The prevention of taxane-related toxicities at the extremities is highly important for patients’ treatment and quality-of-life. Several studies endorse hand/foot-cooling using frozen gloves as a prophylactic intervention. Unlike frozen gloves, hilotherapy produces cooling at a constant temperature. Comparative data with frozen gloves are unavailable. This prospective self-controlled study explores the efficacy of hilotherapy at the right hand and foot compared to frozen gloves at the left in patients with early breast cancer treated with weekly paclitaxel 80 mg/m2 or three-weekly docetaxel 75 mg/m2. Patient-reported outcomes were collected at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 weeks after the start of treatment. Primary and secondary endpoints were the incidence of any-grade and ≥ grade 2 side-effects (peripheral neuropathy, pain and nail toxicities), and perceived comfort of both interventions. Sixty-two patients participated. The incidence of any-grade side-effects was similar on both sides, 85.5% with hilotherapy and 90.3% with frozen gloves (p = 1.000). The incidence of ≥ grade 2 side-effects at the extremities was significantly lower with hilotherapy: 43.6% compared to 61.3% with frozen gloves (p = 0.013). Perceived comfort was significantly better for hilotherapy than for frozen gloves (p < 0.0001). Compared to frozen gloves, continuous cooling of hands and feet using hilotherapy produces better prevention of ≥ grade 2 patient-reported side-effects at the extremities (peripheral neuropathy, pain and nail toxicities). Perceived comfort was significantly better for hilotherapy. From a clinical and patient perspective, hilotherapy is a better alternative for preventing clinically significant taxane-related side-effects.

This dataset presents the data of a study to explore the patient- and nurse-reported results of scalp cooling in terms of hair loss and need for a wig/head cover in patients with breast cancer treated with 3-weekly docetaxel 75 mg/m² - cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m².

BACKGROUND:Impaired sitting balance is common in persons with stroke, affecting postural control in different directions. However, studies seldomly investigate sitting balance in severely affected non-ambulatory persons with stroke and precise assessment including the diagonal directions are scarce. RESEARCH QUESTION:Are measurements of maximal voluntary weight-shifts decreased in severely affected persons with stroke in comparison to healthy controls, and is there a relationship with clinical measurements of trunk control, sitting and standing balance? METHODS:14 Persons with stroke were recruited in the rehabilitation phase along with 32 healthy controls. A clinical pressure platform (RM Ingénierie, France) evaluated the weight-distribution during static sitting and measurements of maximal voluntary weight-shifts, by centre of pressure displacements in six directions. Clinical measurements included Trunk Control Test, Trunk Impairment Scale and Berg Balance Scale. RESULTS:The persons with stroke had a mean (SD) age of 69 (17) years, including 5 females and 9 males and were on average 57 (40) days post stroke. No patient was able to walk without manual support and median (IQR) Berg Balance Scale score was 17 (6-33) out of 56 points. Measurements showed that the centre of pressure distance was significantly smaller in all directions in persons with stroke compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05). The clinical measurements demonstrated moderate to very high correlations with centre of pressure distance in the diagonal forward, diagonal backward and lateral directions (r = 0.54 - 0.89). SIGNIFICANCE:This study reveals that measurements of maximal voluntary weight-shifts are feasible and show clinically relevant deficits in severely affected non-ambulatory persons with stroke. Especially the lateral and diagonal directions can be of interest to investigate further as they are most strongly correlated with clinical measurements of balance. Reaching exercises in these directions could be considered a core element of rehabilitation for this group of patients.

