The Concerns and Experiences of Patients With Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Regarding Prehabilitation and Recovery After Spine Surgery: A Qualitative Study.

Objectives: To improve our understanding of patients' perspectives regarding: (1) the decision-making and prehabilitation before lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) surgery and (2) their postoperative experiences. Design: Qualitative research with semi-structured interviews. Setting: General community. Participants: Individuals who received (N=10) and who did not receive (N=15) prehabilitation before LSS surgery were recruited at the 6-month postoperative follow-up (8 females; average age: 67.7±6.7 years) by purposive sampling. Additionally, 1 participant invited her daughter to accompany her in an interview. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Concerns and experiences of patients with LSS regarding prehabilitation and recovery after spine surgery. Results: Thematic analysis was conducted to identify 4 themes inductively: (1) sources of information about LSS surgery; (2) factors affecting the surgical decision-making; (3) attitudes toward prehabilitation; and (4) postoperative recovery. All participants desired to have more preoperative education to inform their surgical decision-making. There were mixed opinions regarding the perceived benefits of prehabilitation because some individuals hesitated to participate in prehabilitation because of their symptoms, or the cost or time of traveling. Many participants expected some or even complete relief of LSS-related symptoms after surgery. However, not all participants experienced the expected postoperative improvements. Some participants only experienced temporary symptomatic relief, while others experienced new postoperative symptoms. Patients generally found that postoperative exercises taught by physiotherapists were useful although their compliance decreased over time. Conclusions: Our study highlights the need for better preoperative LSS education. Because face-to-face prehabilitation or postoperative rehabilitation may not be feasible for all patients, future studies should explore whether online-based prehabilitation or postoperative rehabilitation may benefit certain patient subgroups.

Effectiveness of Schroth exercises during bracing in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: results from a preliminary study-SOSORT Award 2017 Winner.

BACKGROUND: Bracing has been shown to decrease significantly the progression of high-risk curves to the threshold for surgery in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), but the treatment failure rate remains high. There is evidence to suggest that Schroth scoliosis-specific exercises can slow progression in mild scoliosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Schroth exercises in AIS patients with high-risk curves during bracing. METHODS: A prospective, historical cohort-matched study was carried out. Patients diagnosed with AIS who fulfilled the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) criteria for bracing were recruited to receive Schroth exercises during bracing. An outpatient-based Schroth program was given. Data for these patients were compared with a 1:1 matched historical control group who were treated with bracing alone. The assessor and statistician were blinded. Radiographic progression, truncal shift, and SRS-22r scores were compared between cases and controls. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients (5 males and 19 females, mean age 12.3 ± 1.4 years) were included in the exercise group, and 24 patients (mean age 11.8 ± 1.1 years) were matched in the control group. The mean follow-up period for the exercise group was 18.1 ± 6.2 months. In the exercise group, spinal deformity improved in 17% of patients (Cobb angle improvement of ≥ 6°), worsened in 21% (Cobb angle increases of ≥ 6°), and remained stable in 62%. In the control group, 4% improved, 50% worsened, and 46% remained stable. In the subgroup analysis, 31% of patients who were compliant (13 cases) improved, 69% remained static, and none had worsened, while in the non-compliant group (11 cases), none had improved, 46% worsened, and 46% remained stable. Analysis of the secondary outcomes showed improvement of the truncal shift, angle of trunk rotation, the SRS function domain, and total scores in favor of the exercise group. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to investigate the effects of Schroth exercises on AIS patients during bracing. Our findings from this preliminary study showed that Schroth exercise during bracing was superior to bracing alone in improving Cobb angles, trunk rotation, and QOL scores. Furthermore, those who were compliant with the exercise program had a higher rate of Cobb angle improvement. The results of this study form the basis for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of Schroth exercises during bracing in AIS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: HKUCTR-2226. Registered 22 June 2017 (retrospectively registered).

Assessment of Psychometric Properties of Various Balance Assessment Tools in Persons With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy.

