Measured and predicted resting energy expenditure in wheelchair rugby athletes

Objective: Report measured resting energy expenditure (REE) in wheelchair rugby athletes and evaluate agreement between REE and the prediction models of Chun, Cunningham, Harris-Benedict, Mifflin, Nightingale and Gorgey, and Owen.

Design: Cohort-based validation study.

Setting. Paralympic team training camp.

Participants: Fourteen internationally competitive athletes who play wheelchair rugby, 13 of whom had cervical spinal cord injuries (SCI).

Outcome Measures: A portable metabolic analyzer was used to measure REE following an overnight fast and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to assess lean body mass for the prediction equations.

Results: REE in the current sample was 1735?±?257?kcal?×?day^?1 ranging from 1324 to 2068?kcal?×?day^{?1 Bhambhani Y. Physiology of wheelchair racing in athletes with spinal cord injury. Sports Med 2002;32(1):23–51.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]}. Bland–Altman analyses revealed negative mean bias but similar limits of agreement between measured REE and scores predicted by Chun, Cunningham, Mifflin, Nightingale and Gorgey, and Owen models in elite athletes who play wheelchair rugby.

Conclusion: Prediction models regressed on persons with and without SCI under-predicted REE of competitive wheelchair rugby athletes. This outcome may be explained by the higher REE/fat-free mass (FFM) ratio of current athletes compared to less active samples. Findings from the current study will help practitioners to determine nutrient intake needs on training days of varied intensity.     

Can muscle weakness and disability influence the relationship between pain catastrophizing and pain worsening in patients with knee osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study

ObjectiveTo verify if the relationship between pain catastrophizing and pain worsening would be mediated by muscle weakness and disability in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study in a hospital out-patient setting. Convenience sampling was used with a total of 50 participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Pain and the activities of daily livings (ADL) were assessed using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) subscale. Pain catastrophizing was assessed using the Coping Strategy Questionnaire (CSQ) subscale. Muscle strength of knee extension and 30-s chair stand test (30CST) were also assessed. Path analysis was performed to test the hypothetical model. Goodness of fit of models were assessed by using statistical parameters such as the chi-square value, goodness of fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI), comparative fit index (CFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA).ResultsThe chi-square values were not significant (chi-square = 0.283, p = 0.594), and the indices of goodness of fit were high, implying a valid model (GFI = 1.000; AGFI = 0.997; CFI = 1.000; RMSEA = 0.000). Pain was influenced significantly by muscle strength and ADL; muscle strength was influenced significantly by ADL via 30CST; ADL was influenced by pain catastrophizing.ConclusionThe relationship between pain catastrophizing with pain worsening are mediated by muscle weakness and disability.     

Careful assistance? Personal assistance within the family as hybridization of modern welfare policy and traditional family care

The aim of this article is to examine how different ideological perspectives on Swedish disability policy, are reflected in the experiences of disabled people and their families personal assistants. Personal assistance provided within the family can be seen as a hybridization between publicly regulated and paid work performed in the private family sphere, and thus conflicting norms and practices may coexist. In Sweden, family members of the assistant user can be employed as paid personal assistants. Many users combine personal assistance from family members with non-family assistance. Approximately 20–25% of the employed personal assistants are relatives of the assistance users. The empirical data consists of qualitative interviews with seventeen adult users and twenty-three family members employed as PAs with different types of family ties; parent-child relationships, sibling relationships and partner relationships. The findings show that family assistance could entail advantages such as personalised services, to combine instrumental and emotional assistance as well as achieving a power-balance between the parties. But there were also disadvantages, such as unwanted or enforced dependency, with a risk for both parties to be ‘locked up’ in the family. In an overall analysis, we distinguished three broad approaches towards family assistance, family as a substitute, family as a supplement and family first.     

