ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to investigate whether the combination of semantic feature analysis (SFA) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is effective in treating word retrieval in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and how long the potential effects last. METHODS: A 56-year-old woman diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and svPPA participated in this longitudinal single-subject design. A total of four 2-week stimulation phases were conducted over a 14-month period, each of which was started depending on the participant's language performance. Follow-up testing was conducted shortly after the stimulation period, approximately 2 weeks, and approximately 4 weeks thereafter. RESULTS: Significant improvement in word retrieval occurred after SFA and tDCS therapy. Two weeks after the end of each stimulation phase, approx. 80% of the trained words could be named correctly. For the untrained words, also significantly more words were correctly named at follow-ups compared to the baseline. Furthermore, the Boston Naming Test (BNT) demonstrated a significant increase in naming performance and showed that phonological cues facilitated word retrieval compared to semantic cues. CONCLUSION: The combination of SFA and tDCS was able to counteract the expected language deterioration of a participant with svPPA. This effect increased until approximately 2 weeks after each intervention. In addition, a generalization of the effect to untrained words was shown.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that often leads to premature incapacity for work. Therefore, the MSnetWork project implements a new form of care and pursues the goal of maintaining or even improving the state of health of MS patients and having a positive influence on their ability to work as well as their participation in social life. A network of neurologists, occupational health and rehabilitation physicians, psychologists, and social insurance suppliers provide patients with targeted services that have not previously been part of standard care. According to the patient's needs treatment options will be identified and initiated. METHODS: The MSnetWork study is designed as a multicenter randomized controlled trial, with two parallel groups (randomization at the patient level with 1:1 allocation ratio, planned N = 950, duration of study participation 24 months). After 12 months, the patients in the control group will also receive the interventions. The primary outcome is the number of sick leave days. Secondary outcomes are health-related quality of life, physical, affective and cognitive status, fatigue, costs of incapacity to work, treatment costs, out-of-pocket costs, self-efficacy, and patient satisfaction with therapy. Intervention effects are analyzed by a parallel-group comparison between the intervention and the control group. Furthermore, the long-term effects within the intervention group will be observed and a pre-post comparison of the control group, before and after receiving the intervention in MSnetWork, will be performed. DISCUSSION: Due to the multiple approaches to patient-centered, multidisciplinary MS care, MSnetWork can be considered a complex intervention. The study design and linkage of comprehensive, patient-specific primary and secondary data in an outpatient setting enable the evaluation of this complex intervention, both on a qualitative and quantitative level. The basic assumption is a positive effect on the prevention or reduction of incapacity for work as well as on the patients' quality of life. If the project proves to be a success, MSnetWork could be adapted for the treatment of other chronic diseases with an impact on the ability to work and quality of life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial MSnetWork has been retrospectively registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) since 08.07.2022 with the ID DRKS00025451 .
Subject(s)
Multiple Sclerosis , Humans , Multiple Sclerosis/epidemiology , Multiple Sclerosis/therapy , Quality of Life , Social Participation , Treatment Outcome , Sick LeaveABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can be characterized to the extent that they specifically address physical therapists and mainly contain recommendations for physical therapist interventions. The primary aim of this study was to identify existing physical therapy CPGs regardless of medical condition, with a secondary aim of assessing their methodological quality to determine whether they are potentially suitable for adaptation. METHODS: Systematic searches of the Medline and Physiotherapy Evidence Database were performed (August 2019), and the websites of World Confederation for Physical Therapy members were screened (September 2019). Only CPGs published in German or English were included. Two independent reviewers screened records according to previously defined inclusion criteria. Information was extracted regarding country of origin, year of publication, and clinical subject area addressed. Four independent reviewers assessed the quality of physical therapy CPGs using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation instrument. A descriptive data analysis was performed. RESULTS: Thirty-five CPGs met the inclusion criteria; 46% (16/35) of the included CPGs were from the United States, and 31% (11/35) were from the Netherlands. Assessment using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation tool resulted in the following domain scores, presented as median percentage (interquartile range): domain 1 (scope and purpose), 76 (63-92); domain 2 (stakeholder involvement), 63 (55-76); domain 3 (rigor of development), 67 (53-75); domain 4 (clarity of presentation), 74 (67-77); domain 5 (applicability), 44 (30-57); and domain 6 (editorial independence), 52 (35-66). CONCLUSIONS: In general, the methodological quality of the included CPGs was moderate to good. Possibilities of adapting recommendations from existing CPGs should be considered with the development of new physical therapy CPGs. IMPACT STATEMENT: This study can raise awareness of existing physical therapy CPGs and can support their application by physical therapists. Further, the study can support decisions on adapting existing CPGs with the planning of new physical therapy CPGs.
