Direct medical costs after surgical or nonsurgical treatment for degenerative lumbar spinal disease: A nationwide matched cohort study with a 10-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: The demand for treating degenerative lumbar spinal disease has been increasing, leading to increased utilization of medical resources. Thus, we need to understand how the budget of insurance is currently used. The objective of the present study is to overview the utilization of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) by providing the direct insured cost between patients receiving surgery and patients receiving nonsurgical treatment for degenerative lumbar disease. METHODS: The NHIS-National Sample Cohort was utilized to select patients with lumbar disc herniation, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis or spondylolysis. A matched cohort study design was used to show direct medical costs of surgery (n = 2,698) and nonsurgical (n = 2,698) cohorts. Non-surgical treatment included medication, physiotherapy, injection, and chiropractic. The monthly costs of the surgery cohort and nonsurgical cohort were presented at initial treatment, posttreatment 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and yearly thereafter for 10 years. RESULTS: The characteristics and matching factors were well-balanced between the matched cohorts. Overall, surgery cohort spent $50.84/patient/month, while the nonsurgical cohort spent $29.34/patient/month (p<0.01). Initially, surgery treatment led to more charge to NHIS ($2,762) than nonsurgical treatment ($180.4) (p<0.01). Compared with the non-surgical cohort, the surgery cohort charged $33/month more for the first 3 months, charged less at 12 months, and charged approximately the same over the course of 10 years. CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment initially led to more government reimbursement than nonsurgical treatment, but the charges during follow-up period were not different. The results of the present study should be interpreted in light of the costs of medical services, indirect costs, societal cost, quality of life and societal willingness to pay in each country. The monetary figures are implied to be actual economic costs but those in the reimbursement system instead reflect reimbursement charges from the government.

Effects of different aerobic exercise training on glycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is an emergent worldwide health crisis, and rates are growing globally. Aerobic exercise is an essential measure for patients with diabetes, which has the advantages of flexible time and low cost. Aerobic exercise is a popular method to reduce blood glucose. Due to the lack of randomized trials to compare the effects of various aerobic exercises, it is difficult to judge the relative efficacy. Therefore, we intend to conduct a network meta-analysis to evaluate these aerobic exercises. METHODS: According to the retrieval strategies, randomized controlled trials on different aerobic exercise training will be obtained from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, SinoMed, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, regardless of publication date or language. Studies were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the Cochrane risk bias assessment tool will be used to evaluate the quality of the literature. The network meta-analysis will be performed in Markov Chain Monte Carlo method and carried out with Stata14 and OpenBUGS software. Ultimately, the evidentiary grade for the results will be evaluated. RESULTS: Eighteen literatures with a total of 1134 patients were included for the meta-analysis. In glycemia assessment, Tennis (standard mean difference = 3.59, credible interval 1.52, 5.65), had significantly better effects than the named control group. Tennis (standard mean difference = 3.50, credible interval 1.05, 5.59), had significantly better effects than the named Taiji group. CONCLUSION: All together, these results suggest that tennis may be the best way to improve blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. This study may provide an excellent resource for future control glycemia and may also serve as a springboard for creative undertakings as yet unknown.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis from a Randomized Controlled Trial of Tailored Exercise Prescription for Women with Breast Cancer with 8-Year Follow-Up.

Studies show conflicting results on whether exercise interventions to improve outcomes for women with breast cancer are cost-effective. We modelled the long-term cost-effectiveness of the Exercise for Health intervention compared with usual care. A lifetime Markov cohort model for women with early breast cancer was constructed taking a societal perspective. Data were obtained from trial, epidemiological, quality of life, and healthcare cost reports. Outcomes were calculated from 5000 Monte Carlo simulations, and one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Over the cohort's remaining life, the incremental cost for the exercise versus usual care groups were $7409 and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained were 0.35 resulting in an incremental cost per QALY ratio of AU$21,247 (95% Uncertainty Interval (UI): Dominant, AU$31,398). The likelihood that the exercise intervention was cost-effective at acceptable levels was 93.0%. The incremental cost per life year gained was AU$8894 (95% UI Dominant, AU$11,769) with a 99.4% probability of being cost effective. Findings were most sensitive to the probability of recurrence in the exercise and usual care groups, followed by the costs of out-of-pocket expenses and the model starting age. This exercise intervention for women after early-stage breast cancer is cost-effective and would be a sound investment of healthcare resources.

