Online Registration of Monthly Sports Participation After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Reliability and Validity Study.
Online registration of monthly sports participation after anterior cruciate ligament injury: a reliability and validity study.
Br J Sports Med. 2013 May 3;
Grindem H, Eitzen I, Snyder-Mackler L, Risberg MA
BACKGROUND: The current methods measuring sports activity after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury are commonly restricted to the most knee-demanding sports, and do not consider participation in multiple sports. We therefore developed an online activity survey to prospectively record the monthly participation in all major sports relevant to our patient-group. OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability, content validity and concurrent validity of the survey and to evaluate if it provided more complete data on sports participation than a routine activity questionnaire. METHODS: 145 consecutively included ACL-injured patients were eligible for the reliability study. The retest of the online activity survey was performed 2 days after the test response had been recorded. A subsample of 88 ACL-reconstructed patients was included in the validity study. The ACL-reconstructed patients completed the online activity survey from the first to the 12th postoperative month, and a routine activity questionnaire 6 and 12 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The online activity survey was highly reliable (? ranging from 0.81 to 1). It contained all the common sports reported on the routine activity questionnaire. There was a substantial agreement between the two methods on return to preinjury main sport (?=0.71 and 0.74 at 6 and 12 months postoperatively). The online activity survey revealed that a significantly higher number of patients reported to participate in running, cycling and strength training, and patients reported to participate in a greater number of sports. CONCLUSIONS: The online activity survey is a highly reliable way of recording detailed changes in sports participation after ACL injury. The findings of this study support the content and concurrent validity of the survey, and suggest that the online activity survey can provide more complete data on sports participation than a routine activity questionnaire. HubMed – rehab
Cardiac autonomic dysfunction in the early phase after left ventricular assist device implant: Implications for surgery and follow-up.
Int J Artif Organs. 2013 May 6; 0
Compostella L, Russo N, Setzu T, Tursi V, Bottio T, Tarzia V, Compostella C, Covolo E, Livi U, Gerosa G, Sani G, Bellotto F
Purpose: In congestive heart failure (CHF) patients, a profound cardiac autonomic derangement, clinically expressed by reduced heart rate variability (HRV), is present and is related to the degree of ventricular dysfunction. Implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) can progressively improve HRV, associated with an increased circulatory output. Data from patients studied at different times after LVAD implantation are controversial. The aims of this study were to assess cardiac autonomic function in the early phases after axial-flow LVAD implantation, and to estimate the potential relevance of recent major surgical stress on the autonomic balance.?Methods: HRV (time-domain; 24-h Holter) was evaluated in 14 patients, 44.8 ± 25.8 days after beginning of Jarvik-2000 LVAD support; 47 advanced stage CHF, 24 cardiac surgery (CS) patients and ?30 healthy subjects served as control groups. Inclusion criteria: sinus rhythm, stable clinical conditions, no diabetes or other known causes of HRV alteration.?Results: HRV was considerably reduced in LVAD patients in the early phases after device implantation in comparison to all control groups. A downgrading of HRV parameters was also present in CS controls. Circadian oscillations were highly depressed in LVAD and CHF patients, and slightly reduced in CS patients.?Conclusions: In CHF patients supported by a continuous-flow LVAD, a profound cardiac dysautonomia is still evident in the first two months from the beginning of circulatory support; the degree of cardiac autonomic imbalance is even greater in comparison to advanced CHF patients. The recent surgical stress could be partly linked to these abnormalities. HubMed – rehab
Assessing the Stages of the Grieving Process in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Validation of the Acceptance of Disease and Impairments Questionnaire (ADIQ).
Int J Behav Med. 2013 May 4;
Boer LM, Daudey L, Peters JB, Molema J, Prins JB, Vercoulen JH
BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) encounter many (gradual) losses due to their disease, which trigger a grieving process. This process is characterized by stages of denial, resistance, sorrow, and acceptance. PURPOSE: This study examined whether these stages are conceptually distinct and whether the Acceptance of Disease and Impairments Questionnaire (ADIQ) can validly and reliably measure these stages in three samples of patients with COPD in the Netherlands. METHODS: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on 145 outpatients with moderate to severe COPD. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on 303 outpatients with mild to very severe COPD and 127 patients entering an inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. Furthermore, internal reliability, construct validity, sensitivity to change, and floor and ceiling effects were examined. RESULTS: EFA yielded a four-factor solution that explained 73.2 % of variance. Confirmatory factor analyses showed a good fit of the four-factor structure in all study samples. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were .79 or higher. Subscales showed to be sensitive to change. CONCLUSIONS: Four distinct stages of grief are recognized in COPD. The ADIQ is a valid and reliable instrument to measure these stages: denial, resistance, sorrow, and acceptance. Measuring the stages of grieving is important for disease management: addressing patients with a specific therapeutic approach for the stage they are in could help to motivate patients to engage in self-management and change their lifestyle. HubMed – rehab