Geriatric Depression Scale - 30 assessments: face-to-face or telephone interviews for older people - a randomized crossover study.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The Geriatric Depression Scale - 30 (GDS-30) for detecting depressive disorders provides an objective and reliable outcome measure validated by many studies and scientific articles. The aim of the study was to compare the concordance of measurements using the GDS-30 conducted in face-to-face and telephone interviews. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study design was approved by the Bioethical Committee of the University of Rzeszów (Resolution No. 2022/075). Study participants were community-dwelling older people in south-eastern Poland, aged 60 years and over, with a normal cognitive status. They were divided into 2 groups, each examined with the Geriatric Depression Scale - 30 questionnaire. The first group (G1) was examined first by means of direct contact (A), and the second group (G2) by telephone (B). After an average period of 2 weeks, the study was repeated, this time swapping the method of contact: in G1 telephone contact (B) was used, in G2 face-to-face contact (A). RESULTS: The study involved a group of 225 people (128 women and 97 men), mean aged 68.2 years, randomly divided into the 2 groups (G1 and G2). Cohen's kappa coefficient analysis showed good (14 questions) to very good (16 questions) concordance for individual responses to questions. Analysis of Krippendorf's alpha coefficient values showed very good concordance for results on the whole questionnaire. Good concordance of the means of measurement was also confirmed by the Bland and Altman method, where more than 95% of the sample was within the 95% concordance limits. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the study showed that the GDS-30 questionnaire had a high compliance in both face-to-face and telephone surveys.

Establishing score equivalence of the GDS-30 scale and International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health range, using Rasch analysis.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Depression is a common problem among older adults. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS- 30) is a recommended tool for assessing the emotional state of the elderly. To-date, there are no data in literature on the description of GDS-30, according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The aim of the study is to transform the data obtained using the GDS-30 scale into the common scale of the ICF by applying the Rasch measurement theory. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted based on the results of 775 measurements made on people aged 65 and over. The Rasch model with the unconstrained Rasch parameter was used for the study. RESULTS: The GDS-30 scale was transformed into the ICF scale, where 0 points on the ICF scale were assigned to 0 points on the GDS-30 scale, 1 on the ICF scale - 1-4 points on the GDS-30 scale, 2 on the ICF scale - 5-7 on the GDS-30, 3 on the ICF scale, and 8-19 points on the GDS-30, whereas 4 on the ICF scale, 20-30 points on the GDS-30. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the results showed that the GDS-30 scale can be reliably transferred to the universal ICF scale for the b152 Emotional functions code. The ability to transfer the results into the universal language of the ICF category provides a coding system for more efficient information management in health systems, allows for data aggregation, and offers the possibility to compare them. It is also invaluable for clinical practice and research, including creating meta-analyses.

Ultrasound-Guided Injections and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation as Shoulder Rehabilitation for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuropathic Pain.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) represents a major cause of chronic neurological disability in young adults and can result in upper limb sensorimotor impairment with a huge impact on manual dexterity and activities of daily living. Moreover, pain is common in MS and a large proportion of patients suffer from central neuropathic pain. To date, no rehabilitative treatment has been described as useful for these patients. A 46-year-old woman, affected by relapsing-remittent MS, described a one-year history of right shoulder pain (Visual Analogue Scale = 8) that started gradually and without trauma. The patient also presented balance and gait impairments, upper limb strength deficit, and fatigue (Expanded Disability Status Scale = 5.5). A multidisciplinary treatment was proposed, including three intra-articular corticosteroid injections and one month of manual therapy, three sessions/week, based on proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation for the upper limb. At the end of the rehabilitative treatment, pain relief and an improvement in the range of motion of the affected shoulder, upper limb muscle strength, and hand dexterity were observed. The present paradigmatic case report with literature review demonstrated that a multidisciplinary approach seems to be effective in pain relief in a patient with central neuropathic shoulder pain and relapsing-remitting MS.

Efficacy of kinesio taping on hand functioning in patients with mild carpal tunnel syndrome. A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

STUDY DESIGN: Double-blind randomized controlled trial. INTRODUCTION: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common mononeuropathy that causes pain and disability in the affected hand. Kinesio taping (KT) has been recently proposed as a promising conservative approach in CTS patients. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: To investigate the effectiveness of KT compared to a sham taping on symptoms and hand function in patients affected by mild CTS. METHODS: Patients affected by mild CTS with symptoms for at least 8 weeks were enrolled and randomly allocated into two groups: KT group, according to the technique proposed by Kase plus specific exercises; control group, undergoing a sham taping plus specific exercise. All patients performed 2 sessions/week for 5 weeks of exercises of mobilization of fingers and carpal joint. At the baseline, after 5 weeks (T1), and after 6 months (T2), a physician unaware of patients' allocation assessed the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) symptom (BCTQ-S) and functional (BCTQ-F) subscales. RESULTS: Forty-two patients (mean age:54.3 ± 15.0 y) were randomly allocated into KT (n = 21) and control group (n = 21). At T1, in both groups we found a significant improvement in hand function and symptoms, as showed by BCTQ-F (KT:4.2 ± 0.7 vs 3.0 ± 0.6, P < .001; sham: 2.2 ± 0.3 vs 1.7 ± 0.3, P = .012) and by BCTQ-S (KT: 2.2 ± 0.3 vs 1.7 ± 0.3, P < .001; sham: 2.3 ± 0.4 vs 1.9 ± 0.5, P = .007). At T2, only in the KT group there was a significant difference in both sub-items of primary outcome. There were significantly better results in the KT group at T1 and T2. DISCUSSION: The present study showed that KT compared to a sham taping might be more effective in reducing perceived symptoms in mild CTS patients, reporting a clinically significant difference. CONCLUSION: KT might be considered as an effective technique combined to rehabilitative treatment in terms of hand function and symptoms in patients affected by mild CTS.