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the predictive accuracy of fall history, staff clinical judgment, the Care Home Falls Screen (CaHFRiS), and the Fall Risk Classification Algorithm (FRiCA). Design: Prospective multicenter cohort study with 6 months' follow-up. Setting and Participants: A total of 420 residents from 15 nursing homes participated. Methods: Fall history, clinical judgment of staff (ie, physiotherapists, nurses and nurses' aides), and the CaHFRiS and FRiCA were assessed at baseline, and falls were documented in the follow-up period. Predictive accuracy was calculated at 1, 3, and 6 months by means of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, positive and negative likelihood ratio, Youden Index, and overall accuracy. Results: In total, 658 falls occurred and 50.2% of the residents had at least 1 fall with an average fall rate of 1.57 (SD 2.78, range 0- 20) per resident. The overall accuracy for all screening methods at all measuring points ranged from 54.8% to 66.5%. Fall history, FRiCA, and a CaHFRiS score of >= 4 had better sensitivity, ranging from 64.4% to 80.8%, compared with the clinical judgment of all disciplines (sensitivity ranging from 47.4% to 71.2%). The negative predictive value (ranging from 92.9% at 1 month to 59.6% at 6 months) had higher scores for fall history, FRiCA, and a CaHFRiS score of >4. Specificity ranged from 50.3% at 1 month to 77.5% at 6 months, with better specificity for clinical judgment of physiotherapists and worse specificity for FRiCA. Positive predictive value ranged from 22.2% (clinical judgment of nurses' aides) at 1 month to 67.8% at 6 months (clinical judgment of physiotherapists). Conclusions and Implications: No strong recommendations can be made for the use of any screening method. More research on identifying residents with the highest fall risk is crucial, as these residents benefit the most from multifactorial assessments and subsequent tailored interventions. (C) 2020 AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between patient-scored dysphagia and physician-scored dysphagia in head and neck cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. Furthermore, we wanted to compare both patient- and physician-scored dysphagia with dysphagia evaluated on swallowing videofluoroscopies. Sixty-three patients from two different centers treated with radiotherapy for head and neck cancer were evaluated in the current study. Swallowing videofluoroscopies at baseline, 6, and 12 months following radiotherapy were evaluated by 2 observers using the Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) and Swallowing Performance Status Scale (SPS) and correlated with patient and physician scored dysphagia. We observed a significant association between physician and patient scored dysphagia (p < 0.01), pre-treatment and post-treatment. Furthermore, the risk of observing dysphagia on videofluoroscopies increased significantly with increasing scores of both physician as well as patient scored dysphagia, and this at all assessed time-points. Patient-scored dysphagia correlates better with dysphagia evaluated by the PAS. Physician-scored dysphagia, however, correlates better with dysphagia as evaluated using the SPS. Both physician- and patient-scored dysphagia correlate well with dysphagia evaluated on videofluoroscopies. Since patient-scored dysphagia correlates better with PAS and changes in the PAS score, and physician-scored dysphagia correlates better with SPS, we advocate to use both patient- and physician-scored dysphagia in future trials.

OBJECTIVE Patient and treatment characteristics of patients with head and neck cancer (HNSCC) were correlated with dysphagia scored on swallowing-videofluoroscopy (VFS) and with patient- and physician-scored dysphagia. METHODS 63 HNSCC patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) were evaluated at baseline, and 6 and 12 months post-RT. VFS was scored with Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) and Swallowing Performance Scale (SPS). Physician- and patient-scored dysphagia were prospectively recorded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events scoring system, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/EORTC scoring system and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ H&N35). RESULTS Univariable analysis revealed a significant association between tumour-subsite and higher SPS (p = 0.02) and patient-scored dysphagia (p = 0.02) at baseline. At 12 months, tumour-subsite was significantly associated with higher PAS and SPS. Multivariable analysis and pairwise comparison showed that hypopharyngeal cancer and carcinoma of unknown primary  were associated with higher SPS at baseline and at 12 months, respectively (p = 0.03 and p = 0.01). Upfront neck dissection (UFND) was significantly associated with higher SPS and physician-scored dysphagia in univariable analysis at all timepoints. At 12 months, there was also a significant association with higher PAS (p < 0.01) and patient-scored dysphagia (p < 0.01). After multivariable analysis, the association between UFND and higher PAS (p < 0.01) and SPS (p < 0.01) remained significant at 12 months. CONCLUSION Hypopharyngeal tumours and carcinoma of unknown primary were related to more dysphagia at baseline and at 12 months, respectively. Furthermore, UFND was associated with more severe dysphagia scored by physicians and patients and on VFS at 12 months. Advances in knowledge: This is the first paper reporting a significant link between UFND and late dysphagia scored with VFS. We advocate abandoning UFND and preserving neck dissection as a salvage option post-RT.

