Effects of a supervised exercise program in addition to electrical stimulation or kinesio taping in low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Chronic low back pain it is one of the most common health problems worldwide. Usually is accompanied by a complex set of symptoms and generates significant direct and indirect socioeconomic and health costs. From a therapeutic point of view, there are a wide variety of methods to address the treatment of this pathology, however, these therapies have not been shown definitive efficacy. To investigate the effect of a mixed treatment with exercise and electrical stimulation versus exercise and kinesio taping in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. A total of 58 patients participated in this single-blinded randomised clinical trial. Participants were assigned to the exercises- kinesio taping group, or exercises- analgesic current group, both received 12 treatment sessions. Disability, fear of movement, anxiety, depression, sleeps quality, pain, lower limb mechanosensitivity and pressure-pain thresholds were recorded at baseline and after 4 weeks of treatment. The 2 × 2 mixed analysis of covariance test showed statistically significant differences between groups for pain (P = 0.046). Pair-wise comparisons with baseline demonstrated significant differences for both groups in pain (P ≤ 0.001), disability (P ≤ 0.001), pressure-pain thresholds (P ≤ 0.044), lower limb mechanosensitivity, (P ≤ 0.047), anxiety (P ≤ 0.001), depression (P ≤ 0.001) and sleep quality (P ≤ 0.010). Patients with chronic low back pain who received a combined treatment of exercises and kinesio taping or analgesic current showed an improvement in pain, disability, anxiety, depression and sleep pattern. Moreover, exercises combined with electrotherapy produces greater improvements over these variables.Trial registration: NCT02812459.

Effectiveness of mirror therapy, motor imagery, and virtual feedback on phantom limb pain following amputation: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Phantom limb pain is reported in 50%-85% of people with amputation. Clinical interventions in treating central pain, such as mirror therapy, motor imagery, or virtual visual feedback, could redound in benefits to amputee patients with phantom limb pain. OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the effectiveness of different techniques for treating phantom limb pain in amputee patients. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. METHODS: A computerized literature search up to April 2017 was performed using the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest, PEDro, EBSCOhost, and Cochrane Plus. Methodological quality and internal validity score of each study were assessed using PEDro scale. For data synthesis, qualitative methods from the Cochrane Back Review Group were applied. RESULTS: In all, 12 studies met our inclusion criteria, where 9 were rated as low methodological quality and 3 rated moderate quality. All studies showed a significant reduction in pain, but there was heterogeneity among subjects and methodologies and any high-quality clinical trial (PEDro score ≤8; internal validity score ≤5) was not found. CONCLUSION: Mirror therapy, motor imaginary, and virtual visual feedback reduce phantom limb pain; however, there is limited scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness. Future studies should include designs with more solid research methods, exploring short- and long-term benefits of these therapies. Clinical relevance This systematic review investigates the effectiveness of mirror therapy, motor imagery, and virtual visual feedback on phantom limb pain, summarizing the currently published trials and evaluating the research quality. Although these interventions have positive benefits in phantom limb pain, there is still a lack of evidence for supporting their effectiveness.

Quality of life of Brazilian and Spanish cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: an integrative literature review.

OBJECTIVE: characterize the scientific production of Brazil and Spain in regard to methodological aspects and aspects of health-related quality of life experienced by cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in both countries. METHOD: integrative literature review was conducted using the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and CUIDEN and the electronic libraries PubMed and SciELO, conducted in September 2013. RESULTS: a total of 28 papers met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis of knowledge was presented in three categories of analysis: assessment of quality of life in different types of cancer; sociodemographic factors that influenced quality of life; and type of cancer and interventions that improve quality of life. Chemotherapy affects health-related quality of life and the most important factors were: age, sex, chemotherapy protocol, type of surgery, stage of the disease, educational level, and emotional intelligence. Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, guided visualization, prayers and exercise were positive and reduced side effects. CONCLUSION: the results showed a poor level of evidence, since 86% of the studies were cross-sectional descriptive studies; the instrument most frequently used to measure health-related quality of life was EORTC QLQ C-30 and more studies were conducted in Brazil than in Spain.

