Mobility Measurements Research Articles

State Information Policy of Ukraine in the Conditions of a Full-Scale Military Invasion of Russian Federation: Social Mobilization Potential and Efficiency

The article is devoted to determining the social mobilization potential of the state information policy of Ukraine in the conditions of a full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation. The dependence of the state information policy of Ukraine on the course of events at the front, the successful implementation of mobilization measures and the nature of the organization of countermeasures against enemy informational and psychological operations has been revealed. It is found that during years of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, signs of internal political struggle and populism within the implementation of the state information policy became increasingly evident, as the authorities aimed to portray desired narratives as factual. It is justified that the decrease in trust in the messages broadcast by the 24-hour marathon „Unified News #UAtogether” is attributed to its perception as a pro-government information source and doubts about the veracity of some of its content. It is proven that centralized communication models in the conditions of accelerated development of the information society gave way to social networks, which contributed to the growth of the influence of influencers. Distrust towards official information sources led to the proliferation of alternative content sources on social media, video hosting platforms, and streaming channels. It was determined that the government's plan to spread important information through individual Telegram channels was gradually losing its effectiveness. The reason for this can be called the absence of comprehensive situation analysis and overt positioning of some Telegram channels as pro-government. Furthermore, Ukraine's state information policy emerged as a significant tool in highlighting Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity. The author defined that successful enemy operations aimed at undermining trust in Ukraine's government institutions and fostering unrealistic expectations were noted, which proved unattainable in practice. It was determined that the state information policy should contribute to creating an economic basis for media development. To enhance media project outreach, they should be visually and audibly represented and disseminated digitally, taking into account the increasing influence of artificial intelligence.

Feasibility and impact of a physical activity and lifestyle program for Aboriginal families with Machado-Joseph disease in the Top End of Australia.

Physical activity and lifestyle programs are scarce for people with hereditary ataxias and neurodegenerative diseases. Aboriginal families in the Top End of Australia who have lived with Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) for generations co-designed a physical activity and lifestyle program called the Staying Strong Toolbox. The aim of the present study was to explore feasibility and impact of the program on walking and moving around. A mixed-methods, multiple case study design was used to pilot the Staying Strong Toolbox. Eight individuals with MJD participated in the program for 4 weeks. Participants tailored their own program using the Toolbox workbook. Families, support workers and researchers facilitated each individual's program. Feasibility was determined through program participation, adherence, coinciding or serious adverse events, participant acceptability and cost. Impact was determined through measures of mobility, ataxia, steps, quality of life, wellbeing and goal attainment, assessed before and after the program. All participants completed the program, averaging five activity sessions per week, 66 minutes per session, of walking (63.5%), strengthening/balance-based activities (16%), cycling (11.4%) and activities of daily living, cultural and lifestyle activities (10.5%). Seven participants were assessed on all measures on three occasions (baseline, pre-program and post-program), while one participant could not complete post-program measures due to ceremonial responsibilities. All had significant improvements in mobility, steps taken and ataxia severity (p<0.05) after the program. Quality of life and wellbeing were maintained. The program helped participants remain 'strong on the inside and outside'. Participants recommended implementation in 4-week blocks and for the program to be shared internationally. The Staying Strong Toolbox program was feasible for families with MJD. The program had a positive impact on walking and moving around, with participants feeling stronger on the outside (physically) and inside (emotionally, spiritually, psychosocially). The program could be adapted for use by other families with MJD.

Acceptability, Reliability, and Validity of Virtually Administered Gait Speed Tests