Physical fitness cognition, assessment, and promotion: A cross-sectional study in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: Many health organizations have promoted the importance of the health-related benefits of physical fitness and physical activity. Studies have evaluated effective public health practice aiming to understand the cognition of physical activity among youths and adolescents. However, studies investigating the level of cognition and knowledge of physical fitness among Asian adults are lacking. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the self-awareness level of physical fitness and exercise prescription and the demand for physical fitness assessment among Taiwanese adults. METHODS: In January-July 2019, a cross-sectional anonymous survey was conducted using Research Electronic Data Capture to gather data on demographic data, cognition investigation of physical fitness and exercise prescription, cognitive test of physical fitness and exercise prescription, and demand for physical fitness assessment. RESULTS: The questionnaire was answered by 200 respondents. The rating for cognition investigation of physical fitness was 2.63-3.13 (unclear to mostly clear) and for exercise prescription was 2.05-2.76 (unclear) (rated on a 5-point Likert scale). Results show that lack of awareness was highest for health-related physical fitness, exercise prescription, and exercise progress planning. 98% of subjects did not know the latest recommended guidelines for physical activity, despite most agreeing that physical fitness and exercise are good for health. Most subjects (72%) indicated a willingness to accept self-pay service for physical fitness assessments. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to report on the demand for cognition, assessment, and promotion of physical fitness among Taiwanese adults. The study shows that the subjects widely lack knowledge in the cognition of physical fitness and exercise prescription. Furthermore, a self-pay service for the physical fitness assessment and individualized exercise prescription were acceptable to most subjects, especially those undergoing regular health examinations. The findings are encouraging and will aid support for health organizations and professionals in the development and management of promotion strategies on health-related physical fitness in preventive medicine and health promotion.

Usual care including home exercise with versus without spa therapy for chronic low back pain: protocol for the LOMBATHERM' study, a multicentric randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Low back pain is highly prevalent and a major source of disability worldwide. Spa therapy is frequently used to treat low back pain, but the associated level of evidence for efficacy is insufficient. To fill this knowledge gap, this protocol proposes an appropriately powered, prospective, evaluator-blinded, multi-centre, two-parallel-arm, randomised (1:1), controlled trial that will compare spa therapy in addition to usual care including home exercise (UCHE) versus UCHE alone for the treatment of chronic low back pain. METHODS: Eligible patients (anticipated sample size of 358) will have had low back pain for more than 3 months and scores for pain greater than 40 mm on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Following initial consent for UCHE and baseline evaluations, patients are randomised (1:1) to UCHE alone, or UCHE plus spa therapy (18 days of mud packs, underwater massages, showers and water exercises under medical supervision). Patients in the latter arm will be requested to sign an additional consent form as per Zelen randomisation. Follow-up visits will occur at approximately months 1, 6 and 12 and (along with baseline assessments) will cover changes over time in VAS pain scores, the impact of lower back pain on daily life (the Rolland and Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)), inappropriate fears and beliefs about lower back pain (the fear, avoidance, belief questionnaire (FABQ)), general quality of life (the Euroqol Group 5 dimension, 5 level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5 L)), Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS), consumption of analgesic drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and overall state of health. Health resource use and days of sick leave (and subsequently the associated costs) will also be recorded. The primary outcome is the presence/absence of a clinically relevant change (improvement of at least 30%) in the VAS score for pain at 6 months. DISCUSSION: Despite the fact that previous, rather dated recommendations encourage spa therapy for the treatment of low back pain, the current literary corpus is methodologically poor. This protocol has been designed to provide results spanning a thorough range of outcomes at the highest evidence level possible. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03910023. Registered on 10 April 2019.

Sense of coherence and its relationship to participation, cancer-related fatigue, symptom burden, and quality of life in women with breast cancer participating in the OptiTrain exercise trial.

PURPOSE: This study examined the Sense of Coherence (SOC) of patients participating in the randomized controlled 'Optimal Training for Women with Breast Cancer' (OptiTrain) study and assessed how patient characteristics were associated with SOC. Secondary aims were to assess the association between SOC and patients' participation in this study and to determine whether SOC moderates the effect of the 16-week exercise intervention on fatigue, quality of life (QoL), and symptom burden in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: Modified Poisson regression analyses were conducted to determine the relative risk of weak-normal SOC versus strong SOC in terms of exercise session attendance, study and intervention dropout, and long absence rates. Analyses of covariance were performed to assess whether SOC moderated the effect of the exercise intervention (pinteraction ≤ 0.10). RESULTS: Two hundred and forty women with early breast cancer (mean age 53 ± 10) participated in the OptiTrain study. Women with strong SOC reported less fatigue, lower symptom burden, and higher QoL. Women with weak-normal SOC were significantly more likely to drop out from the OptiTrain study and tended to have slightly poorer exercise session attendance. Women with breast cancer and weaker SOC benefitted as much from the exercise intervention, in terms of fatigue and QoL, as those with stronger SOC (pinteraction > 0.10). CONCLUSIONS: Strong SOC appears to be associated with a more positive subjective state of health. Women with weak-normal SOC may need additional support to encourage participation and adherence in exercise trials. Assessing SOC may assist clinicians to identify and provide extra support for participants with weak SOC, who may be less inclined to participate in exercise programs.