Valincidentiecijfers bij thuiswonende ouderen blijven aanzienlijk hoog. Gevolgen van een valincident duiden op het belang van systematisch screenen en een gerichte multifactoriële en multidisciplinaire aanpak. Deze studie beschrijft in welke mate professionele zorgverleners in Vlaanderen valpreventiemaatregelen toepassen bij thuiswonende ouderen en welke factoren implementatie belemmeren.

Objectives: To identify the barriers and facilitators for fall prevention implementation in residential care facilities.Design: Systematic review. Review registration number on PROSPERO: CRD42013004655.Data sources: Two independent reviewers systematically searched five databases (i.e. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science) and the reference lists of relevant articles.Review methods: This systematic review was conducted in line with the Center for Reviews and Dissemination Handbook and reported according to the PRISMA guideline. Only original research focusing on determinants of fall prevention implementation in residential care facilities was included. We used the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool for quality appraisal. Thematic analysis was performed for qualitative data; quantitative data were analyzed descriptively. To synthesize the results, we used the framework of Grol and colleagues that describes six healthcare levels wherein implementation barriers and facilitators can be identified.Results: We found eight relevant studies, identifying 44 determinants that influence implementation. Of these, 17 were facilitators and 27 were barriers. Results indicated that the social and organizational levels have the greatest number of influencing factors (9 and 14, respectively), whereas resident and economical/political levels have the least (3 and 4, respectively). The most cited facilitators were good communication and facility equipment availability, while staff feeling overwhelmed, helpless, frustrated and concerned about their ability to control fall management, staffing issues, limited knowledge and skills (i.e., general clinical skill deficiencies, poor fall management skills or lack of computer skills); and poor communication were the most cited barriers.Conclusion: Successful implementation of fall prevention depends on many factors across different healthcare levels. The focus of implementation interventions, however, should be on modifiable barriers and facilitators such as communication, knowledge, and skills. Effective fall prevention must consist of multifactorial interventions that target each resident's fall risk profile, and should be tailored to overcome context-specific barriers and put into action the identified facilitators. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired balance is common post stroke and can be assessed by means of force-platforms measuring center of pressure (COP) displacements during static standing, or more dynamically during lateral maximum weight shift (MWS). However, activities of daily life also include diagonal MWS and since force platforms are nowadays commercially available, investigating lateral and diagonal MWS in a clinical setting might be feasible and clinically relevant. We investigated lateral and diagonal MWS while standing in patients with stroke (PwS) and healthy controls (HC), evaluated MWS towards the affected and the non-affected side for PwS and correlated MWS with measures of balance, gait and fear of falling. In a cross-sectional observational study including 36 ambulatory sub-acute inpatients and 32 age-matched HC, a force platform (BioRescue, RM Ingénierie, France) was used to measure lateral and diagonal MWS in standing. Clinical outcome measures collected were Berg Balance Scale and Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CBMS) for balance, 10-meter walk test (10MWT) for gait speed and Falls Efficacy Scale-international version for fear of falling. MWS for PwS towards the affected side was significantly smaller compared to HC (lateral: p = 0.029; diagonal-forward: p = 0.000). MWS for PwS was also significantly reduced towards the affected side in the diagonal-forward direction (p = 0.019) compared to the non-affected side of PwS. Strong correlations were found for MWS for PwS in the diagonal-forward direction towards the affected side, and clinical measures of balance (CBMS: r = 0.66) and gait speed (10MWT: r = 0.66). Our study showed that ambulatory sub-acute PwS, in comparison to HC, have decreased ability to shift their body weight diagonally forward in standing towards their affected side. This reduced ability is strongly related to clinical measures of balance and gait speed. Our results suggest that MWS in a diagonal-forward direction should receive attention in rehabilitation of ambulatory sub-acute PwS in an inpatient setting.

