Assessment of the Clinical and Functional Health Status of Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil Using Telemedicine.

This study aimed to monitor the clinical and functional progression of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and adjust ventilatory support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil using telemedicine. This longitudinal case series included five evaluations from January 2019 to June 2021. The first and second assessments were performed in person and consisted of pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, functionality (ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised [ALSFRS-R]) and disease staging (King's College criteria). The use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV), ALSFRS-R, and disease staging were assessed in the third, fourth, and fifth assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic, using telemedicine. The rate of functional decline was calculated by the difference in the total score of ALSFRS-R between evaluations. A cutoff of 0.77 in the ALSFRS-R was used to characterize the speed of functional decline. Eleven patients (mean age of 51 years, eight males) were assessed. The total score of the ALSFRS-R (p < 0.01) and its motor domain (p < 0.01) reduced significantly during the pandemic. NIV prescription increased from 54.4% to 83.3%. Telemedicine helped with the clinical and functional follow-up of patients with ALS.

Physical therapy for the management of motor symptoms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The prescription of an intervention plan can be challenging for the physical therapist, considering clinical phenotypes, individual prognosis and the rapid, progressive and deteriorating nature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this context, therapeutic exercises (eg, resistance and aerobic exercises) for patients with ALS remain controversial and may influence the treatment plan. Therefore, this review aims to critically assess whether physical therapy interventions are effective for improving functional capacity, quality of life and fatigue of individuals with ALS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Studies will be selected according to eligibility criteria, and language, geographical area or publication date will not be restricted. Four databases will be used: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library (CENTRAL) and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). Searches will also be conducted on ClinicalTrials.gov and references from included studies. We plan to conduct the searches between October and December 2022. Two independent authors will examine titles and abstracts and exclude irrelevant studies and duplicates. We will assess the quality of studies and quality of evidence, and disagreements will be resolved with a third researcher. The findings will be presented in the text and tables; if possible, we will perform meta-analyses. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethical approval is required because this study does not involve human beings. We will publish our findings in peer-reviewed journals. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021251350.

Effects of respiratory physiotherapy in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

INTRODUCTION: Respiratory muscle weakness and ventilatory failure are common complications in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and may lead to death. Respiratory physiotherapy may improve lung function in this population. This study aims to investigate the effects of respiratory physiotherapy on lung function, cough efficacy and functional status of patients with ALS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A protocol was published on the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO). The research will cover randomised controlled trials, with no language or publication date restriction, available in the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Physiotherapy Evidence Database. The research question will be answered using a search strategy adapted for each database. Searches in databases will be conducted from January 2021 to December 2022. Two authors using the Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomised trials V.2 and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations, respectively, will assess risk of bias and quality of evidence independently. According to the results obtained, data will be reported as a meta-analysis or a narrative report. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No previous ethical approval is required for this publication since data used are already published. Results of this review will be disclosed via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021251842.

Remote versus face-to-face home-based exercise programme in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: protocol for a randomised clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with variable and complex clinical manifestations that requires a multidisciplinary approach. However, face-to-face treatment in this population may experience barriers, such as difficulty accessing physical therapists or other professionals. As a result, strategies (eg, telerehabilitation) emerged to facilitate treatment and physical therapy monitoring. This study aims to evaluate the effects of remote versus face-to-face home-based exercise programmes on clinical outcomes and treatment adherence of people with ALS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a single-blind randomised clinical trial protocol that will include 44 people with clinical diagnosis of ALS at any clinical stage and aged between 18 and 80 years. Participants will be randomised into two groups after face-to-face evaluation and perform a home-based exercise programme three times a week for 6 months. A physical therapist will monitor the exercise programme once a week remotely (phone calls-experimental group) or face-to-face (home visits-control group). The primary outcome measure will be functional capacity (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised). Secondary outcomes will include disease severity (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Severity Scale), fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale), pain (Visual Analogue Scale and body pain diagram), adverse events and adherence rate. Outcomes will be initially evaluated face-to-face and revaluated remotely every 2 months and 1 month after interventions. Linear mixed models will compare outcome measures between groups and evaluations (α=5%). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the research ethics committee of Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes/Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (no. 3735479). We expect to identify the effects of an exercise programme developed according to ALS stages and associated with remote or face-to-face monitoring on clinical outcomes using revaluations and follow-up after interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Brazilian Registry Clinical Trials (RBR-10z9pgfv).

Effects of an optimised approach to home-based respiratory care in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to investigate the effects of an optimal home-based respiratory care protocol in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a randomised, blinded controlled trial involving patients diagnosed with ALS, both sexes, age between 18 and 80 years. Patients will be randomly allocated into the conventional respiratory care (CRC) group and the optimised respiratory care home-based (ORC) group. Primary outcomes will be peak cough flow, the number of exacerbations and ALS Functional Rating Scale Revised. Secondary outcomes will include chest wall volumes, maximal respiratory pressures, sniff nasal inspiratory pressure, nasal expiratory pressure and forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the 1st second (FEV1) and FEV1/FVC. The CRC group will receive educational information about respiratory care at the clinic. The ORC group will receive conventional care and home-based care. The clinical status of all individuals will be monitored weekly through telephone calls. A 6-month intervention is planned, the outcomes will be assessed every 3 months and 3 and 6 months follow-up after final evaluation. The primary and secondary results will be described as average or median for continuous variables and absolute and relative frequencies for qualitative variables. Treatment effects or differences between the outcomes (baseline, 3 months and 6 months) of the study groups will be analysed using an analysis of variance. The level of significance will be set as p≤0.05. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The research ethics committee approved the study. It is expected to evaluate respiratory function in patients with ALS in the short, medium and long terms with home-based care protocol applied. The disease's rapid progression is a limitation for performing a long-term clinical study. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: RBR-3z23ts; Pre-results.

Relação entre força abdominal, abdome protuso e ângulo lombossacral em mulheres jovens / Relationship between abdominal force, abdominal protusion and lobossacral angle in young women

A postura é um comportamento adquirido pelo corpo em busca da estabilidde, seja ela elástica ou dinâmica. Quando esta se torna ineficaz, pode acarretar em deformidades da coluna e distúrbios dermato-funcionais. O vício da má postura pode acentuar a curvatura da lordose lombar, ocasionando também flacidez e protusão abdominal. Esta pesquisa tem caráter descritivo-exploratório, com o propósito de verificar se há relação entre a hiperlordose lombar e o abdome protuso, por meio de avaliações fotométricas, radiológicas e letromagnéticas, servindo como base literária para futuros estudos nessa temática, beneficiando os fisioterapeutas e acadêmicos interessados no assunto. A amostra foi composta de 18 acadêmicas de fisioterapia da Universidade Potiguar, em Natal/RN, com idade média de 22 anos, nulíparas e apresentando Índice de Massa Corpórea (IMC) normal. Observou-se que todas as participantes se preocupam com a sua imagem corporal relacionada ao abdome. Após as avaliações, os dados coletados apresentaram grandes discrepãncias de resultados, mostrando que o exame radiológico é mais eficaz do que a fotometria para análise da coluna lombar e quadril: nem sempre o abdome protuso está acompanhado de hiperlordose lombar e/ou da fraqueza da musculatura abdominal,porém existe relação entre a força muscular do reto-abdominal e seu potencial de ação, já que 60 por cento das hiperlodóticas com grau 5 de força apresentam faixa eletromiográfica acima da normal.