Swimming training improves mental health parameters, cognition and motor coordination in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The aim of this study was to verify the effects of swimming-learning program of mental health parameters, cognition and motor coordination in students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thirty-three children of both sexes between 11 and 14 years were randomized into trained group (n = 18) and untrained group (n = 15). The training was performed for 8 weeks. Then, before and after 48 h of training period of both groups were submitted to find the mental health, cognition, motor coordination test, and physical fitness. Our results demonstrate that the aquatic exercise program significantly improved the depression parameters (p = 0.048), stress (p = 0.039), cognitive flexibility (p = 0.042) and selective attention (p = 0.047). In relation to motor coordination and physical fitness, the results showed significant improvements in the coordination of lower limbs laterality (p = 0.05), flexibility (p = 0.049), and abdominal resistance (p = 0.037). Taken together, the results suggest that swimming-learning program significantly improved the mental health, cognition, and motor coordination in children with ADHD.

Translating a walking intervention for health professional delivery within primary care: A mixed-methods treatment fidelity assessment.

OBJECTIVES: Existing fidelity studies of physical activity interventions are limited in methodological quality and rigour, particularly those delivered by health care providers in clinical settings. The present study aimed to enhance and assess the fidelity of a walking intervention delivered by health care providers within general practice in line with the NIH Behavior Change Consortium treatment fidelity framework. DESIGN: Two practice nurses and six health care assistants delivered a theory-based walking intervention to 63 patients in their own practices. A cross-sectional mixed-methods study assessed fidelity related to treatment delivery and treatment receipt, from the perspectives of health care providers and patients. METHODS: All providers received training and demonstrated delivery competence prior to the trial. Delivery of intervention content was coded from audio-recordings using a standardized checklist. Qualitative interviews with 12 patients were conducted to assess patient perspectives of treatment receipt and analysed using framework analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 78% of intervention components were delivered as per the protocol (range 36-91%), with greater fidelity for components requiring active engagement from patients (e.g., completion of worksheets). The qualitative data highlighted differences in patients' comprehension of specific intervention components. Understanding of, and engagement with, motivational components aimed at improving self-efficacy was poorer than for volitional planning components. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of fidelity of delivery were demonstrated. However, patient-, provider-, and component-level factors impacted on treatment delivery and receipt. We recommend that methods for the enhancement and assessment of treatment fidelity are consistently implemented to enhance the rigour of physical activity intervention research. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Physical activity interventions delivered within primary care by health professionals have so far demonstrated limited impact on behaviour change initiation and maintenance. Treatment fidelity enhancement and assessment strategies can support the successful translation of behaviour change interventions into real-life settings. Few studies have examined treatment fidelity within the context of physical activity interventions, particularly within clinical settings, and existing fidelity studies are limited by methodological quality and rigour. What does this study add? High levels of fidelity were found for a physical activity intervention delivered in primary care. Patient-, provider-, and component-level factors may impact on treatment delivery and receipt. The implementation of best practice fidelity recommendations can support near-optimal fidelity.

The challenge of non-adherence to early rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass surgery: Secondary results from the SheppHeartCABG trial.

BACKGROUND: Attending and maintaining a cardiac rehabilitation programme is a challenge. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to explore associations between non-adherence to early coronary artery bypass graft rehabilitation and sociodemographic and clinical baseline data. METHODS: Coronary artery bypass graft patients were randomised 1:1 to either four weeks of comprehensive early rehabilitation or usual care. Outcomes were assessed at three time-points points: baseline, discharge and four weeks post-coronary artery bypass graft. Differences in sociodemographic and clinical baseline data in adherent versus non-adherent patients were tested using the Pearson χ2 test for categorical variables. To test associations between non-adherence to exercise training and sociodemographic and clinical baseline data, multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio for in-hospital training and post-discharge training adjusted for age, sex and left ventricular ejection fraction. RESULTS: Non-adherence to in-hospital versus post-discharge exercise training was 31% (n=48) versus 53% (n=81). Female non-adherence was 20% versus 70%. Non-adherence to in-hospital versus post-discharge mindfulness was 87% versus 70%. Male non-adherence to mindfulness was 85% versus 70%. Non-adherence to psycho-educational consultations was 3%, most of whom were men. Patients with university level education were more adherent to in-hospital exercise training than patients with lower educational level (odds ratio=3.14 (95% confidence interval; 1.16-8.51), p=0.02). Diabetic patients were more non-adherent to exercise training after discharge (3.74 (1.54-9.08), p=0.004) as were overweight patients (0.37 (0.17-0.80), p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated wide acceptance of psycho-educational consultations in post-coronary artery bypass graft patients. Adherence to physical rehabilitation was low especially after discharge from hospital and the opportunity to attend a mindfulness programme was not used.

