-
Scientific Reports Nov 2023Sensorimotor synchronization strategies have been frequently used for gait rehabilitation in different neurological populations. Despite these positive effects on gait,... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Sensorimotor synchronization strategies have been frequently used for gait rehabilitation in different neurological populations. Despite these positive effects on gait, attentional processes required to dynamically attend to the auditory stimuli needs elaboration. Here, we investigate auditory attention in neurological populations compared to healthy controls quantified by EEG recordings. Literature was systematically searched in databases PubMed and Web of Science. Inclusion criteria were investigation of auditory attention quantified by EEG recordings in neurological populations in cross-sectional studies. In total, 35 studies were included, including participants with Parkinson's disease (PD), stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). A meta-analysis was performed on P3 amplitude and latency separately to look at the differences between neurological populations and healthy controls in terms of P3 amplitude and latency. Overall, neurological populations showed impairments in auditory processing in terms of magnitude and delay compared to healthy controls. Consideration of individual auditory processes and thereafter selecting and/or designing the auditory structure during sensorimotor synchronization paradigms in neurological physical rehabilitation is recommended.
Topics: Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Attention; Parkinson Disease; Gait; Electroencephalography
PubMed: 38030693
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47597-5 -
Frontiers in Neurology 2023The recognition of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) as a distinct clinical condition that impacts hearing capacity and mental health has gained attention. Although... (Review)
Review
The recognition of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) as a distinct clinical condition that impacts hearing capacity and mental health has gained attention. Although pure tone audiometry is the gold standard for assessing hearing, it inadequately reflects everyday hearing abilities, especially in challenging acoustic environments. Deficits in speech perception in noise, a key aspect of APD, have been linked to an increased risk of dementia. The World Health Organization emphasizes the need for evaluating central auditory function in cases of mild hearing loss and normal audiometry results. Specific questionnaires play a crucial role in documenting and quantifying the difficulties faced by individuals with APD. Validated questionnaires such as the Children's Auditory Processing Performance Scale, the Fisher's Auditory Problems Checklist, and the Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire are available for children, while questionnaires for adults include items related to auditory functions associated with APD. This systematic review and meta-analysis identified six questionnaires used for screening and evaluating APD with a total of 783 participants across 12 studies. The questionnaires exhibited differences in domains evaluated, scoring methods, and evaluation of listening in quiet and noise. Meta-analysis results demonstrated that individuals with APD consistently exhibited worse scores compared to healthy controls across all questionnaires. Additionally, comparisons with clinical control groups showed varying results. The study highlights (i) the importance of standardized questionnaires in identifying and assessing APD, aiding in its diagnosis and management, and (ii) the need to use sub-scores as well as overall scores of questionnaires to elaborate on specific hearing and listening situations. There is a need to develop more APD specific questionnaires for the adult population as well as for more focused research on APD diagnosed individuals to further establish the validity and reliability of these questionnaires.
PubMed: 37621857
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1243170 -
European Journal of Physical and... Feb 2020Fatigability, a change in performance according to tasks and circumstances, can contribute to walking limitations in daily life. Walking-related fatigability (WF) has...
INTRODUCTION
Fatigability, a change in performance according to tasks and circumstances, can contribute to walking limitations in daily life. Walking-related fatigability (WF) has been assessed subjectively, but current knowledge on best objective measurement methods is limited. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of objective clinical measurement methods assessing WF in different populations.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
Articles were searched in Pubmed and Web Of Science by two independent raters. Studies were included when meeting inclusion criteria of measuring WF objectively in a clinical setting, with no exclusion towards any population. Case studies and reviews were not included in the review (systematic review registration number: PROSPERO - CRD42017074121). In total, 28 articles were included. The study populations were older adults (N.=7), multiple sclerosis (N.=14), spinal muscle atrophy (N.=3), osteoarthritis (N.=3), interstitial lung diseases (N.=1), and myasthenia gravis (N.=1). Data about patient characteristics, walking task, WF formula and interpretation (cut-off values and/or psychometric properties) got extracted from included literature. Every included article got checked for quality and risk of bias.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS
WF was mostly measured during longer walking test such as six-minute walking test (6MWT) and 500 or 400-m walking test, by comparing the first and last minute or lap for spatiotemporal or kinematic changes in well-defined formulas. No gold standard is however available yet given different tasks or outcome measures across study populations.
CONCLUSIONS
Longer walking test were most often used, with a preference towards the 6MWT, thereby comparing the changes over the last and first part of the test. Psychometric properties need more documentation before inclusion as experimental outcome.
Topics: Fatigue; Humans; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; Psychometrics; Walk Test; Walking
PubMed: 31742368
DOI: 10.23736/S1973-9087.19.05878-7 -
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2018Interdisciplinary work is needed for scientific progress, and with this review, our interest is in the scientific progress toward understanding the underlying...