Several new algorithms for camera-based fall detection have been proposed, with the aim of reliably alerting caregivers about older persons’ falls at home. These algorithms have been evaluated almost exclusively using brief segments of video data captured in artificial environments under optimal conditions and with falls simulated by actors. By contrast, we collected real-life video data recorded over several months at seven older persons’ residences. Here, we report on our fall-detection algorithm based on the state-of-the-art, and we present an analysis of the real-life video data. The performance of our detection algorithm was compared with the performance of three previously reported algorithms that used a publicly available simulation data set. All four algorithms produced similar results when using the simulated data. However, the performance of our algorithm degraded drastically when evaluating falls in the real-life data. The false alarm rate was especially high, showing that some challenges still need to be met to make the system sufficiently robust to deploy in real-world situations. We conclude that using more realistic data sets that include longer video recordings and a broad range of activities are essential to reveal weaknesses in fall-detection algorithms.

Diverse factoren verhinderen de toepassing van effectieve strategieën voor val- en fractuurpreventie. Het Expertisecentrum Val- en fractuurpreventie Vlaanderen organiseerde het symposium, “Implementatie val- en fractuurpreventie bij ouderen”, met als doel dieper in te gaan op de bevordering van de implementatie van effectieve preventiestrategieën voor valincidenten en valgerelateerde letsels bij thuiswonende ouderen in Vlaanderen. Dit artikel brengt de belangrijkste knelpunten in kaart en biedt aanbevelingen voor het optimaliseren van disseminatie en implementatie.

Purpose: This international study aims to examine the size and determinants of the impact of stroke on five-year survivors' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in four different European countries.Method: Patients were recruited consecutively in four European rehabilitation centers. Five years after stroke, the EuroQol-visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) was administered in 226 first-ever stroke patients. Impact of stroke was determined by calculating EQ-VAS z-norm scores (= deviation - expressed in SD - of patients' EQ-VAS level relative to their age-and gender-matched national population norms). Determinants of EQ-VAS z-norm scores were identified using multivariate linear regression analysis.Results: Five years post-stroke, patients' mean EQ-VAS was 63.74 (SD=19.33). Mean EQ-VAS z-norm score was -0.57 [95%CI: (-0.70)-(-0.42)]. Forty percent of the patients had an EQ-VAS z-norm score <-0.75 SD; 52% had an EQ-VAS z-norm score between -0.75 and+0.75 SD, only 8% scored >+0.75 SD. Higher patients' levels of depression, anxiety and disability were associated with increasingly negative EQ-VAS z-norm scores (adjusted R-2=0.392).Conclusions: Five years after stroke, mean HRQoL of stroke survivors showed large variability and was more than 1/2 SD below population norm. Forty percent had a HRQoL level below, 52% on, and 8% above population norm. The variability could only partially be explained by the variables considered in this study. Longitudinal studies are needed to increase our understanding of the size and determinants of the impact of stroke on the HRQoL of long-term stroke survivors.Implications for rehabilitationThe current European concept of stroke rehabilitation is focused on the acute and sub-acute rehabilitation phase, i.e., in the first months after stroke. The results of this study show that at five years after stroke, the mean level of HRQoL of stroke survivors remains below the healthy population level. This finding shows the need for continuation of rehabilitation in the chronic phase.At five years after stroke, higher patients' levels of depression, anxiety and disability were associated with lower scores for HRQoL. This finding implicates that chronic rehabilitation programs should be multi-faceted in order to increase long-term survivors' psychosocial outcomes.

BackgroundPharyngeal pressure-flow analysis (PFA) of high resolution impedance-manometry (HRIM) with calculation of the swallow risk index (SRI) can quantify swallow dysfunction predisposing to aspiration. We explored the potential use of artificial neural networks (ANN) to model the relationship between PFA swallow metrics and aspiration and to predict swallow dysfunction.MethodsTwo hundred consecutive dysphagia patients referred for videofluoroscopy and HRIM were assessed. Presence of aspiration was scored and PFA software derived 13 metrics and the SRI. An ANN was created and optimized over training cycles to achieve optimal classification accuracy for matching inputs (PFA metrics) to output (presence of aspiration on videofluoroscopy). Application of the ANN returned a value between 0.00 and 1.00 reflecting the degree of swallow dysfunction.Key ResultsTwenty one patients were excluded due to insufficient number of swallows (<4). Of 179, 58 aspirated and 27 had aspiration pneumonia history. The SRI was higher in aspirators (aspiration 24 [9, 41] vs no aspiration 7 [2, 18], p<0.001) and patients with pneumonia (pneumonia 27 [5, 42] vs no pneumonia 8 [3, 24], p<0.05). The ANN Predicted Risk was higher in aspirators (aspiration 0.57 [0.38, 0.82] vs no aspiration 0.13 [0.4, 0.25], p<0.001) and in patients with pneumonia (pneumonia 0.46 [0.18, 0.60] vs no pneumonia 0.18 [0.6, 0.49], p<0.01). Prognostic value of the ANN was superior to the SRI.Conclusions & InferencesIn a heterogeneous cohort of dysphagia patients, PFA with ANN modeling offers enhanced detection of clinically significant swallowing dysfunction, probably more accurately reflecting the complex interplay of swallow characteristics that causes aspiration.