ObjectivesTo evaluate the acceptability, reliability (inter- and intrarater), and validity (convergent, known groups, and predictive) of virtually administered gait speed tests for community-dwelling older adults. DesignA prospective cohort study was performed, tracking health outcomes for a year. Setting and ParticipantsThe 3-m gait speed test at usual and fast pace was administered to community-dwelling older adults over Zoom. MethodTo examine acceptability, participants completed questionnaires regarding telehealth usability and experience. Virtual gait speed tests were administered at baseline and 24 to 72 hours later to evaluate reliability. Self-report mobility measures were used to examine convergent and known-groups validity. Participants’ health outcomes were tracked for a year to evaluate predictive validity. ResultsSixty participants completed the baseline assessment and 52 completed the second assessment. Participants reported an overall positive experience with the test. Intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability ranged from 0.79 to 0.90. For convergent validity, correlations >0.30 were found predominantly for usual gait speed with self-report mobility measures. Both the usual- and fast-gait speed were able to discriminate between difficulty walking and gait aid use. Usual gait speed was able to predict specialist and family doctor visits and fast gait speed was able to predict rehabilitation specialist visits over 1 year. Conclusions and ImplicationsOur findings demonstrate support for the acceptability, reliability, and validity of virtually administered gait speed tests for community-dwelling older adults. Although future studies are needed to examine the validity of virtual gait speed tests in larger and more diverse samples to improve generalizability of results, clinicians and researchers can virtually administer 3-m gait speed tests with confidence that scores are trustworthy and reflect older adults’ mobility.

Energy System Analysis with Mobile Measurement Technology: Developing a Standardized Data Analysis Concept for Short-term Measurements in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Energy System Analysis with Mobile Measurement Technology: Developing a Standardized Data Analysis Concept for Short-term Measurements in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

An Analytical Model for Describing Transient Photocurrents in Bias‐Assisted Charge Extraction for Low‐Mobility Organic Solar Cells

Bias‐assisted charge extraction (BACE) is a powerful technique for measuring the carrier density in organic solar cells under operational conditions and to deduce information on the charge recombination properties. Hereby, the carrier density in the active layer device is determined by integrating the transient extraction current, while nongeminate recombination during the charge extraction processes is generally neglected. This assumption becomes questionable for low mobilities, for example, at low temperatures and in case of high energetic disorder. Herein, the extraction process in BACE measurement is investigated by incorporating both drift and bimolecular recombination of charges during charge extraction into a unified framework. An explicit analytical model is proposed to describe the time dependence of the transient photocurrent in BACE measurement and excellent agreement is found with drift‐diffusion simulations. It is shown that global fitting of transient photocurrents measured at various collection biases with this analytical model allows to determine the carrier density in the device with high accuracy. Furthermore, the analytical model is demonstrated to provide accurate mobilities for both the fast and slow carriers within the device, rendering it a valuable supplement to other mobility measurement techniques such as resistance‐dependent photovoltage and space–charge‐limited current.

Do government-guided funds "guide" the transregional mobility of capital? Evidence from cross-city equity investments

The study tries to evaluate and explain the influence of government-guided funds (GGFs) on the transregional mobility of equity capital. We employ spatial econometrics to investigate the spatial effects of GGFs on the mobility of equity capital. Using data on cross-city equity investments of A share listed companies in 335 Chinese cities from 2007 to 2021, we first develop a novel measure of Chinese capital mobility. We find a V-shaped correlation between GGFs and the flow of equity capital. Notably, reducing market segmentation and enhancing native identity are two important mechanisms by which GGFs facilitate the influx of equity capital into local regions. Also, GGFs show a significant spatial spillover effect on neighboring cities. The results still hold after a series of robustness tests and heterogeneity tests.

Effect of manual manipulation on mechanical gait parameters.

