OBJECTIVES: Sucking problems in preterm infants can be specified by means of visual observation. The Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS) is the visual observation method most commonly used to assess the non-nutritive sucking (NNS) and nutritive sucking (NS) skills of infants up to approximately …

Background The experiences of residents who have communication difficulties such as dysphasia are largely absent from the literature. Aim To illuminate the everyday experiences of four residents with severe communication difficulties living in a residential care setting in the Netherlands. Methodology …

BACKGROUND: Paratonia, a form of hypertonia, is associated with loss of mobility and with the development of contractures especially in the late stages of the dementia. Passive movement therapy (PMT) currently is the main physiotherapeutic intervention. General doubt about the beneficial effects of this …

BACKGROUND: It is unclear if psycho-education on top of physical training is of additional value regarding quality of life in revascularised patients. DESIGN: Prospective randomised study comparing two types of cardiac rehabilitation: exercise based versus a more comprehensive approach including psychological …

OBJECTIVE: Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy characterized by systemic vascular dysfunction and pathological changes in placental arteries. Growing evidence of chronic infection as an aetiological factor in vascular diseases prompted us to study maternal periodontal disease in subjects with …

The aim of this study was to test the inter- and intraobserver reliability of the Physician Rating Scale (PRS) and the Edinburgh Visual Gait Analysis Interval Testing (GAIT) scale for use in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Both assessment scales are quantitative observational scales, evaluating gait. …

In order to overcome cancer-related problems and to improve quality of life, an intensive multi-focus rehabilitation programme for cancer patients was developed. We hypothesised that this six-week intensive rehabilitation programme would result in physiological improvements and improvement in quality …

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the results of an ergonomic-educational course for nurses we assessed the number and percentage of harmful postures and of ergonomic and biomechanical errors made before and after the course. We also studied the perceived physical exertion. MEANS AND METHODS: In all, 12 nurses …

Slides showing nurses in different working postures were used to determine the reliability of OWAS observations. Each slide could be looked at for 3 seconds, while a new slide was shown every 30 seconds to resemble the normal practice of observation. Two observers twice scored a series of slides, some …

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were (i) To establish whether it is possible to assess by means of a check-list in a reliable way errors which violated biomechanical and ergonomical principles during nursing tasks, and (ii) to study the effectiveness of an ergonomic-educational course by using …