[Role of occupational rehabilitation therapy in returning to work: experimental experience]. / Ruolo della terapia riabilitativa occupazionale nel reinserimento al lavoro: esperienze sperimentali.

The experimental experience is the result of combining cultural, clinical and scientific interest in rehabilitative, occupational and forensic mnedicine and in ergonomics. It deals with the rehabilitation and return at work of patients with physical disabilities caused by occupational trauma or disease. The programme described starts with a selection by INAIL and involves with an outpatient surgery inclusion. It is composed of: preliminary physical examination, functional assessment, the formulation of a rehabilitation plan and its successive implementation. At the end of the evaluation plan, there is a final assessment to identify outcome indicators and residual functional and work capacity.

Factors influencing the self-perceived mobility of active unilateral lower limb amputees assessed with the Prosthetic Mobility Questionnaire: a brief report.

The Prosthetic Mobility Questionnaire (PMQ 2.0) represents a reliable solution for evaluating amputees' self-perceived mobility. The study aimed to evaluate the perceived mobility of middle-aged users with a traumatic amputation using the PMQ 2.0 and to assess the influence of age, stump and phantom limb pain, amputation level, time since amputation, and prosthesis use on it. Fifty subjects were recruited. The median value of the score was higher than previously published reference values, reflecting the 'active' mobility status of the sample. The hours of prosthesis use per day explained about 21% of the variance of the questionnaire score and was a significant predictor of perceived mobility. Reference values for the recently developed PMQ 2.0 survey and relative to active, traumatic amputees were reported. As prosthesis use was a significant predictor of the amputees' perceived mobility, prolonged use of the artificial limb should be always encouraged in clinical practice.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders with reference to the revised occupational diseases list.

Due to the different compensation schemes, compensated musculoskeletal disorders vary widely between countries. In Italy, following the Constitutional Court Decision no.179/1988, these disorders were treated as "non-listed" diseases and workers must prove their occupational origin by submitting a compensation claim for musculoskeletal disorders to INAIL. The Italian Workers Compensation Agency (INAIL) supplied guidelines for the management of these claims. Recently, a new occupational diseases list has been submitted to the Labour Ministry for approval. This list includes musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb, back and knee.