Eligibility, Enrollment, and Completion of Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Following Stroke Rehabilitation: What Are the Barriers?

BACKGROUND: People after stroke benefit from comprehensive secondary prevention programs including cardiac rehabilitation (CR), yet there is little understanding of eligibility for exercise and barriers to use. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine eligibility for CR; enrollment, adherence, and completion; and factors affecting use. DESIGN: This was a prospective study of 116 consecutive people enrolled in a single outpatient stroke rehabilitation (OSR) program located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Questionnaires were completed by treating physical therapists for consecutive participants receiving OSR and included reasons for CR ineligibility, reasons for declining participation, demographics, and functional level. CR eligibility criteria included the ability to walk ≥100 m (no time restriction) and the ability to exercise at home independently or with assistance. People with or without hemiplegic gait were eligible for adapted or traditional CR, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine factors associated with use indicators. RESULTS: Of 116 participants receiving OSR, 82 (70.7%) were eligible for CR; 2 became eligible later. Sixty (71.4%) enrolled in CR and 49 (81.7%) completed CR, attending 87.1% (SD = 16.6%) of prescribed sessions. The primary reasons for ineligibility included being nonambulatory or having poor ambulation (52.9%; 18/34 patients) and having severe cognitive deficits and no home exercise support (20.6%; 7/34). Frequently cited reasons for declining CR were moving or travel out of country (17.2%; 5/29 reasons), lack of interest (13.8%; 4/29), transportation issues (10.3%; 3/29), and desiring a break from therapy (10.3%; 3/29). In a multivariate analysis, people who declined CR were more likely to be women, have poorer attendance at OSR, and not diabetic. Compared with traditional CR, stroke-adapted CR resulted in superior attendance (66.1% [SD = 22.9%] vs 87.1% [SD = 16.6%], respectively) and completion (66.7% vs 89.7%, respectively). The primary reasons for dropping out were medical (45%) and moving (27%). LIMITATIONS: Generalizability to other programs is limited, and other, unmeasured factors may have affected outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: An OSR-CR partnership provided an effective continuum of care, with approximately 75% of eligible people participating and more than 80% completing. However, just over 1 of 4 eligible people declined participation; therefore, strategies should target lack of interest, transportation, women, and people without diabetes. An alternative program model is needed for people who have severe ambulatory or cognitive deficits and no home exercise support.

Perspectives on the role of exercise in the treatment of pediatric type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Studies demonstrate that children with type 1 diabetes may not be meeting exercise recommendations. This, coupled with the lack of data on the determinants of exercise promotion in youth, may indicate a need for additional focus on exercise guidelines and promotion in youth with type 1 diabetes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to understand provider perspectives regarding exercise promotion in children with type 1 diabetes. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: An online survey regarding perspectives on exercise was emailed to Pediatric Endocrine Society members. RESULTS: Of the 84 respondents, 85.5% believe counseling regarding exercise recommendations is a priority. However, 87.8% did not identify Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) guidelines correctly and 79.3% did not identify American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines correctly. Providers who exercised regularly (P = .009) and providers who identified ODPHP guidelines correctly (P = .004) were more likely to identify ADA guidelines correctly. Providers who identified ADA guidelines correctly were 4.21 times (OR 4.21; 95% CI 1.30-13.7) more likely to make good recommendations and those who discussed recommendations at diagnosis were 6.10 times (OR 6.10; 95% CI 1.76-21.2) more likely to make good recommendations. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate provider perspectives of exercise promotion in children with type 1 diabetes. We found provider recommendations were not consistent with ADA exercise guidelines and most providers were not fully aware of the recommendations. Future research should address increasing provider education regarding exercise guidelines and developing exercise promotion tools.

