Physical activity is essential for health and well-being. People with physical disability often experience barriers in performing sports due to the lack of appropriate assistive technologies. The p...

Athletes with disability' satisfaction with sport wheelchairs: an Italian cross sectional study.

Objective. The aims of this study are the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Community Integration Questionnaire–Revised (CIQ-R) in Italian in a group of individuals with no clinical evidence of disability. Methods. The test’s internal consistency and validity were assessed by following international guidelines. The test’s internal consistency was examined using Cronbach’s alpha ( ) coefficient. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the test’s concurrent validity compared with the Short Form-12 (SF-12) health survey. Results. The CIQ-R was administrated to 400 people with no clinical evidence of disease, impairment, or disability, aged between 18 and 64. Cronbach’s reported a value of 0.82 in the home integration subscale. The test also showed a good test-retest reliability, with an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.78, and a significant correlation between the total score of the CIQ-R and the Physical Component Summary (PCS) of the SF-12 ( ), between the “social integration” subscale’s score and PCS12 ( ) and between the “Electronic Social Networking integration” subscale’s score and PCS12 ( ), with . Conclusion. This is the first study to report the results of the translation and validation of the CIQ-R in Italian. The CIQ-R is an important tool for Italian professionals and can be useful in both clinical practice and research for measuring the level of community integration among the healthy population.

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Crosscultural Validation of the Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised in an Italian Population.

Data-driven prediction of decannulation probability and timing in patients with severe acquired brain injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1A SUMMARY Background. Blood flow restriction (BFR) training is gaining increasing attention in the scientific community. Studies using exercise combined with blood flow restriction have shown muscle strength and size improvement. In fact, the main feature of BFR training is that can elicit muscle hypertrophy and strength adaptations using light external loads (20-30% one repetition maximum, 1RM) comparable to what is typically seen following high-load (HL) training programs with 70-85% 1RM. This specific training has applications for individuals who may not be able to tolerate the mechanical stresses associated with higher loads, such as the elderly or injured; thus, several investigations have focused on implementing BFR exercise within older and clinical populations. However, the effects of this kind of technique in healthy athletes are not clear in scientific literature. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative results of blood flow restriction training in healthy athletes. Methods. PRISMA guidelines were used to carry out the systematic review and meta-analysis. Three electronic databases were searched: MEDLINE, PEDro, and the Cochrane Library. Papers included in the study have the following characteristics: a) a randomized controlled trial or clinical trial design of research, b) studies investigating physiological effects of BFR training in healthy athletes and c) published in English. The approach to data extraction was chosen on the basis of the Cochrane Methods. Studies quality and risk of bias of the clinical trials included were evaluated according to a Jadad score and through meta-analysis. Results. After the elimination of duplicates, 164 records were screened. Among these, 14 studies were included in the systematic review. Seven of these were involved in the meta-analysis. From the qualitative analysis, a larger number of studies were found with a low level of quality. Conclusions. The application of BFR positively influences muscular adaptations compared with exercise under normal blood-flow conditions, in terms of increased VO2 max, higher strength increase, and muscles adaptations. Thus, BFR provides a feasible, promising, and beneficial complementary training stimuli when used in a controlled environment supervised by trained and experienced personnel.

/pdf/effect-of-blood-flow-restriction-training-on-physiological-jmrobvqx22.pdf

Effect of Blood Flow Restriction Training on Physiological Outcomes in Healthy Athletes: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Functional Chewing Training (FuCT) was designed as a holistic approach to improve chewing function by providing postural alignment, sensory and motor training, and food and environmental adjustments. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of FuCT in improving chewing function and the severity of tongue thrust and drooling in children with cerebral palsy as compared with standard treatment. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. The search was performed between October 2021 and January 2022 using the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL. The review was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: The initial search yielded 56 articles. After reading the studies in full, 3 articles were chosen based on the inclusion criteria. Included participants were people with PCI; the studies reported a sample size ranging from 40–80 individuals, one study was on a pediatric population, while the others on adults. The selected studies were then evaluated using Jadad and PEDro scales. Conclusion: Our study confirmed the value of FuCT in improving chewing function and the severity of tongue thrust and drooling. Our results may be useful in optimizing appropriate therapeutic management.

/pdf/evaluation-of-the-effectiveness-of-functional-chewing-7icbf3pm.pdf

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Functional Chewing Training Compared with Standard Treatment in a Population of Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVE To develop an Italian version of the Levels of Cognitive Functioning Assessment Scale (LOCFAS) and examine its reliability and validity. SUBJECT Patients with acquired brain injury in an early post-coma state. METHODS The original scale was translated from English to Italian using the guidelines set forth in the Translation and Cultural Adaptation of Patient Reported Outcomes Measures-Principles of Good Practice. Intra-rater reliability was examined using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Concurrent validity was evaluated using Pearson's correlation coefficients with some of the functional and disability components of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), excluding environmental factors. SETTING The highly specialized neurorehabilitation department of "San Raffaele" Hospital, Cassino. RESULTS The Italian version of the LOCFAS (LOCFAS-I) was administered to 38 subjects from May 9, 2017 to August 31, 2017. The mean ± SD of the LOCFAS-I score was 3.05 ± 1.88. All LOCFAS-I items were either identical or similar in meaning to the original version's items. Test-retest reliability (ICC) was 0.996 (p 0.536 (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The LOCFAS-I was found to be reliable and a valid measurement tool for the assessment of cognitive functioning post-coma in the Italian population.

S Turriziani

Papers

Levels of Cognitive Functioning Assessment Scale: Italian cross-cultural adaptation and validation.