A variety of manual manipulation techniques are utilized in clinical practice to alleviate pain and improve musculoskeletal function. Many manual practitioners analyze gait patterns and asymmetries in their assessment of the patient, and an increasing number of gait motion capture studies are taking place with recent improvements in motion capture technology. This study is the first systematic review of whether these manual modalities have been shown to produce an objectively measurable change in gait mechanics. This study was designed to perform a systematic review of the literature to assess the impact of manual medicine modalities on biomechanical parameters of gait. A master search term composed of keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) search terms from an initial scan of relevant articles was utilized to search six databases. We screened the titles and abstracts of the resulting papers for relevance and then assessed their quality with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Clinical trials that featured both a manual manipulation intervention and multiple mechanical gait parameters were included. Case reports and other studies that only measured gait speed or other subjective measures of mobility were excluded. We included 20 studies in our final analysis. They utilize manipulation techniques primarily from osteopathic, chiropractic, massage, and physiotherapy backgrounds. The conditions studied primarily included problems with the back, knee, and ankle, as well as healthy patients and Parkinson's patients. Control groups were highly variable, if not absent. Most studies measured their gait parameters utilizing either multicamera motion capture systems or force platforms. Twelve of 20 papers included in the final analysis demonstrated a significant effect of manipulation on gait variables, many of which included either step length, walking speed, or sagittal range of motion (ROM) in joints of the lower extremity. However, the results and study design are too heterogeneous to draw robust conclusions from these studies as a whole. While there are initial indications that certain modalities may yield a change in certain gait parameters, the quality of evidence is low and there is insufficient evidence to conclude that manual therapies induce changes in biomechanical gait parameters. Studies are heterogeneous with respect to the populations studied and the interventions performed. Comparators were variable or absent across the studies, as were the outcome variables measured. More could be learned in the future with consistent methodology around blinding and sham treatment, and if the gait parameters measured were standardized and of a more robust clinical significance.

A comparison of quantitative parameters of axial posture and spinal mobility between motor subtypes of Parkinson's disease.

<p>Parkinson&rsquo;s disease (PD) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder characterized by contradictory clinical outcomes among its several subtypes. The disease can manifest with a tremor-dominant (TD) or a non-tremor-dominant (NTD) phenotype. Although the TD subtype may show a better prognosis, there is limited information on the phenotypic differences regarding the level of axial symptoms. For this reason, in this study it was aimed to make a quantitative comparison of axial posture and spinal mobility between PD with TD and NTD.&nbsp;</p>. <p>This case-control study was conducted on 94 patients with diagnosed PD. A group diagnosis approach was used in the study, such that the diagnosis of each patient was confirmed, and they were assig-ned to TD and NTD groups by a neurologist expert on movement disorders. Of the patients with PD, 61 were in the TD group, and 33 were in the NTD group. Spinal mouse was used to measure spinal posture and spinal mobility in both sagittal and frontal planes.&nbsp;</p>. <p>Two groups of 61 patients (25 male + 36 female) with TD-PD (mean age: 64.49&plusmn;10.37 years) and 33 patients (20 male +13 female) with NTD-PD (mean age: 63.45&plusmn;9.11 years) were enrolled in the study. There were no significant differences bet&shy;ween the patients with TD and NTD in terms of sagittal and frontal postures (p&gt;0.05). In addition to this, anterior trunk tilt was found to significantly increase as the disease stage advanced in both groups. While the greatest anterior trunk tilt change in the TD-PD group was observed in the 3rd stage, NTD-PD group was in the 2.5th stage. Aside from this, the out&shy;comes of the spinal mobility measurements in the frontal and sagittal planes were similar between the groups (p&gt;0.05).</p>. <p>It is widely acknowledged that many clinical aspects of the TD and NTD forms of PD differ; however, in our study, it was observed that there may be no difference in the axial symptoms of the patients with PD in terms of classification according to tremor dominance.</p>.

Regional intergenerational mobility in Ecuador: many lands in one country

ABSTRACT We analyse the regional differences in eight measures of intergenerational mobility across cantons in Ecuador. Within-country estimates show heterogeneity with lands of opportunity, such as the Galápagos, and areas where poverty traps prevail, namely the Central Andes. This study also finds that better opportunities for children are associated with locations that have higher levels of migration, schooling, agriculture, family self-employment and oil activity, while inequality and the share of Indigenous people provide worse opportunities for mobility. These relationships are reinforced by spillovers across space, which, in Ecuador, are more likely to result in poverty cycles than privilege ones.

Neighborhood Walkability Is Associated With Global Positioning System-Derived Community Mobility of Older Adults.