Revisión sistemática: costo-efectividad, acceso y adherencia a programas de ejercicio supervisado en pacientes con claudicación intermitente / Systematic review: cost-effectiveness, access and adherence to supervised exercise programs in patients with intermittent claudication

OBJETIVO: Determinar las razones de la escasa derivación, acceso, y adherencia a programas de ejercicio supervisado (PES) en pacientes con claudicación intermitente (CI) y la costo-efectividad de estos programas a nivel Internacional. MÉTODOS: Se utilizaron las fuentes de datos de PubMed y ScienceDirect. Se incluyeron revisiones con acceso completo, publicados desde el año 2010, que incluían como mínimo 3 artículos de tipo cuantitativo. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 5 Revisiones asociadas a los resultados del ejercicio supervisado, su costo-efectividad, la baja derivación y adherencia a PES de los pacientes con CI. En cuanto a la costo-efectividad los resultados indican que los PES fueron rentables con un ICER de £711 a £1.608 por QALY ganado al compararlos con ejercicio no supervisado, y al compararlos con la cirugía de revascularización (CR) no hay diferencia significativa en QALY ganados, sin embargo, el costo por QALY fue €381.694 más alto para la CR. Por otro lado, las principales razones de la subutilización de los PES, es que los pacientes se resisten a asistir, ya que involucra un esfuerzo y responsabilidad, además de tener problemas de reembolso, teniendo baja adherencia. Sumado a esto, el interés personal de los médicos por realizar intervenciones que involucran pago por servicio produce una baja derivación (45% de cirujanos en Europa refieren menos del 50% de sus pacientes). CONCLUSIÓN: Las principales dificultades para adoptar los PES serían una carencia en la destinación de recursos, falta de centros, dificultad de traslado, falta de tiempo, o de interés por parte de los pacientes, además de incentivos financieros a otras alternativas de tratamiento por sobre PES lo que limita su derivación.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the reasons for the limited derivation, access and adherence to supervised exercise programs (SEP) in patients with intermittent claudication (IC) and the cost-effectiveness of these programs internationally. METHODS: PubMed and ScienceDirect databases were searched. Revisions with full access, published since 2010, which included at least 3 quantitative type articles. RESULTS: 5 reviews were included, these were associated with the results of the supervised exercise, its cost-effectiveness, the low referral and adherence to programs of patients with IC. Regarding cost-effectiveness, the results indicated that SEP were more cost-effective with an ICER of £711 to £1.608 per QALY gained when compared with unsupervised exercise, and that when compared with revascularization surgery (RC) there was no significant difference in QALYs, however the cost per QALY was € 381.694 higher for the RC. On the other hand, the main reasons for the underutilization of SEP are that patients are reluctant to attend, since it involves effort and responsibility, in addition to having reimbursement problems, therefore having low adherence. Added to this, the personal interest of doctors in performing interventions that involve payment for service produce a low referral (45% of surgeons in Europe refer less than 50% of their patients) CONCLUSION: The main difficulties in adopting the SEP would be a lack in the allocation of resources, lack of centers, difficulty of transportation, lack of time or lack of interest from patients, in addition to financial incentives to other treatment alternatives over SEP, which limits their referral.

Longevity of pulmonary rehabilitation benefit for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-health care utilisation in the subsequent 2 years.

Background: The primary aim was to determine the healthcare utilisation benefits including respiratory-related hospital admissions, hospital admission days and emergency department presentations in the 0-12 and 12-24 months postpulmonary rehabilitation compared with the 12 months preprogramme. Methods: An observational, data-linkage design of 11 standardised pulmonary rehabilitation programmes were used. All programmes were 8 weeks in duration with two supervised exercise sessions per week and were required to use the national pulmonary rehabilitation recommendations with regard to programme organisation, exercise training guidelines and multidisciplinary education. For each participant with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), healthcare utilisation data were collected for the 12 months preprogramme and 24 months postprogramme. Results: 426 participants (231 males, FEV149.3 (19.6) % predicted) were studied. The number of respiratory admissions/participant/year decreased from 0.7 (1.1) in the 12 months preprogramme to 0.5 (1.9) in the 12 months postprogramme, p=0.083; but increased in the 12-24 months postprogramme to 1.0 (2.3), p<0.001. The hospital days/participant/year improved from 4.0 (7.8) days in the 12 months preprogramme to 2.5 (8.5) days in the 12 months postprogramme, p<0.001; but increased in the 12-24 months postprogramme to 6.1 (16.6) days, p=0.004. The emergency department presentations/participant/year improved from 1.15 (1.75) in the 12 months preprogramme to 0.9 (1.8) in the 12 months postprogramme, p=0.003; but increased in the 12-24 months postprogramme to 2.0 (3.3), p<0.001. Conclusion: Pulmonary rehabilitation significantly improves hospital days and emergency department presentations in the first 12 months postprogramme. Healthcare utilisation benefits in the second 12 months are less clear.

