Browsing by Author "Bezuidenhout, Lucian"
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Item The role of environmental factors on health conditions, general health and quality of life in persons with spinal cord injuries in South Africa(MDPI, 2023) Bezuidenhout, Lucian; Rhoda, Anthea; Conradsson, David MoulaeeThe objective was to describe the individual items of the environmental factors and to investigate the relationship between the environmental factors to health conditions, general health and quality of life in people with SCI in South Africa. Methods: Two hundred persons with SCI participated in a cross-sectional survey design. This study formed part of the International Spinal Cord Injury (InSCI) Community Survey. Four major domains, environmental factors, health conditions, general health and quality of life of the survey questionnaire responses, were used for the analysis. Regression models were used to determine the association between the independent variable, which consisted of the specific environmental factors items, and the dependent variables comprising health conditions, general health and quality of life. Results: The commonly reported environmental barriers were public access, lack of short- and long-distance transport and finances. Environmental factors such as public access (p < 0.001), short- (p < 0.001) and long-distance transport (p = 0.001), and friends’ (p = 0.003) and colleagues’ (p < 0.001) attitudes and communication (p = 0.042) were significantly associated with the presence of secondary health conditions. Finances (p = 0.026), family attitudes (p = 0.037) and communication (p = 0.039) had a significant association with worsened mental health. Services (p = 0.022) and communication (p = 0.042) were also significantly associated with decreased general health.Item Telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden: a survey of use and perceptions among physiotherapists treating people with neurological diseases or older adults(2022) Bezuidenhout, Lucian; Joseph, Conran; Thurston, CharlotteBackground : Telerehabilitation, i.e. rehabilitation at a distance using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is a promising avenue for improving health among people with neurological diseases or older adults who often experience limited access to services. Still, little is known about physiotherapists’ use, perceptions and needs with regards to telerehabilitation services. Aims: To describe physiotherapists use and perceptions of, as well as needs for, telerehabilitation services for the rehabilitation of people with neurological diseases or older adults in Sweden. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, an author-created survey was sent out to members of the Swedish Association of Physiotherapists including questions about the use and perceptions of existing telerehabilitation services (e.g. telephone, internet-based applications and mobile applications) as well as needs of future telerehabilitation services. The results were presented descriptively as numbers and percentages. Results: Three hundred seven physiotherapists were included in this study with 139 (45%) treating people with neurological diseases and 168 (55%) treating older adults. Most respondents did not provide telerehabilitation before (74%) or during (51%) the COVID-19 pandemic. Telephone, which was predominantly used for administrative tasks, was the most frequent utilised ICT used by 68% of the physiotherapist using ICTs several days/week. Few respondents used internet-based applications (12%), mobile applications (3%) or SMS services (8%) and videoconferencing (3%). A majority of the respondents were interested in ICT (78%), felt comfortable using ICT (57%) and were interested in learning how ICT can be used in rehabilitation (92%). Still, few respondents perceived that people with neurological diseases or older adults can use existing ICTs for rehabilitation purposes (18%) and that existing reimbursement system within health care facilitates remote rehabilitation (16%). Important functionality of future ICT perceived by physiotherapists covered patient communication (e.g. chat, SMS and video), assessments (e.g. digital surveys and assessment of physical activity) and treatment (e.g. exercise prescription).Item Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure prefrontal cortex activity during dual-taskwalking and navigated walking: A feasibility study(Wiley, 2023) Kvist, Alexander; Bezuidenhout, Lucian; Johansson, HannaWhile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can provide insight into motor-cognitive deficits during ecologically valid gait conditions, the feasibility of using fNIRS during complex walking remains unknown.We tested the process and scientific feasibility of using an fNIRS device to measure cortical activity during complex walking tasks consisting of straight walking and navigated walking under single and dual-task (DT) conditions. Nineteen healthy people from 18 to 64 years (mean age: 45.7 years) participated in this study which consisted of three complex walking protocols: (i) straight walking, DT walking (walking while performing an auditory Stroop task) and singletask auditory Stroop, (ii) straight and navigated walking, and (iii) navigated walking and navigated DT walking.