AIM: To synthesize the evidence about the characteristics (frequency, intensity, time, type) and effects of physical rehabilitation interventions on functional recovery and performance in daily functioning in children and young people with acquired brain injury (ABI), including traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and non-TBI, during the subacute rehabilitation phase.METHOD: Using scoping review methodology, a systematic literature search was performed using four databases. Articles were screened by title and abstract and data from eligible studies were extracted for synthesis.RESULTS: Nine of 3009 studies were included. The results demonstrated a variety of intervention characteristics: frequency varied between 1 and 7 days per week; time of intervention varied between 25 minutes and 6 hours a day; intervention types were specified in seven studies; and none of the included studies reported details of intensity of intervention. All studies reported positive results on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Children and Youth (ICF-CY) levels of body function and activities after the intervention period, with study designs of included studies being cohort studies without concurrent controls (n=7) or case reports (n=2).INTERPRETATION: Inconsistency in results hampers generalizability to guide clinical practice. Physical interventions during subacute rehabilitation have potential to improve functional recovery with intervention characteristics as an important factor influencing its effectiveness. Future well-designed studies are indicated to gain knowledge and optimize rehabilitation practice in paediatric ABI and high-quality research including outcomes across all ICF-CY domains is needed.
The adoption of tablets by young children has raised enthusiasm and concern among speech and language pathologists. This study investigated whether tablet games can be used as effectively as real play objects in vocabulary intervention for children with developmental language disorder (DLD). A randomized, controlled non-inferiority trial was conducted with 70 3-year-old children with DLD. The novel intervention group (n = 35) received 12 10-min scripted intervention sessions with symbolic play using a tablet game spread out over 8–9 weeks. The standard intervention group (n = 35) received the same amount of intervention with real objects using the same vocabulary scripts. In each session, children were exposed to 22 target words. The primary outcome was the number of new target words learned. This was measured using a picture selection task including 22 target words and 22 control words at 3 time intervals: before the intervention, immediately post-intervention, and 5 weeks later. In both intervention groups, the children learned significantly more target words than control words. No significant differences in gains between the two intervention conditions were found. This study provides evidence that vocabulary intervention for toddlers with DLD using a tablet game is equally as effective as an intervention using real objects.
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OBJECTIVE: The objective was to assess swallowing, mouth opening and speech function during the first year after radiation-based treatment (RT(+)) after introduction of a dedicated preventive rehabilitation program for stage III-IV oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC).METHODS: Swallowing, mouth opening and speech function were collected before and at six- and twelve-month follow-up after RT(+) for OPC as part of ongoing prospective assessments by speech-language pathologists .RESULTS: Objective and patient-perceived function deteriorated until 6 months and improved until 12 months after treatment, but did not return to baseline levels with 25%, 20% and 58% of the patients with objective dysphagia, trismus and speech problems, respectively. Feeding tube dependency and pneumonia prevalence was low.CONCLUSION: Despite successful implementation, a substantial proportion of patients still experience functional limitations after RT(+) for OPC, suggesting room for improvement of the current rehabilitation program. Pretreatment sarcopenia seems associated with worse functional outcomes and might be a relevant new target for rehabilitation strategies.