Neighborhood walkability may encourage greater out-of-home travel (ie, community mobility) to support independent functioning in later life. We examined associations between a novel walkability audit index and Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived community mobility in community-dwelling older adults. We compared associations with the validated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Walkability Index and further examined moderation by clinical walking speed. Participants were 146 older adults (Mean = 77.0 ± 6.5 years, 68% women) at baseline of a randomized trial to improve walking speed. A walkability index (range: 0-5; eg, land-use mix, crosswalks, and so on) was created using Google Street View audits within 1/8-mile of the home. Participants carried a GPS device for 5-7 days to derive objective measures of community mobility (eg, time spent out of home, accumulated distance from home). Each 1 SD (~1.3-point) greater walkability audit score was associated with a median 2.16% more time spent out of home (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.30-4.03, p = .023), adjusting for individual demographics/health and neighborhood socioeconomic status. For slower walkers (4-m walking speed <1 m/s), each 1 SD greater audit score was also associated with a median 4.54 km greater accumulated distance from home (95% CI: 0.01-9.07, p (interaction) = .034). No significant associations were found for the EPA walkability index. Walkability immediately outside the home was related to greater community mobility, especially for older adults with slower walking speeds. Results emphasize the need to consider the joint influence of local environment and individual functioning when addressing community mobility in older populations.

Introduction of enhanced weekend physiotherapy for patients with hip fracture is associated with improved early mobility outcomes.

To assess whether enhanced daily weekend physiotherapy (EWP) for patients with hip fracture was associated with improved clinical outcomes. We retrospectively analysed all previously ambulatory adults admitted with hip fracture to our tertiary hospital, comparing 'usual' ('control') care (09/19-03/20) to EWP (09/20-03/21). Outcomes included Day-7 mobility ≥20 m (primary), additional mobility measures, specified postoperative complications, new residential facility placement, acute length-of-stay (LOS) and 30-day death. Amongst 235 eligible patients (128 control, 107 EWP), 66% were female, mean age was 80.4 years (SD 10.5), 20% from residential care and 49% (114/235) were mobilising without aid at baseline (no between-group differences; all p ≥ .20). Median acute LOS was 10 days (IQR 6-15), total hospital LOS was 21 days (IQR 12-37) and 3% (n = 6) died by Day 30. Median Day-7 distance mobilised was 25 m (IQR 7-50) with EWP versus 10 m (3-40) (p = .06). No EWP patients developed pressure injury (0 vs. 6, p = .02); other outcomes were similar between groups. Adjusting for age, residence, baseline cognitive impairment, American Society of Anesthesiologist score and preadmission mobilisation without aids, EWP was independently associated with increased likelihood of mobilising ≥20 m at Day 7 (aOR 1.83, 95% CI 1.04-3.23, p = .03). Enhanced daily weekend physiotherapy was associated with improvement in early mobility, but not other outcomes assessed. These data would be strengthened by randomised controlled trial data exploring more intense physiotherapy, cost-benefit analysis and patient experience measures.

Mobile air quality monitoring and comparison to fixed monitoring sites for instrument performance assessment.

Air pollution monitoring using mobile ground-based measurement platforms can provide high quality spatiotemporal air pollution information. As mobile air quality monitoring campaigns extend to entire fleets of vehicles and integrate smaller scale air quality sensors, it is important to address the need for assessing these measurements in a scalable manner. We explore collocation-based evaluation of air quality measurements in a mobile platform using fixed regulatory sites as a reference. We compare two approaches - a standard collocation assessment technique where the mobile platform is parked near the fixed regulatory site for a period of time and an expanded approach using measurements while the mobile platform is in motion in the general vicinity of the fixed regulatory site. Based on the availability of fixed reference site data, we focus on three pollutants (ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide) with distinct atmospheric lifetimes and behaviors. We compare measurements from a mobile laboratory with regulatory site measurements in Denver, Colorado, USA and in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Our one-month Denver dataset includes both parked collocation periods near the fixed regulatory sites as well as general driving patterns around the sites, allowing a direct comparison of the parked and mobile collocation techniques on the same dataset. We show that the mobile collocation approach produces similar performance statistics, including coefficients of determination and mean bias errors, as the standard parked collocation technique. This is particularly true when the comparisons are restricted to specific road types, with residential streets showing the closest agreement and highways showing the largest differences. We extend our analysis to a larger (year-long) dataset in California, where we explore the relationships between the mobile measurements and the fixed reference sites on a larger scale. We show that using a 40-hour running median converges to within ±4 ppbv of the fixed reference site for nitrogen dioxide and ozone and up to about 8 ppbv for nitric oxide. We propose that this agreement can be leveraged to assess instrument performance over time during large-scale mobile monitoring campaigns. We demonstrate an example of how such relationships can be used during large-scale monitoring campaigns using small sensors to identify potential measurement biases.

