Oleg Lapshin

Home-based physical telerehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.

This study assessed feasibility and patient acceptance and estimated the magnitude of the clinical impact of physical telerehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). We recruited 12 consecutive patients with a known diagnosis of MS. Each patient received a custom-tailored rehabilitative exercise program prescribed by a physical therapist during a clinic visit. The patients were guided by the home telecare units in following their individualized exercise plan. After the patients used the physical telerehabilitation system for 12 weeks, a statistically significant improvement was shown in a timed 25-foot walk (from 13.8 +/- 8.3 s to 11.3 +/- 5.4 s), 6-minute walk (from 683.3 +/- 463.8 ft to 806.5 +/- 415.0 ft), and Berg Balance Scale score (from 38.8 +/- 11.1 to 43.1 +/- 9.9) as compared with the baseline. (Values are shown as mean +/- standard deviation.) Patients were highly satisfied with the service. Home-based physical telerehabilitation can improve functional outcomes significantly in patients with MS.

Randomized study of different anti-stigma media

OBJECTIVE We designed our study to assess if computer-assisted anti-stigma interventions can be effective in reducing the level of psychiatric stigma in a sample of special education university students. METHODS We enrolled 193 graduate students. They had two study visits with an interval of 6 months. The participants were randomly distributed into three study groups: 76 students read anti-stigma printed materials (reading group, RG), and 69 studied an anti-stigma computer program (program group, PG), and 48 students were in a control group (CG) and received no intervention. We used the Bogardus scale of social distance (BSSD), the community attitudes toward the mentally ill (CAMI) questionnaire, and the psychiatric knowledge survey (PKS) as the main outcome measures. RESULTS After the intervention BSSD, CAMI and PKS scores significantly improved both in RG and PG. After 6 months in RG two out of three CAMI subscales and PKS scores were not different from the baseline. In PG all stigma and knowledge changes remained significant. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that computers can be an effective mean in changing attitudes of students toward psychiatric patients. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS A computer-mediated intervention has the potential for educating graduate students about mental disease and for reducing psychiatric stigma.