Study Design Clinical measurement, cross-sectional, repeated-measures design. Background Persons with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) are known to have balance impairments. The psychometric properties of various balance assessment tools have not been evaluated in this population. Objective To examine the floor and ceiling effects, item difficulty and item discrimination index, internal consistency, reliability, and validity of the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest), Mini-BESTest, Brief BESTest, and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) in persons with CSM. Methods Seventy-two individuals with CSM were evaluated with the above balance scales. Thirty-two were assessed by a second rater on the same day to establish interrater reliability, and by the same rater 1 to 2 days later to assess test-retest reliability. Results Of the 4 balance tools, only the BBS showed a substantial ceiling effect (skewness, γ1<-1.0). The BBS also had the highest proportion (greater than 80%) of easy items. The item discrimination index was greater than 0.4 for all items in the 4 balance scales. All balance tests showed good internal consistency (Cronbach α>0.8), with excellent test-retest (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]2,1>0.80) and interrater reliability (ICC2,1>0.80). In addition, all balance tests were strongly correlated with one another (ie, concurrent validity), and with the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association score (ie, convergent validity). Their correlations with the Abbreviated Mental Test were low (ie, discriminant validity). All 4 balance tests could adequately identify fallers and users of mobility aids (area under the curve, >0.8) (ie, known-groups validity). Conclusion The Brief BESTest is the most preferred tool for persons with CSM because of its excellent reliability, validity, and short administration time, whereas the BBS is the least preferred due to its substantial ceiling effect. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(9):673-682. Epub 13 Jul 2017. doi:10.2519/jospt.2017.7283.

Falls and subsequent health service utilization in community-dwelling Chinese older adults.

There was no data on the impact of falls on health service utilizations in Chinese older adults. The present study investigated the impact of falls on health service utilizations in community-dwelling Chinese older adults in Hong Kong. A population-based sample of 1517 older adults aged 65 years or over was recruited. Baseline assessment at home and then the occurrence of falls as well as health services utilizations were monitored for 1 year. The prevalence of falls, single fallers and recurrent fallers were 26.4%, 19.4% and 4.75%, respectively. 95.6% (n=1450) of the subjects completed the 1-year follow-up. Fallers had significantly greater numbers of hospitalizations, visits at specialist doctor clinics and emergency department than non-fallers (0.46+/-0.09 versus 0.23+/-0.03, 1.98+/-0.25 versus 1.37+/-0.11 and 0.40+/-0.04 versus 0.21+/-0.002, respectively; p<0.05). Based on current Hong Kong public health care cost and population data, we calculated that fallers would consume approximately US$ 71 millions (HK$ 552 millions) public health care dollars more than non-fallers did annually in Hong Kong. A population-based falls prevention program is recommended to reduce falls, fall-related health care service utilizations and health care expenditure.

Impact of falls on the balance, gait, and activities of daily living functioning in community-dwelling Chinese older adults.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of incident falls on the balance, gait, and Activities of Daily Living functioning in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: This was a population-based, 1-year prospective cohort study in older adults. We performed baseline assessment of potential predictors, the 1-year occurrence of falls, and then 1-year reassessment of the following outcome measures: the Barthel Index (BI), Lawton's Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale, gait speed, and Tinetti Balance and Gait Evaluation's total mobility score (TMS). At 1 year of follow-up, participants who had declined by > or = 1 standard deviation (SD) below the baseline mean value of each outcome measure were classified as "decliners." RESULTS: Of the 1517 participants, 93.5% (n = 1419) completed the 1-year follow-up reassessment of BI and IADL. For gait speed and TMS, respectively, 88.2% (n = 1338) and 88.3% (n = 1339) completed the 1-year outcome assessment. Fallers, particularly recurrent fallers, experienced significantly greater 1-year declines in the four functional measures. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that an incident fall was a significant independent predictor for decliners in the BI, Lawton's IADL score, gait speed, and TMS after adjustment of all significant confounding factors. The relative risks of an incident fall as an independent predictor for decliners in the BI, IADL score, gait speed, and TMS were 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-4.0; p =.01), 2.9 (95% CI, 1.7-5.2; p <.001), 2.4 (95% CI, 1.5-3.8; p <.001), and 4.6 (95% CI, 2.7-7.8; p <.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Incident falls have a significant negative impact on the balance, gait, and Activities of Daily Living functioning in community-dwelling older adults.