Psychometric properties of the Polish version of the 36-item WHODAS 2.0 in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: To examine psychometric properties of the Polish version of the 36-item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) in the population with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: This was a longitudinal study with repeated measures during retest examinations. Subjects from a Polish Specialist Hospital (age = 68.3 ± 9.2years, 71% female, 44.2% knee OA, 55.8% hip OA) were tested three times. They completed the Polish version of the 36-item WHODAS 2.0, the SF-36 Health Survey 2.0, the Western Ontario and Macmaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index 3.1, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Numerical Rating Scale. RESULTS: The 36-item WHODAS 2.0-Polish version demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha for total = 0.94), and test-retest reliability (Total ICC2,1 = 0.98). High construct validity was found as 12 out of 15 a priori hypotheses (80%) were confirmed. Most domains and Total Scores in the 36-item WHODAS 2.0 (Total ES = - 0.62, SMR = - 1.09) showed a moderate degree of responsiveness. Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the Total WHODAS 2.0 was 3.29 in patients undergoing rehabilitation for knee or hip OA. CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the 36-item WHODAS 2.0 assesses disability according to ICF in a reliable, valid and responsive way. Therefore, it provides considerable support in clinical practice and national and international scientific research of patients with hip or knee OA.

Psychometric Properties of the Polish Version of the 36-Item WHODAS 2.0 in Patients with Low Back Pain.

The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a useful tool for assessing the functioning and disability of the general population as well as the effectiveness of the applied interventions. Until this study, no data regarding the validity of the 36-item WHODAS 2.0 in chronic low back pain (LBP) in Poland have been explored. This study was conducted on 92 patients suffering from chronic LBP admitted to the rehabilitation ward. The Polish version of the 36-item WHODAS 2.0, the Sf-36 Health Survey (SF-36), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) questionnaires were applied to assess patients. The scale score reliability of the entire tool for the study population was very high. The Cronbach's alpha test result for the entire scale was 0.92. For the overall result of the WHODAS 2.0, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC1,2) was 0.928, which confirmed that the scale was consistent over time. The total result and the vast majority of domains of the 36-item WHODAS 2.0 correlated negatively with domains of the SF-36 questionnaire; thus, a higher WHODAS 2.0 score was associated with a lower score on the SF-36 questionnaire. We found that the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the total WHODAS 2.0 score in patients after rehabilitation for LBP was 4.87. Overall, the results indicated that the Polish version of the 36-item WHODAS is suitable for assessing health and disability status in patients with LBP.

[CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION, AND VALIDITY OF THE ITALIAN VERSION OF THE UPPER LiMB FUNCTIONAL INDEx (ULFI-I)]. / Adattamento cross-culturale e validazione in lingua italiana dell'Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI-1).

BACKGROUND: Outcome measures are the scientific basis for assessment and comparison of the effects of rehabilitative interventions. Among the instruments proposed for the evaluation of musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb, the Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI) was recently validated and translated into several languages, but it does not yet exist an Italian version yet. OBJECTIVE: To obtain an Italian validated version of ULFI, called ULFI-I. MATERIALS & METHODS: The translation process was conducted following the international guidelines of the forwardlbackward translation. The ULFI-I was subsequently validated by calculating: (1) internal consistency (Cronbach's a and item-to-total correlation), (2) criterion validity (correlation r with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire, DASH), and (3) test-retest reliability (ICC(2,1)) and measurement error (Standard Error of measurement, SEM and Minimal Detectable Change, MDC90. For the first two points we used a sample of 57 patients with upper limb orthopedic conditions, while the analysis of the. reliability required a further administration of the questionnaire carried out 3 days before on 33 subjects. I. Statistical analysis showed good levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=.90, item-to-total correlation between .45 and .73), high criterion validity (r=.81, P<0.01) and excellent reliability test-retest reliability (ICC(2,1)=.94, CI=.89-.97). The SEM was found to be equal to 5 points, with a MDC90 estimated at 12 points. CONCLUSION: In this study the ULFI-I showed good psychometric properties, combined with speed and ease of administration and scoring. Its use will facilitate the comparison of data collected in Italy with international studies, ensuring greater uniformity of assessment.