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Determinants of improvement in functional abilities in peripheral neuropathy patients undergoing rehabilitation: the role of Berg Balance Scale items

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Abstract

Purpose

This prospective observational cohort study aimed to verify whether single Berg Balance Scale (BBS) items were important determinants of improvement in functional abilities in patients with peripheral neuropathy (PN).

Methods

Data were collected in 75 older patients with PN performing a standard motor rehabilitation program. Backward stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to identify determinants of outcome measures. Gain in total and motor Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and gain in motor-FIM areas were the outcome measures.

Results

Among BBS items, at the end of rehabilitation, the score was higher in "sitting unsupported" (3.94 ± 0.22) and lower in "standing on one foot" (1.18 ± 1.06). The gain was higher in "standing to sitting" (1.02 ± 0.67) and "standing unsupported" (1.00 ± 1.00), and lower in "sitting unsupported" (0.22 ± 0.60) and "standing on one foot" (0.65 ± 0.77). "Standing unsupported" was the only determinant of gain in motor-FIM (beta − 0.36, p = 0.002) and gain in self-care (beta − 0.37, p = 0.002). The R2 value of the models was 0.13 and 0.14, respectively. No independent variable was a determinant of gain in total-FIM.

Conclusions

The study shows that "unsupported standing" is an important determinant of results of ADL rehabilitation in PN patients and indicates that ability to stand without support for a fairly long time is an essential requirement to achieve with rehabilitation higher gain levels in functional abilities in PN patients.

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Funding

The study is supported by a grant from Ministero della Salute “Ricerca Finalizzata Giovani Ricercatori GR-2010-2310662. URL Ministero della Salute: http://www.salute.gov.it/portale/temi/p2_5.jsp?lingua=italiano&area=Ricerca %20sanitaria&menu = finalizzata. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Operative Unit for Recovery and Functional Rehabilitation of the Institute of Lumezzane, Via G Mazzini, 129, 25065, Lumezzane, Brescia, Italy

    Bernardo Gialanella & Paola Prometti

  2. Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Scientific Direction of the Institute of Lumezzane, Brescia, Italy

    Laura Comini

Authors
  1. Bernardo Gialanella
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  2. Laura Comini
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  3. Paola Prometti
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All authors have contributed significantly and all authors are in agreement with the content of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bernardo Gialanella.

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Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflict of interest. The research was not supported by Pharmaceutical Companies. This work was partially supported by the Ricerca Corrente funding scheme of the Ministry of Health, Italy.”

Ethical approval

The protocol for the research project has been approved by a suitably constituted Ethics Committee of the institution within which the work was undertaken and that it conforms to the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in Tokyo 2004).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Gialanella, B., Comini, L. & Prometti, P. Determinants of improvement in functional abilities in peripheral neuropathy patients undergoing rehabilitation: the role of Berg Balance Scale items. Acta Neurol Belg 123, 173–179 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01806-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01806-y

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