological conditions in early post-acute rehabilitation facilities and to identify the most common problems using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). METHODS: Cross-sectional survey in a convenience sample of patients with neurological conditions requiring rehabilitation in early post-acute facilities. The second-level categories of the ICF were used to collect information on patients' problems. For the ICF components Body Functions, Body Structures and Activities and Participation absolute and relative frequencies of impairments/limitations in the study population were reported. For the component Environmental Factors absolute and relative frequencies of perceived barriers or facilitators were reported. RESULTS: The mean age in the sample was 56.6 years with a median age of 60 years. Forty percent of the patients were female. In 292 neurological patients 125 categories (51%) had a prevalence of 30% and above: 39 categories (49%) of Body Functions, 11 categories (28%) of Body Structures, 64 categories (88%) of Activities and Participation and 10 (20%) categories of Environmental Factors. CONCLUSION: This study is a first step towards the development of ICF Core Sets for of patients with neurological conditions in early post-acute rehabilitation facilities.     

Identification of intervention categories for physical therapy, based on the international classification of functioning, disability and health: a Delphi exercise

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Disability or limitations in human functioning are universal experiences that concern all people. Physical therapists aim to improve functioning and prevent disability. With the approval of the new International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), we can now rely on a globally recognized framework and classification to be used in different health care situations by all health care professionals in multidisciplinary teams. The objective of this study was to identify ICF categories that describe the most relevant and common patient problems managed by physical therapists in acute, rehabilitation, and community health care situations taking into account 3 major groups of health conditions: musculoskeletal, neurological, and internal. SUBJECTS: The subjects were physical therapists who were identified as possible participants by the heads of physical therapy departments who were members of the Swiss Association of Physical Therapy Department Heads or who were recruited from the membership of the Swiss Association of Physiotherapy. METHODS: A consensus-building, 3-round, electronic-mail survey with 9 groups of physical therapists was conducted using the Delphi technique. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-three physical therapists participated in at least one round of the Delphi exercise. They had consensus levels of 80% or higher for categories in all ICF components (Body Functions, Body Structures, Activities and Participation, and Environmental Factors 1 and 2). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study is a first step toward identifying a list of intervention categories relevant for physical therapy according to the ICF. The ICF, designed as a common language for multidisciplinary use, is also a very helpful framework for defining the core competence for the physical therapy profession.     

Blood flow velocity vector field reconstruction from dual-beam bidirectional Doppler OCT measurements in retinal veins

In this paper, we demonstrate the possibility to reconstruct the actual blood flow velocity vector field in retinal microvessels from dual-beam bidirectional Doppler optical coherence tomography measurements. First, for a better understanding of measured phase patterns, several flow situations were simulated on the basis of the known dual beam measurement geometry. We were able to extract the vector field parameters that determine the measured phase pattern, allowing for the development of an algorithm to reconstruct the velocity vector field from measured phase data. In a next step, measurements were performed at a straight vessel section and at a venous convergence; the obtained phase data were evaluated by means of the new approach. For the straight vessel section, the reconstructed flow velocity vector field yielded a parabolic flow. For the venous convergence, however, the reconstructed vector field deviated from a parabolic profile, but was in very good accordance with the simulated vector field for the given vessel geometry. The proposed algorithm allows predictions of the velocity vector field. Moreover, the algorithm is also sensitive to directional changes of the flow velocity as small as <1°, thereby offering insight in the flow characteristics of the non-Newtonian fluid blood in microvessels.OCIS codes: (110.4500) Optical coherence tomography, (170.2655) Functional monitoring and imaging, (280.2490) Flow diagnostics     

Winter peaks in web-based public inquiry into epistaxis

European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Epistaxis represents the most frequent ear, nose, throat-related emergency symptom. Seasonal variation in epistaxis incidence, with peaks during winter...     

Oligoarthritis Caused by Borrelia bavariensis,Austria, 2014

A case of Lyme oligoarthritis occurred in an 11-year-old boy in Vienna, Austria. DNA of Borrelia bavariensis was detected by PCR in 2 aspirates obtained from different joints. Complete recovery was achieved after a 4-week course with amoxicillin. Lyme arthritis must be considered in patients from Europe who have persisting joint effusions.