[Handicap and quality of life evaluation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]. / Evaluation du handicap et de la qualité de vie.

The impact of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and consequent disability on everyday life can be assessed with generic or specific and/or functional quality of life scales. Generic scales SF36, SIP (Sickness Impact Profiles) and SIP/ALS 19, SEIQoL have been validated for the assessment of quality of life in SLA. A specific scale has also been worked out and validated in this disease, the ALSAQ-40 scale. The ALSFRS (ALS Functional Rating Scale) is a tool validated to evaluate the patient's functional capacities. However, the patient's quality of life felt does not depend only on the disease course but also the patient's previous psychological profile, the environmental, social conditions and spiritual aspirations. The absence of a cognitive deficit makes the patient particularly lucid about the progressive degradation of health status. Evaluation must be carried out with individually for each patient, taking into account the social and familial environments, to appreciate real living conditions, and the impact of this degenerative disease.

[Physical therapy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]. / Quelles sont les modalités de thérapie physique symptomatique dans la Sclérose Latérale Amyotrophique (techniques de désencombrement bronchique exclues)?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease, without any curative treatment. Clinical expression is variable and related to loss of motor neurons in the cortex, brain stem and spinal cord. There is little scientific evidence demonstrating the usefulness of physical therapy in this disease. Only stretching exercises, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques and functional mobility training seem to have a real benefit in terms of spasticity, quality-of-life and pain. The main objective of physical therapy appears to be the preservation of optimal quality-of-life throughout the course of this incurable degenerative disease.

[What are management practices for speech therapy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?]. / Quelles sont les modalités de la prise en charge orthophonique dans la Sclérose Latérale Amyotrophique?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis involves deterioration of speech and swallowing. The objectives of rehabilitation are to maintain a comprehensible speech, using exercises on airflow-phonic coordination and breath, lingual and labial movements. Rehabilitation exercises also focus on the different times of swallowing to improve management of the food bolus in the mouth, to learn facilitating techniques and to adopt postures favoring passage of the food bolus. No studies have addressed the question of the effectiveness of rehabilitation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in term of quality of life, maintenance of comprehensible speech or reduction of respiratory risks. Rehabilitation programs are established on an individual basis according to the clinical presentation and course.

[Prospective study of the outcome at one year of patients with chronic low back pain in a program of intensive functional restoration and ergonomic intervention. Factors predicting their return to work]. / Etude du devenir à un an de lombalgiques chroniques inclus dans un programme associant reconditionnement à l'effort et action ergonomique. Recherche de facteurs prédictifs de retour et de maintien au travail.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of 1-year outcome after patients with chronic low back pain participated in an intensive functional restoration program associated with an ergonomic intervention on the workplace. Study of the factors predicts a return to work. METHODS: Prospective study of a cohort of 87 patients face major difficulties due to low back pain at work. Patients who visited a multidisciplinary clinic were included. Parameters, evaluating physical and psychological status, quality of life, presence at work, length of sick leaves, were determined before and after the program and at 6 and 12 months' followup. The correlation between these parameters and presence at work at 1 year was studied. RESULTS: A total of 86 patients completed the program; three were lost to followup at 1 year. Ergonomic interventions were tried in 53 patients. All parameters were improved at the end of the program and remained significantly improved at 12 months. A total of 90% of the patients returned to work at the end of the program, whereas only 17% were at work before; 72% were at work in 1 year. The number of sick leave days decreased by 60%. The Dallas index at the beginning and the end of the program, the number of sick leave days before the program and score on the item "feels able to work" correlated with the presence at work in 1 year. There was no correlation between presence at work and physical parameters. CONCLUSION: This study shows the effect of the program and determines factors predictive of successful return to work for patients with chronic low back pain. Further data are necessary to discuss the specific effect of ergonomic interventions.

Cognitive and behavioural post-traumatic impairments: what is the specificity of a brain injury ? A study within the ESPARR cohort.

OBJECTIVE: The variety and extent of impairments occurring after traumatic brain injury vary according to the nature and severity of the lesions. In order to better understand their interactions and long-term outcome, we have studied and compared the cognitive and neurobehavioral profile one year post onset of patients with and without traumatic brain injury in a cohort of motor vehicle accident victims. METHOD: The study population is composed of 207 seriously injured persons from the ESPARR cohort. This cohort, which has been followed up in time, consists in 1168 motor vehicle accident victims (aged 16 years or more) with injuries with all degrees of severity. Inclusion criteria were: living in Rhone county, victim of a traffic accident having involved at least one wheel-conducted vehicle and having occurred in Rhone county, alive at the time of arrival in hospital and having presented in one of the different ER facilities of the county. The cohort's representativeness regarding social and geographic criteria and the specificities of the accidents were ensured by the specific targeting of recruitment. Deficits and impairments were assessed one year after the accident using the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale - Revised and the Trail-Making Test. Within our seriously injured group, based on the Glasgow Score, the presence of neurological deficits, aggravation of neurological condition in the first 72hours and/or abnormal cerebral imaging, we identified three categories: (i) moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (n=48), (ii) mild traumatic brain injury (n=89), and (iii) severely injured but without traumatic brain injury (n=70). RESULTS: The most frequently observed symptoms were anxiety, irritability, memory and attention impairments, depressive mood and emotional lability. While depressive mood and irritability were observed with similar frequency in all three groups, memory and attention impairments, anxiety and reduced initiative were more specific to traumatic brain injury whereas executive disorders were associated with moderate/severe traumatic brain injury. DISCUSSION-CONCLUSION: The presence and the initial severity of a traumatic brain injury condition the nature and frequency of residual effects after one year. Some impairments such as irritability, which is generally associated with traumatic brain injury, do not appear to be specific to this population, nor does depressive mood. Substantial interactions between cognitive, affective and neurobehavioral disorders have been highlighted.

Oral anticoagulant treatment - evaluating the knowledge of patients admitted in physical medicine and rehabilitation units.

INTRODUCTION: While numerous therapeutic education programs exist in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), they rarely concern pharmacological treatments. Nevertheless, drugs prescribed during a hospital stay can have a significant risk of adverse events. Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are among them. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: To assess patients' knowledge on their oral anticoagulant treatment before their hospital discharge. METHODS: Fifty patients were enrolled in this prospective, monocenter study. Their level of knowledge was assessed by a semi-structured interview between the pharmacist and the patients and/or their caregivers. RESULTS: Seventy percent of patients were able to give the name of the drug they were taking, 82% could explain its effect and finally, 24% of patient knew their INR target values. Twenty-two percent of patients were able to describe the symptoms in case of overdose and what to do in that case. Forty percent of patients were aware of food interactions and 60% of self-medication risks. The patient's knowledge and behavior acquired during their hospital stay are not enough to guarantee a safe treatment management upon discharge. Based on this study, therapeutic patient education sessions were implemented. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that specific drug therapy management sessions should be developed as part of PM&R's therapeutic education programs for patients.