Effects of elastic therapeutic taping on motor function in children with motor impairments: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The elastic therapeutic taping has been considered a promising resource for disabled children. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence of the effects of elastic therapeutic taping on motor function in children with motor impairments. METHOD: Three independent evaluators conducted searches in electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, LILACS, BIREME/BVS, Science Direct, SciELO, and PEDro). Clinical studies design, published until 2016, involving elastic therapeutic taping and children aged 0-12 years with motor impairments were included. The variables considered were the methodological aspects (study design, participants, outcome measurements, and experimental conditions); results presented in the studies, and also the methodological quality of studies. RESULTS: Final selection was composed by 12 manuscripts (five randomized controlled trials), published in the last 10 years. Among them, cerebral palsy (CP) was the most recurrent disorder (n = 7), followed by congenital muscular torticollis (n = 2) and brachial plexus palsy (n = 2). Positive results were associated with taping application: improvement in the upper limb function, gross motor skills, postural control, muscular balance, and performance in the dynamics functional and daily activities. LIMITATIONS: Lower quality of the studies, clinical and population heterogeneity existed across studies. CONCLUSIONS: The elastic therapeutic taping has been shown to be a promising adjunct resource to the conventional rehabilitation in children with motor impairments. However, high methodological studies about its efficacy in this population are already scarce. Implications for Rehabilitation Elastic therapeutic taping has been shown to be a promising adjunct resource to the conventional rehabilitation in disabled children. Clinical trials have indicated improvement in the postural control and functional activities with both, upper and lower limbs, and increase in the functional independency resulting from the taping use. Randomized control trials and well-established protocols are needed to increase the confidence in applying elastic therapeutic taping to specific clinical conditions.

Conhecimentos, atitudes e prática de médicos e enfermeiros da Estratégia Saúde da Família em relação à incontinência urinária feminina / Knowledge, attitudes and practice of physicians and nurses of Family Health Strategy regarding female urinary incontinence / Conocimientos, actitudes y práctica de médicos y enfermeros de la Estrategia de Salud Familiar en relación a la incontinencia urinaria femenina

Objetivo: Analisar conhecimentos, atitudes e prática de médicos e enfermeiros da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) em relação à incontinência urinária (IU) feminina. Métodos: O estudo foi realizado nas 19 equipes da ESF de um município no interior paulista, as quais possuíam 41 profissionais elegíveis (22 médicos e 19 enfermeiros). Foi desenvolvido e utilizado um questionário autoaplicável com questões sobre conhecimentos, atitudes e prática dos profissionais na atenção às mulheres com IU. Resultados: Responderam ao questionário 33 profissionais (80% da população alvo), sendo 15 médicos e 18 enfermeiros. A maioria dos participantes possuía um nível de conhecimento adequado em relação à propedêutica clínica da IU e considerou que suas atribuições englobam a investigação diagnóstica e o tratamento da IU não complicada. Entretanto, uma parcela significativa desconhecia os exames complementares e a conduta terapêutica para a abordagem inicial das mulheres com IU, principalmente naquelas com IU de Urgência. Quanto à prática, um número expressivo desses profissionais não prescrevia exercícios de fortalecimento do assoalho pélvico, não realizava ações de educação em saúde com as mulheres ou promovia atividades de educação permanente com a equipe de trabalho. Conclusão: Os déficits de investigação diagnóstica e tratamento da IU feminina identificados sugerem a necessidade de educação permanente e integração de equipes de apoio matricial à ESF, a fim de promover um cuidado mais integral à população. Tais equipes podem ser provenientes dos Núcleos de Apoio à Saúde da Família (NASF) e/ou de parcerias com as universidades locais.

Objective: To examine knowledge, attitudes and practice of physicians and nurses of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) regarding female urinary incontinence (UI). Methods: This study was performed in the 19 teams of FHS from a city in the interior of São Paulo state, which had 41 eligible professionals (22 physicians and 19 nurses). A self-application questionnaire with questions regarding knowledge, attitudes and practice of the professionals in the assistance to women with UI was developed and used. Results: Answered to the questionnaire 33 professionals (80% of the target population), being 15 physicians and 18 nurses. Most of the participants had an adequate level of knowledge related to propaedeutic clinics and considered that their attributions include diagnostic investigation and treatment of non-complicated UI. However, a large number of them did not know complementary tests and treatments for the initial management of UI in women, especially for Urgency UI. Regarding the practice, a significant amount of these professionals did not prescribe pelvic-floor strengthening exercises, perform popular education in health actions with women, nor promote permanent education within the health team in their working places. Conclusion: Deficits related to the diagnostic investigation and treatment of female UI identified suggest the requirement for permanent education and integration of matrix support teams to the FHS, in order to promote a more integrated care to the population. These teams can be from the Support Centre for Family Health (NASF) and/or from the partnership with local universities.

Objetivo: Analizar conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas de médicos y enfermeros de la Estrategia de Salud Familiar (ESF) en relación a la incontinencia urinaria (IU) femenina. Métodos: El estudio se hizo en los 19 equipos de la ESF de un municipio del estado de São Paulo, que poseía 41 profesionales habilitados (22 médicos y 19 enfermeros). Fue desarrollado y utilizado un cuestionario auto aplicable con preguntas sobre conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas en la atención a las mujeres con IU. Resultados: Respondieron al cuestionario 33 profesionales (80% de la población blanco), siendo 15 médicos y 18 enfermeros. La mayoría tenía un nivel de conocimiento adecuado sobre la propedéutica clínica de la IU y consideraban que sus atribuciones engloban la investigación diagnóstica y el tratamiento de la IU no complicada. Sin embargo, una parte significativa desconocía los exámenes complementarios y la conducta terapéutica para el abordaje inicial de las mujeres con IU, principalmente aquellas con IU de Urgencia. Destacando la práctica, un número significativo de los profesionales no prescribía ejercicios de fortalecimiento del suelo pélvico, no realizaban acciones de educación en salud con las mujeres o promovían educación permanente con el equipo de trabajo. Conclusión: Las carencias de investigación diagnóstica y tratamiento de la IU femenina identificados sugieren la necesidad de educación permanente y integración de equipos de apoyo matricial a la ESF, para proveer un cuidado más integral a la población. Tales equipos pueden ser de los Núcleos de Apoyo a la Salud Familiar (NASF) y/o de asociaciones con las universidades locales.

A Novel Device for Grasping Assessment during Functional Tasks: Preliminary Results.

This paper presents a methodology and first results obtained in a study with a novel device that allows the analysis of grasping quality. Such a device is able to acquire motion information of upper limbs allowing kinetic of manipulation analysis as well. A pilot experiment was carried out with six groups of typically developing children aged between 5 and 10 years, with seven to eight children in each one. The device, designed to emulate a glass, has an optical system composed by one digital camera and a special convex mirror that together allow image acquisition of grasping hand posture when it is grasped and manipulated. It also carries an Inertial Measurement Unit that captures motion data as acceleration, orientation, and angular velocities. The novel instrumented object is used in our approach to evaluate functional tasks performance in quantitative terms. During tests, each child was invited to grasp the cylindrical part of the device that was placed on the top of a table, simulating the task of drinking a glass of water. In the sequence, the child was oriented to transport the device back to the starting position and release it. The task was repeated three times for each child. A grasping hand posture evaluation is presented as an example to evaluate grasping quality. Additionally, motion patterns obtained with the trials performed with the different groups are presented and discussed. This device is attractive due to its portable characteristics, the small size, and its ability to evaluate grasping form. The results may be also useful to analyze the evolution of the rehabilitation process through reach-to-grasping movement and the grasping images analysis.