Desigualdades e fatores associados ao tratamento do problema crônico de coluna no Brasil / Chronic low back pain treatment in Brazil: inequalities and associated factors

Resumo O Problema Crônico de Coluna (PCC) é uma das doenças mais prevalentes no mundo e representa uma das principais causas de anos de vida perdidos por incapacidade. Embora de grande relevância para a saúde pública, estudos sobre o acesso e a utilização dos tipos de tratamento são escassos. O objetivo deste artigo é descrever os principais tratamentos para PCC no Brasil, analisar os fatores associados à sua utilização e discutir possíveis desigualdades na utilização de fisioterapia /exercícios e a utilização de medicamentos. A partir da PNS 2013 foram realizadas análises descritivas sobre prevalência de PCC e regressão logística múltipla para analisar a associação segundo as características demográficas, socioeconômicas, a situação da saúde, a limitação causada pelo PCC, acesso a serviços de saúde e regionais. Ter ensino superior aumenta 2,39 vezes as chances de realizar fisioterapia, no entanto, a escolaridade não se mostrou associada à utilização de medicamentos. Indivíduos de estratos superiores apresentam quase 2 vezes mais chances de realizar fisioterapia, o que não foi observado para medicamentos. Sobre as condições de saúde, o aumento do grau da limitação por PCC eleva a chance de uso de medicamentos em até 3,5 vezes, mas não varia quando associado à realização de fisioterapia.

Abstract Chronic low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common diseases in the world and one of the leading causes of years of life lost due to disability. Despite being a major public health concern, studies on access to and use of different types of treatment are scarce. The aim of this article is to describe the most common treatments for chronic LBP in Brazil, examine the factors associated with the use of these treatments, and discuss possible inequalities in the use of physical therapy/exercise and medications. A descriptive analysis was performed using data from the 2013 National Health Survey. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between treatment use and demographic, socioeconomic, health status, access to health services, and geographical characteristics. People with higher education were 2.39 times more likely to do physiotherapy. However, no association was found between education level and medication use. People in social class A/B were almost twice as likely to do physical therapy. However, there was no association between social status and medication use. People with a very high or high degree of functional limitation were 3.5 times more likely to use medication. However, no association was observed between functional limitation and physical therapy use.

Chronic low back pain treatment in Brazil: inequalities and associated factors. / Desigualdades e fatores associados ao tratamento do problema crônico de coluna no Brasil.

Chronic low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common diseases in the world and one of the leading causes of years of life lost due to disability. Despite being a major public health concern, studies on access to and use of different types of treatment are scarce. The aim of this article is to describe the most common treatments for chronic LBP in Brazil, examine the factors associated with the use of these treatments, and discuss possible inequalities in the use of physical therapy/exercise and medications. A descriptive analysis was performed using data from the 2013 National Health Survey. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between treatment use and demographic, socioeconomic, health status, access to health services, and geographical characteristics. People with higher education were 2.39 times more likely to do physiotherapy. However, no association was found between education level and medication use. People in social class A/B were almost twice as likely to do physical therapy. However, there was no association between social status and medication use. People with a very high or high degree of functional limitation were 3.5 times more likely to use medication. However, no association was observed between functional limitation and physical therapy use.

O Problema Crônico de Coluna (PCC) é uma das doenças mais prevalentes no mundo e representa uma das principais causas de anos de vida perdidos por incapacidade. Embora de grande relevância para a saúde pública, estudos sobre o acesso e a utilização dos tipos de tratamento são escassos. O objetivo deste artigo é descrever os principais tratamentos para PCC no Brasil, analisar os fatores associados à sua utilização e discutir possíveis desigualdades na utilização de fisioterapia /exercícios e a utilização de medicamentos. A partir da PNS 2013 foram realizadas análises descritivas sobre prevalência de PCC e regressão logística múltipla para analisar a associação segundo as características demográficas, socioeconômicas, a situação da saúde, a limitação causada pelo PCC, acesso a serviços de saúde e regionais. Ter ensino superior aumenta 2,39 vezes as chances de realizar fisioterapia, no entanto, a escolaridade não se mostrou associada à utilização de medicamentos. Indivíduos de estratos superiores apresentam quase 2 vezes mais chances de realizar fisioterapia, o que não foi observado para medicamentos. Sobre as condições de saúde, o aumento do grau da limitação por PCC eleva a chance de uso de medicamentos em até 3,5 vezes, mas não varia quando associado à realização de fisioterapia.

