PMID- 18795394
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20090408
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1434-9949 (Electronic)
IS  - 0770-3198 (Linking)
VI  - 28
IP  - 2
DP  - 2009 Feb
TI  - An individualized rehabilitation program in patients with systemic sclerosis may 
      improve quality of life and hand mobility.
PG  - 159-65
LID - 10.1007/s10067-008-1006-x [doi]
AB  - Few data are available to assess the efficacy of rehabilitative interventions in 
      systemic sclerosis (SSc). We refer here the results of an individualized 
      rehabilitation program in 16 patients with SSc. In particular, when possible, the 
      number of patients who achieved a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) 
      was determined. Results were evaluated taking advantage of the development of 
      validated questionnaires and tests to assess quality of life (QOL) and disability 
      in SSc. At the end of a period of 4 months of observation, 69% and 62% of 
      patients reported an improvement of the physical and mental components of the 
      SF-36 higher than the MCID (as established in other rheumatic conditions). 
      Analogously, an improvement of the impact of respiratory disease on patients' 
      QOL, as assessed by the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire, was perceived 
      by 67% of them. These results might be explained by better exercise tolerance, 
      which was suggested by the significant reduction of the heart rate and of a 
      visual analogue scale for dyspnoea at the end of the 6-min walking test. Finally, 
      a statistically significant improvement of hand mobility, as assessed by the hand 
      mobility in scleroderma test was obtained. This study suggests that a significant 
      proportion of patients with SSc experience an improvement in their perception of 
      QOL, a better exercise tolerance, and a better hand mobility after a 
      rehabilitation program consisting by a 2-week period of daily individual 30-min 
      sessions as outpatient, followed by at-home exercise program.
FAU - Antonioli, Chiara M
AU  - Antonioli CM
AD  - Rehabilitation Unit, Casa di Cura "Citta di Brescia", Brescia, Italy.
FAU - Bua, Giovanni
AU  - Bua G
FAU - Frige, Anna
AU  - Frige A
FAU - Prandini, Katia
AU  - Prandini K
FAU - Radici, Sara
AU  - Radici S
FAU - Scarsi, Mirko
AU  - Scarsi M
FAU - Danieli, Elisabetta
AU  - Danieli E
FAU - Malvicini, Andrea
AU  - Malvicini A
FAU - Airo, Paolo
AU  - Airo P
LA  - eng
PT  - Evaluation Study
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20080916
PL  - Germany
TA  - Clin Rheumatol
JT  - Clinical rheumatology
JID - 8211469
SB  - IM
MH  - Aged
MH  - Case-Control Studies
MH  - Disability Evaluation
MH  - Exercise Tolerance
MH  - Female
MH  - Hand Joints/*physiopathology
MH  - Health Surveys
MH  - Heart Rate
MH  - Humans
MH  - Italy
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Outcome Assessment, Health Care
MH  - Pain Measurement
MH  - *Quality of Life
MH  - Range of Motion, Articular/*physiology
MH  - Respiratory Function Tests
MH  - Scleroderma, Systemic/*physiopathology/*rehabilitation
MH  - Walking/physiology
EDAT- 2008/09/17 09:00
MHDA- 2009/04/09 09:00
CRDT- 2008/09/17 09:00
PHST- 2008/05/12 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2008/08/27 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2008/06/26 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2008/09/17 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2009/04/09 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2008/09/17 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s10067-008-1006-x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Clin Rheumatol. 2009 Feb;28(2):159-65. doi: 10.1007/s10067-008-1006-x. Epub 2008 
      Sep 16.