Objectives: The use of medication plays an important role in secondary stroke prevention and treatment of post-stroke comorbidities. The Collaborative Evaluation of Rehabilitation in Stroke across Europe (CERISE) was set up to investigate the inpatient stroke rehabilitation process in four centres, each in a different European country: Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland.Patients and methods: Patients' medication use 5 years post-stroke was compared between countries. Focus was put on cerebrovascular secondary prevention, including (a) adequate antithrombotic treatment, (b) treatment of cardiovascular comorbidities and diabetes, and (c) the use of lipid-lowering drugs; as well as on the treatment of stroke-related disorders such as depression, anxiety and pain.Results: Medication data were available for 247 patients. Data about depression and anxiety were available for 233.Conclusion: There were no significant differences between the four centres in antithrombotic treatment and in the treatment of cardiovascular comorbidities and diabetes. However, significantly more patients from the UK were treated with lipid-lowering drugs compared to Belgian patients. Significant differences were also observed between the centres in the prevalence and treatment of depression. More Belgian patients suffered from depression compared to German patients and significantly more Belgian patients took antidepressants than patients in Germany. This was in contrast to the prevalence and treatment of anxiety and pain, for which no significant differences between the centres were seen. Related to pain treatment, it was observed that almost 40% of all patients suffering from pain, used no specific medication. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background Hospital admissions due to fall-related fractures are a major problem in the aging population. Several risk factors have been identified, including drug use. Most studies often retrieved prescription-only drugs from national databases. These are associated with some limitations as they do not always reliably reproduce the complete patient’s active drug list. Objective To evaluate the association between the number of FRIDs intake identified by a standardised medication reconciliation process and a fall-related fracture leading to a hospital admission in older adults. Setting The first cohort has been recruited from one traumatology ward of a tertiary teaching hospital in Belgium and the second cohort has been recruited from 11 community pharmacies in Belgium. Method A prospective study with two individually matched cohorts was performed. Adult patients (≥75 years) admitted with an injury due to a fall were included in the first cohort (faller group). The second cohort consisted of patients who did not suffer from a fall within the last 6 months (non-faller group). Matching was performed for age, gender, place of residence and use of a walking aid. In both groups, clinical pharmacists and undergraduate pharmacy students obtained the medication history, using a standardised approach. A list of drugs considered to increase the risk of falling was created. It included cardiovascular drugs and drugs acting on the nervous system. A linear mixed model was used to compare the number of fall risk-increasing drugs between fallers and non-fallers. Main outcome measure The number of fall risk-increasing drugs in a faller versus a non-faller group. Results Sixty-one patients were matched with 121 non-fallers. Patients received on average 3.1 ± 2.1 and 3.2 ± 1.8 fall risk-increasing drugs in the faller and in the non-faller group, respectively. The mean number of fall risk-increasing drugs was comparable in both groups ( p = 0.844), even after adjusting for alcohol consumption, fear of falling, vision and foot problems ( p = 0.721). Conclusion In a sample of hospitalised patients admitted for a fall-related injury, no significant difference in the number of fall risk-increasing drugs versus that of an outpatient group of non-fallers was found.

Relevance: Impaired balance and gait are frequently observed deficits post stroke. Force-platform variables have been correlated with clinical balance outcome measures as well as gait variables and risk of falls in the past. Most of the past studies used Centre of Pressure (COP) variables obtained during quiet standing instead of looking at weight shifting ability, however in daily life, quiet standing is not a common activity.