Economic Evaluation of Exercise-Based Fall Prevention Programs for People with Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: Falls are common in Parkinson's disease (PD). Exercise interventions can prevent falls. This review aims to (1) explore the existing evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of exercise-based fall prevention programs for people with PD and (2) discuss the implications of the review findings for future research and clinical practice. Design: Databases AMED Allied and Complementary Medicine, CINAHL, CRD, EBSCO, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched from their inception until June 2019. Randomized and nonrandomized trials that included an economic evaluation of fall prevention programs for people with PD were considered. Quality of the economic evaluation was assessed using the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria list (CHEC-list), and the methodological quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) and Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Nine hundred and sixty-five studies were screened to include three studies involving 556 participants. Quality of economic evaluation assessed using CHEC-list was high. The methodological quality was high for two studies and low for one study. Tested interventions included Tai Ji Quan, physiotherapist-led, supervised, weekly and monthly balance, and strengthening exercises. The duration of the interventions ranged from 10 weeks to 6 months, while the intervention frequency ranged from two sessions per week to one session per month. Treatment sessions lasted for 60 min in all three studies. One high economic and methodological quality study comparing Tai Ji Quan with resistance and stretching exercises reported least cost resource use among Tai Ji Quan group (USD 80,441) and greater incremental number of falls prevented. All three tested interventions had an 80% probability of being cost-effective with the corresponding country-specific threshold incremental cost-effectiveness ratio values. Conclusions: The findings provide some evidence for exercise-based intervention as a cost-effective treatment option for preventing falls in PD; however, due to the limited number of available studies, heterogeneity of the interventions, and diversity of assessment settings, a firm conclusion cannot be established. Additional studies evaluating the cost-effectiveness of fall prevention programs involving larger samples and using different treatment parameters in various settings are warranted.

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for chronic heart failure: the EXTRAMATCH II individual participant data meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Current national and international guidelines on the management of heart failure (HF) recommend exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (ExCR), but do not differentiate this recommendation according to patient subgroups. OBJECTIVES: (1) To obtain definitive estimates of the impact of ExCR interventions compared with no exercise intervention (control) on mortality, hospitalisation, exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in HF patients; (2) to determine the differential (subgroup) effects of ExCR in HF patients according to their age, sex, left ventricular ejection fraction, HF aetiology, New York Heart Association class and baseline exercise capacity; and (3) to assess whether or not the change in exercise capacity mediates for the impact of the ExCR on final outcomes (mortality, hospitalisation and HRQoL), and determine if this is an acceptable surrogate end point. DESIGN: This was an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. SETTING: An international literature review. PARTICIPANTS: HF patients in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of ExCR. INTERVENTIONS: ExCR for at least 3 weeks compared with a no-exercise control, with 6 months' follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All-cause and HF-specific mortality, all-cause and HF-specific hospitalisation, exercise capacity and HRQoL. DATA SOURCES: IPD from eligible RCTs. REVIEW METHODS: RCTs from the Exercise Training Meta-Analysis of Trials for Chronic Heart Failure (ExTraMATCH/ExTraMATCH II) IPD meta-analysis and a 2014 Cochrane systematic review of ExCR (Taylor RS, Sagar VA, Davies EJ, Briscoe S, Coats AJ, Dalal H, et al. Exercise-based rehabilitation for heart failure. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014;4:CD003331). RESULTS: Out of the 23 eligible RCTs (4398 patients), 19 RCTs (3990 patients) contributed data to this IPD meta-analysis. There was a wide variation in exercise programme prescriptions across included studies. Compared with control, there was no statistically significant difference in pooled time-to-event estimates in favour of ExCR, although confidence intervals (CIs) were wide: all-cause mortality had a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.83 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.04); HF-related mortality had a HR of 0.84 (95% CI 0.49 to 1.46); all-cause hospitalisation had a HR of 0.90 (95% CI 0.76 to 1.06); and HF-related hospitalisation had a HR of 0.98 (95% CI 0.72 to 1.35). There was a statistically significant difference in favour of ExCR for exercise capacity and HRQoL. Compared with the control, improvements were seen in the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) (mean 21.0 m, 95% CI 1.57 to 40.4 m) and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire score (mean -5.94, 95% CI -1.0 to -10.9; lower scores indicate improved HRQoL) at 12 months' follow-up. No strong evidence for differential intervention effects across patient characteristics was found for any outcomes. Moderate to good levels of correlation (R2trial > 50% and p > 0.50) between peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) or the 6MWT with mortality and HRQoL were seen. The estimated surrogate threshold effect was an increase of 1.6 to 4.6 ml/kg/minute for VO2peak. LIMITATIONS: There was a lack of consistency in how included RCTs defined and collected the outcomes: it was not possible to obtain IPD from all includable trials for all outcomes and patient-level data on exercise adherence was not sought. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with the no-exercise control, participation in ExCR improved the exercise and HRQoL in HF patients, but appeared to have no effect on their mortality or hospitalisation. No strong evidence was found of differential intervention effects of ExCR across patient characteristics. VO2peak and 6MWT may be suitable surrogate end points for the treatment effect of ExCR on mortality and HRQoL in HF. Future studies should aim to achieve a consensus on the definition of outcomes and promote reporting of a core set of HF data. The research team also seeks to extend current policies to encourage study authors to allow access to RCT data for the purpose of meta-analysis. STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42014007170. FUNDING: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (ExCR) is currently recommended in both the UK and international clinical guidelines for people with heart failure (HF). However, it remains uncertain as to whether or not the effects of cardiac rehabilitation are consistent across patient subgroups (e.g. men vs. women). This study sought to review available scientific evidence using individual participant data (IPD) to look at this issue. Electronic literature databases were searched for published studies and anonymised IPD from the researchers who conducted these research studies was sought. It was possible to bring together data from 3900 people with HF. Although the analyses of these data show that participation in ExCR does not appear to have an impact on the risk of death or hospitalisation, participation does offer some improvement in the physical fitness and quality of life of people with HF. It was also found that these benefits were irrespective of a patient's age, sex, ethnicity, initial level of physical fitness or disease severity.