Interdisciplinary work is needed for scientific progress, and with this review, our interest is in the scientific progress toward understanding the underlying mechanisms of auditory-motor coupling, and how this can be applied to gait rehabilitation. Specifically we look into the process of entrainment and synchronization; where entrainment is the process that governs the dynamic alignments of the auditory and motor domains based on error-prediction correction, whereas synchronization is the stable maintenance of timing during auditory-motor alignment. A systematic literature search in databases PubMed and Web of Science were searched up to 9th of August 2017. The selection criteria for the included studies were adult populations, with a minimum of five participants, investigating walking to an auditory stimulus, with an outcome measure of entrainment, and synchronization. The review was registered in PROSPERO as CRD42017080325. The objective of the review is to systematically describe the metrics which measure entrainment and synchronization to auditory stimuli during walking in healthy and neurological populations. Sixteen articles were included. Fifty percent of the included articles had healthy controls as participants ( = 167), 19% had neurological diseases such as Huntington's and Stroke ( = 76), and 31% included both healthy and neurological [Parkinson's disease (PD) and Stroke] participants ( = 101). In the included studies, six parameters were found to capture the interaction between the human movement and the auditory stimuli, these were: cadence, relative phase angle, resultant vector length, interval between the beat and the foot contact, period matching performance, and detrended fluctuation analysis. In this systematic review, several metrics have been identified, which measure the timing aspect of auditory-motor coupling and synchronization of auditory stimuli in healthy and neurological populations during walking. The application of these metrics may enhance the current state of the art and practice across the neurological gait rehabilitation. These metrics also have current shortcomings. Of particular pertinence is our recommendation to consider variability in data from a time-series rather than time-windowed viewpoint. We need it in view of the promising practical applications from which the studied populations may highly benefit in view of personalized medical care.
PubMed: 29997491
DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00263 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Nov 2016Tinnitus is the perception of sound without external acoustic stimuli. Patients with severe tinnitus may have physical and psychological complaints and their tinnitus... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Tinnitus is the perception of sound without external acoustic stimuli. Patients with severe tinnitus may have physical and psychological complaints and their tinnitus can cause deterioration in their quality of life. At present no specific therapy for tinnitus has been found to be satisfactory in all patients. In recent decades, a number of reports have suggested that oral zinc supplementation may be effective in the management of tinnitus. Since zinc has a role in cochlear physiology and in the synapses of the auditory system, there is a plausible mechanism of action for this treatment.
OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral zinc supplementation in the management of patients with tinnitus.
SEARCH METHODS
The Cochrane ENT Information Specialist searched the ENT Trials Register; Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2016, Issue 6); PubMed; EMBASE; CINAHL; Web of Science; ClinicalTrials.gov; ICTRP and additional sources for published and unpublished trials. The date of the search was 14 July 2016.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials comparing zinc supplementation versus placebo in adults (18 years and over) with tinnitus.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We used the standard methodological procedures recommended by Cochrane. Our primary outcome measures were improvement in tinnitus severity and disability, measured by a validated tinnitus-specific questionnaire, and adverse effects. Secondary outcomes were quality of life, change in socioeconomic impact associated with work, change in anxiety and depression disorders, change in psychoacoustic parameters, change in tinnitus loudness, change in overall severity of tinnitus and change in thresholds on pure tone audiometry. We used GRADE to assess the quality of the evidence for each outcome; this is indicated in italics.
MAIN RESULTS
We included three trials involving a total of 209 participants. The studies were at moderate to high risk of bias. All included studies had differences in participant selection criteria, length of follow-up and outcome measurement, precluding a meta-analysis. The participants were all adults over 18 years with subjective tinnitus, but one study conducted in 2013 (n = 109) included only elderly patients. Improvement in tinnitus severity and disabilityOnly the study in elderly patients used a validated instrument (Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire) for this primary outcome. The authors of this cross-over study did not report the results of the two phases separately and found no significant differences in the proportion of patients reporting tinnitus improvement at four months of follow-up: 5% (5/93) versus 2% (2/94) in the zinc and placebo groups, respectively (risk ratio (RR) 2.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50 to 12.70; very low-quality evidence).None of the included studies reported any significant adverse effects. Secondary outcomesFor the secondary outcome change in tinnitus loudness, one study reported no significant difference between the zinc and placebo groups after eight weeks: mean difference in tinnitus loudness -9.71 dB (95% CI -25.53 to 6.11; very low-quality evidence). Another study also measured tinnitus loudness but used a 0- to 100-point scale. The authors of this second study reported no significant difference between the zinc and placebo groups after four months: mean difference in tinnitus loudness rating scores 0.50 (95% CI -5.08 to 6.08; very low-quality evidence).Two studies used unvalidated instruments to assess tinnitus severity. One (with 50 participants) reported the severity of tinnitus using a non-validated scale (0 to 7 points) and found no significant difference in subjective tinnitus scores between the zinc and placebo groups at the end of eight weeks of follow-up (mean difference (MD) -1.41, 95% CI -2.97 to 0.15; very low-quality evidence). A third trial (n = 50) also evaluated the improvement of tinnitus using a non-validated instrument (a 0 to 10 scale: 10 = severe and unbearable tinnitus). In this study, after eight weeks there was no difference in the proportion of patients with improvement in their tinnitus, 8.7% (2/23) treated with zinc versus 8% (2/25) of those who received a placebo (RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.17 to 7.10, very low-quality evidence).None of the included studies reported any of our other secondary outcomes (quality of life, change in socioeconomic impact associated with work, change in anxiety and depression disorders, change in psychoacoustic parameters or change in thresholds on pure tone audiometry).
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We found no evidence that the use of oral zinc supplementation improves symptoms in adults with tinnitus.
Topics: Administration, Oral; Adult; Aged; Humans; Middle Aged; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tinnitus; Treatment Outcome; Zinc
PubMed: 27879981
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009832.pub2