Quality of life of Brazilian and Spanish cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: an integrative literature review / Qualidade de vida de pacientes brasileiros e espanhóis com câncer em tratamento quimioterápico: revisão integrativa da literatura / Calidad de vida de pacientes brasileños y españoles con cáncer en tratamiento de quimioterapia: revisión integradora de la literatura

Objective: characterize the scientific production of Brazil and Spain in regard to methodological aspects and aspects of health-related quality of life experienced by cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in both countries. Method: integrative literature review was conducted using the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and CUIDEN and the electronic libraries PubMed and SciELO, conducted in September 2013. Results: a total of 28 papers met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis of knowledge was presented in three categories of analysis: assessment of quality of life in different types of cancer; sociodemographic factors that influenced quality of life; and type of cancer and interventions that improve quality of life. Chemotherapy affects health-related quality of life and the most important factors were: age, sex, chemotherapy protocol, type of surgery, stage of the disease, educational level, and emotional intelligence. Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, guided visualization, prayers and exercise were positive and reduced side effects. Conclusion: the results showed a poor level of evidence, since 86% of the studies were cross-sectional descriptive studies; the instrument most frequently used to measure health-related quality of life was EORTC QLQ C-30 and more studies were conducted in Brazil than in Spain.

Objetivo: caracterizar a produção científica do Brasil e Espanha quanto aos aspectos metodológicos e aos aspectos relacionados à qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, apresentados pelo paciente com câncer em tratamento quimioterápico dos dois países. Método: revisão integrativa da literatura nas bases de dados: CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS e CUIDEN e bibliotecas eletrônicas PubMed e SciELO, realizado em setembro de 2013. Resultados: foram analisados 28 artigos que atenderam os critérios de inclusão. A síntese do conhecimento foi feita por três categorias de análise: avaliação da qualidade de vida em diferentes tipos de câncer, fatores sociodemográficos que influenciaram a qualidade de vida e o tipo de câncer e as intervenções que melhoram a qualidade de vida. Evidenciou-se que o tratamento quimioterápico afeta a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde, e os fatores que mais influenciaram foram idade, sexo, tipo de protocolo de quimioterapia, tipo de cirurgia, estádio da doença, nível de escolaridade e inteligência emocional. As terapias complementares, como acupuntura, visualização com imagem guiada, oração e exercícios, tiveram efeitos positivos na diminuição dos efeitos colaterais. Conclusão: os resultados demonstraram nível de evidências fraco, pois 86% dos estudos são descritivos de corte transversal, o instrumento de qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde mais utilizado foi o EORTC QLQ C-30 e a produção foi predominantemente realizada no Brasil.

Objetivo: caracterizar la producción científica de Brasil y España en lo que se refiere a los aspectos metodológicos y a los aspectos de la calidad de vida relacionada a la salud, presentados por el paciente con cáncer en tratamiento de quimioterapia de los dos países. Método: revisión integradora de la literatura en las bases de datos: CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS y CUIDEN y bibliotecas electrónicas PubMed y SciELO, realizado en septiembre de 2013. Resultados: fueron analizados 28 artículos que atendieron los criterios de inclusión. La síntesis del conocimiento fue hecha por tres categorías de análisis: evaluación de la calidad de vida en diferentes tipos de cáncer, factores sociodemográficos que influenciaron la calidad de vida y tipo de cáncer y las intervenciones que mejoraron la calidad de vida. Se evidenció que el tratamiento de quimioterapia afecta la calidad de vida relacionada a la salud, y los factores que más influenciaron fueron edad, sexo, tipo de protocolo de quimioterapia, tipo de cirugía, estado de la enfermedad, nivel de escolaridad e inteligencia emocional. Las terapias complementares, como acupuntura, visualización con imagen guiada, oración y ejercicios, tuvieron efectos positivos en la disminución de los efectos colaterales. Conclusión: los resultados demostraron un nivel de evidencias débil, ya que 86% de los estudios son descriptivos de corte transversal; el instrumento de calidad de vida relacionado a la salud más utilizado fue el EORTC QLQ C-30; y la producción fue predominantemente realizada en Brasil.