A Survey of Fellowship-Trained Upper Extremity Surgeons on Treatment of Lateral Epicondylitis.

Background: The aim of the study is to investigate current management strategies for lateral epicondylitis by fellowship-trained upper extremity surgeons. Methods: A 17-question survey of treatment approaches and outcomes related to lateral epicondylitis was sent to 3354 surgeons using the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons member databases. Results: Six hundred twelve upper extremity surgeons completed the survey. The 6 most frequently prescribed nonoperative treatments for lateral epicondylitis were home exercise program/stretching (81%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (75%), steroid injection (71%), counterforce bracing (68%), formal physical therapy (65%), and wrist brace (47%). Less commonly performed nonoperative treatment measures included platelet-rich plasma injection (16%), Tenex procedure (6%), and iontophoresis (2%). Conclusions: There is a lack of consensus in the literature for the management of lateral epicondylitis, which is reflected by individual variation in clinical treatment among the experts. Future prospective randomized control studies are needed to establish evidence-based practice standards for this common diagnosis.

Missed opportunities for physical activity management at key points throughout the chemotherapy pathway for colorectal survivors: an observational interview study.

PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) is central to self-management for people with colorectal cancer (CRC) to support health behaviour and function secondary to cancer treatment. However, there is limited evidence on how health professionals (HPs) promote PA during cancer treatment. This study aimed to investigate how and when PA is promoted throughout the chemotherapy pathway among colorectal cancer survivors. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with adults with CRC receiving chemotherapy at a large cancer centre. Cross-sectional observation of clinical consultations was conducted at four points during the chemotherapy pathway: prior, midpoint, final cycle, and 8 weeks following chemotherapy. Following completion of treatment, audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients and HPs and transcribed verbatim. Codes and themes were identified and triangulated from all the data using framework analysis. Observational themes are reported and complimented by interview data. RESULTS: Throughout the chemotherapy pathway (pre, midpoint, end), many opportunities were missed by HPs to promote PA as a beneficial means to maintain functioning and ameliorate cancer treatment side effects. When discussed, PA levels were used only to determine fitness for future oncological treatment. No PA promotion was observed despite patients reporting low PA levels or treatment side effects. Post-treatment, PA promotion was more routinely delivered by HPs, as evidenced by problem-solving and onward referrals to relevant HPs. CONCLUSION: PA promotion was largely absent during treatment despite it being a key component of patient self-management following treatment. This suggests considerable missed opportunities for HPs to provide cancer survivors with PA evidence-based interventions. Further research is necessary to identify how best to ensure PA is promoted throughout the cancer journey. IMPLICATION FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: These findings suggest many may not be receiving support to be physically active during treatment.

Exercise Rehabilitation Services Provided by Physiotherapy Departments in Cancer Care in Ireland

Aims This study aimed to identify the physiotherapy exercise rehabilitation services available to patients with cancer in Ireland and to identify barriers to the provision of services. Methods Physiotherapy department managers in specialised cancer centres, public and private hospitals and palliative care settings were surveyed to establish the availability of exercise rehabilitation services for patients with cancer. Results Of 40 managers contacted, 24 responded providing information about 26 services. Ten services employed a dedicated oncology physiotherapist. Exercise classes were offered to patients with cancer by five services, primarily within the palliative care setting. In the 17 hospitals which provided surgery, ten provided oncology specific post-operative exercise rehabilitation and one offered a prehabilitation programme. Limited human and physical resources and absence of established physiotherapy pathways were cited barriers to service provision. Conclusion Exercise rehabilitation is not an element of standard care for patients with cancer in Ireland.