Returning to Work After Long Term Sickness Absence Due to Low Back Pain – the Struggle Within: A Qualitative Study of the Patient’s Experience.
Returning to work after long term sickness absence due to low back pain – the struggle within: A qualitative study of the patient’s experience.
Work. 2013 Jun 20;
Ryan CG, Lauchlan D, Rooney L, Hollins-Martins C, Gray H
Low back pain (LBP) is a major cause of work absence. Assisting individuals back into work is an important part of rehabilitation.To explore the experiences of individuals returning to work after an episode of sickness absence due to LBP.Five women employed by a UK University who had returned to work.In this qualitative study, participants underwent semi-structured interviews about their experiences. The transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.Two primary themes emerged 1) perceived pressure to return to work and 2) strategies employed to relieve the pressure to return. Pressure to return to work arose from a number of sources including guilt and a personal work ethic, internally, and from colleagues and management, externally. This pressure led to the individual employing a number of strategies to reduce it. These ranged from a simple denial of health concerns and decision to return to work regardless of their condition, to placing the responsibility of the decision not to return-to-work onto a significant other, such as a family member or health care professional.Individuals returning to work with LBP experience considerable pressure to return and use a range of strategies to mediate that pressure. HubMed – rehab
Validation of the Work-Life Balance Culture Scale (WLBCS).
Work. 2013 Jun 20;
Nitzsche A, Jung J, Kowalski C, Pfaff H
The purpose of this paper is to describe the theoretical development and initial validation of the newly developed Work-Life Balance Culture Scale (WLBCS), an instrument for measuring an organizational culture that promotes the work-life balance of employees.In Study 1 (N=498), the scale was developed and its factorial validity tested through exploratory factor analyses. In Study 2 (N=513), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to examine model fit and retest the dimensional structure of the instrument. To assess construct validity, a priori hypotheses were formulated and subsequently tested using correlation analyses.RESULTS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a one-factor model. Results of the bivariate correlation analyses may be interpreted as preliminary evidence of the scale’s construct validity.The five-item WLBCS is a new and efficient instrument with good overall quality. Its conciseness makes it particularly suitable for use in employee surveys to gain initial insight into a company’s perceived work-life balance culture. HubMed – rehab
Parkinsonian features in hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids (HDLS) and CSF1R mutations.
Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2013 Jun 17;
Sundal C, Fujioka S, Van Gerpen JA, Wider C, Nicholson AM, Baker M, Shuster EA, Aasly J, Spina S, Ghetti B, Roeber S, Garbern J, Tselis A, Swerdlow RH, Miller BB, Borjesson-Hanson A, Uitti RJ, Ross O, Stoessl JA, Rademakers R, Josephs KA, Dickson DW, Broderick D, Wszolek ZK
Atypical Parkinsonism associated with white matter pathology has been described in cerebrovascular diseases, mitochondrial cytopathies, osmotic demyelinating disorders, leukoencephalopathies leukodystrophies, and others. Hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids (HDLS) is an autosomal dominant disorder with symptomatic onset in midlife and death within a few years after symptom onset. Neuroimaging reveals cerebral white matter lesions that are pathologically characterized by non-inflammatory myelin loss, reactive astrocytosis, and axonal spheroids. Most cases are caused by mutations in the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) gene. We studied neuropathologically verified HDLS patients with CSF1R mutations to assess parkinsonian features. Ten families were evaluated with 16 affected individuals. During the course of the illness, all patients had at least some degree of bradykinesia. Fifteen patients had postural instability, and seven had rigidity. Two patients initially presented with parkinsonian gait and asymmetrical bradykinesia. These two patients and two others exhibited bradykinesia, rigidity, postural instability, and tremor (two with resting) early in the course of the illness. Levodopa/carbidopa therapy in these four patients provided no benefit, and the remaining 12 patients were not treated. The mean age of onset for all patients was about 45 years (range, 18-71) and the mean disease duration was approximately six years (range, 3-11). We also reviewed HDLS patients published prior to the CSF1R discovery for the presence of parkinsonian features. Out of 50 patients, 37 had gait impairments, 8 rigidity, 7 bradykinesia, and 5 resting tremor. Our report emphasizes the presence of atypical Parkinsonism in HDLS due to CSF1R mutations. HubMed – rehab
Comparison of health-related quality of life between children with cerebral palsy and spina bifida.
Res Dev Disabil. 2013 Jun 17; 34(9): 2725-2733
Tezcan S, Simsek TT
This study has two aims-the first is to compare the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) between children with cerebral palsy (CP) and children with spina bifida (SB); the second is to investigate the relationship between HRQoL and age, sex, body mass index (BMI), level of ambulation, cooperation, family income and the mother’s education level in both groups of children. The study included 96 children with CP and 70 children with SB (aged 5-18) who attended a physiotherapy and rehabilitation program at an institute of special training and rehabilitation. Socio-demographic information was obtained within the study. The Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ-PF50) was used to evaluate HRQoL. A significant difference was found in terms of age and BMI between children with CP and SB (p<0.05). HRQoL was lower for children with CP. There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of role/social limitations - emotional behavioral, behavior, global behavior, parental impact-emotional and parental impact-time (p<0.05). A positive correlation was found between BMI and self-esteem in children with SB, unlike children with CP. The HRQoL of children with CP was lower than children with SB. The parameters of behavior and parental impact were particularly affected in the children with CP. Minimizing behavioral problems (which can improve with advancing age) of the children with CP and reducing parental impact are important for improving the HRQoL of both the child and parents. There is a need for further studies on this issue. HubMed – rehab