Kerry Fitzmaurice

Butterflies and black lacy patterns: the prevalence and characteristics of Charles Bonnet hallucinations in an Australian population

Background:  Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is characterized by vivid, elaborate and recurrent visual hallucinations in psychologically normal people. It most often occurs in older, visually impaired persons. The prevalence of the syndrome has been reported at 1–40% in Asia, Europe and North America. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and characteristics of CBS in the older aged, visually impaired population in Australia.

Therapeutic Argentine Tango Dancing for People with Mild Parkinson’s Disease: A Feasibility Study

Background Individuals living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can experience a range of movement disorders that affect mobility and balance and increase the risk of falls. Low health-related quality of life, depression, and anxiety are more common in people with PD than age-matched comparisons. Therapeutic dance is a form of physical activity believed to facilitate movement and therapy uptake. As well as being enjoyable, dancing is thought to improve mobility, balance, and well-being in some people living with PD. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a 4-week Argentine tango dance program for people with PD. Methods Six community dwelling individuals with mild to moderate PD were recruited from Parkinson’s support groups, movement disorder clinics, and the PD association in Australia. To minimize falls risk, participants were required to be <75 years of age and physically independent (Hoehn and Yahr stages I–III). They were also required to speak English. Participants attended a 1-hour dance class at a dance studio twice per week for 4 weeks. A professional dance instructor led and choreographed the Argentine tango dance classes. Physiotherapists were present to assist participants during the class and served as dance partners as necessary. The primary outcome was feasibility, which was determined by measures of recruitment, adherence, attrition, safety (falls, near misses and adverse events), and resource requirements. Secondary measures included the Beck Depression Inventory and the Euroqol-5D, administered at baseline and post intervention. Therapy outcomes pre- and post-intervention were analyzed descriptively as medians and interquartile ranges and using Wilcoxon matched pair signed-rank tests. Results The Argentine tango dance intervention was shown to be safe, with no adverse events. Adherence to the dance program was 89%. Depression scores improved after intervention (p = 0.04). Some challenges were associated with the need to quickly recruit participants and physiotherapists to act as dance partners during classes and to monitor participants. Conclusion The 4-week, twice weekly Argentine tango dancing program was shown to be feasible and safe for people with mild-to-moderately severe PD.

Rehabilitation strategies used to ameliorate the impact of centre field loss

It has been shown that loss of macular vision has an impact upon a persons ability to read normal-size print and perform daily living tasks. The aim of this study was to report the results of a random control trial of eccentric viewing and magnification interventions on the performance of activities of daily living, including a clinical evaluation of client perceptions. A random control design was used to compare the impact of three interventions (eccentric viewing, magnification, and combined intervention) upon near print size and the performance of daily living tasks. Data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance. Results of the random control study in relation to the dependent variables of near print size and performance of activities of daily living demonstrated that intervention significantly improved performance. Eccentric viewing intervention demonstrated greater improvement in dynamic activities such as shopping, whilst magnification intervention demonstrated the greatest improvement in h...