187例精神疾病患者劳动能力鉴定分析

目的：探讨精神疾病患者劳动能力鉴定状况及与其相关问题。方法：分析1998至2002年共187例精神疾病患者的劳动能力鉴定资料，并进行不同年代、不同诊断、不同级别的组问比较。结果：除1998年外，其余各年度基本资料相似；诊断以精神分裂症为主，精神发育迟滞为次；前者的平均年龄最大、病期最短、累计病休时间最长、残疾级别最低，后者反之。结论：劳动能力鉴定应按有关标准执行，但目前仍存在一些有待进一步完善的问题。     

Lesbians with disabilities

There is a severe lack of information on sexuality for any woman with a disability. Often, what is available is limited to material on birth control and child delivery. For women who are disabled and lesbian, virtually no written information exist and health care workers seldom feel comfortable discussing the topic. Lesbians with disabilities have the responsibility to discuss sexual preference with their health care workers. Yet, there is much to lose. This paper discusses the issues of being lesbian and disabled as well as the unique problems faced by their partners. Finally, the article discusses negative attitudes of health care workers toward both disability and homosexuality.     

Prevalence and correlates of arthritis‐attributable work limitation in the US population among persons ages 18–64: 2002 National Health Interview Survey Data

Objective

To estimate the national prevalence of arthritis‐attributable work limitation (AAWL) among persons ages 18–64 with doctor‐diagnosed arthritis and examine correlates of AAWL.

Methods

Using the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, we estimated the prevalence of AAWL (limited in whether individuals work, the type of work they do, or the amount of work they do) and correlates of AAWL in univariable and multivariable‐adjusted logistic regression analyses. Survey data were analyzed in SAS and SUDAAN to account for the complex sample design.

Results

A total of 5.3% of all US adults ages 18–64 reported AAWL; in this age group, AAWL is reported by ～30% of those who report arthritis. The prevalence of AAWL was highest among people ages 45–64 years (10.2%), women (6.3%), non‐Hispanic blacks (7.7%), people with less than a high school education (8.6%), and those with an annual household income <$20,000 (12.6%). AAWL was substantially increased among people with arthritis‐attributable activity limitations (multivariable‐adjusted odds ratio [OR] 9.1, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 7.1–11.6). The multivariable‐adjusted likelihood of AAWL was moderately higher among non‐Hispanic blacks (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.3), Hispanics (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.6), and people with high levels of functional/social/leisure limitations (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.4–2.3) and was decreased among those with a college education (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4–0.8).

Conclusion

AAWL is highly prevalent, affecting millions of Americans and one‐third of adults with doctor‐diagnosed arthritis. Findings suggest the need for more targeted research to better understand the natural history, success of interventions, and effects of policy on AAWL. Public health interventions, including self‐management education programs, may be effective in countering AAWL.     

Dysphagia,an unrecognized handicap

The aim of this study was to examine whether esophageal dysphagia can be described as a handicap and to grade the severity of handicap as the discrepancy between the subject's own eating goals and his or her eating disability. The severity of the disability-goal-handicap (DGH) regarding dysphagia was expressed on a scale ranging from 0 to 48 points. Nineteen patients with dysphagia of differing causes were selected from a patient register at a laboratory for diagnostic procedures of the esophagus. The severity of handicap for the 19 patients was, on average, 33 points (range, 20–44). The DGH score correlated significantly with the patients' own evaluation of the severity of their dysphagia (p=0.008). The DGH scores did not differ markedly based on patient's sex, age, or cause of dysphagia. Patients who were operated upon because of dysphagia had significantly more points on the DGH scale prior to operation than patients who were not (p=0.001). Denial of dysphagia (N=18), concealment of dysphagia (N=18), and lack of confirmation by the patient's physician (N=15) were common but did not influence the severity of handicap as assessed by the DGH scale. It was shown that dysphagia affects all aspects of life as expressed by reduction in self-esteem (N=13), security (N=16), work capacity (N=8), exercise (N=7), and leisure time (N=6). Esophageal dysphagia may therefore be regarded as a handicap when assessed using the DGH code described in this study.