Retracted: Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM-C)

ObjectThis research aims to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM-C). Methods574 college students who had recently used meditation applications were included. 102 of them were chosen for retesting two weeks later. Standards for evaluation included the Digital Working Alliance Inventory (DWAI), Trust of Counseling Scale (TCS), and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8). The formal questionnaire was created after further modifications based on item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). ResultsConfirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the five-component model fit the data well. The mARM-C has intense item discrimination, and each item is substantially and positively linked with the total score of each dimension and the total score of the measure. The mARM-C had fair to excellent internal consistency, split-half, and test–retest reliability. The convergent and criterion-related validity was acceptable. ConclusionIn conclusion, the results of this study indicate that the Chinese version of the mARM-C has good validity and reliability. It is an effective self-report measure of the DTA.

Are the shoulder joint function, stability, and mobility tests predictive of handstand execution?

Handstand is a basic element common across gymnastic disciplines and physical education classes that is frequently evaluated for quality in competition or skill acquisition. The correct handstand execution relies on maintaining balance, for which the shoulders seem particularly important. This study explores the relationship between shoulder joint function and the quality of handstand execution in novice college athletes (n = 111; aged 19-23 years). We assessed the shoulder joint function using standardized field tests (Upper Quarter Y Balance Test and Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test) and evaluated handstand execution on official rating scale. Ordinal logistic regression models showed no relationship between the quality of handstand execution (E-score) and measures of shoulder joint stability or mobility in our sample (POR = 0.97 [0.91, 1.03] and 1.00 [0.91, 1.09] for E-score). Two major factors may have caused an observed pattern of results. Firstly, the standardized tests assess shoulder joints in different loads and ranges of motion compared to handstands. Secondly, our novice sample was not able to perform the handstand sufficiently well. In our sample of novice college athletes, shoulder function seems not related to handstand execution as other latent factors hindered their performance.

Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement Using Smartphone's Built-in Accelerometer

Efficient blood pressure (BP) monitoring in everyday contexts stands as a substantial public health challenge that has garnered considerable attention from both industry and academia. Commercial mobile phones have emerged as a promising tool for BP measurement, benefitting from their widespread popularity, portability, and ease of use. Most mobile phone-based systems leverage a combination of the built-in camera and LED to capture photoplethysmography (PPG) signals, which can be used to infer BP by analyzing the blood flow characteristics. However, due to low Signal-to-Noise (SNR), various factors such as finger motion, improper finger placement, skin tattoos, or fluctuations in environmental lighting can distort the PPG signal. These distortions consequentially affect the performance of BP estimation. In this paper, we introduce a novel sensing system that utilizes the built-in accelerometer of a mobile phone to capture seismocardiography (SCG) signals, enabling accurate BP measurement. Our system surpasses previous mobile phone-based BP measurement systems, offering advantages such as high SNR, ease of use, and power efficiency. We propose a triple-stage noise reduction scheme, integrating improved complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (ICEEMDAN), recursive least squares (RLS) adaptive filter, and soft-thresholding, to effectively reconstruct high-quality heartbeat waveforms from initially contaminated raw SCG signals. Moreover, we introduce a data augmentation technique encompassing normalization coupled with temporal-sliding, effectively augmenting the diversity of the training sample set. To enable battery efficiency on smartphone, we propose a resource-efficient deep learning model that incorporates resource-efficient convolution, shortcut connections, and Huber loss. We conduct extensive experiments with 70 volunteers, comprising 35 healthy individuals and 35 individuals diagnosed with hypertension, under a user-independent setting. The excellent performance of our system demonstrates its capacity for robust and accurate daily BP measurement.

Measuring environmental concentrations of hydrogen peroxide following bath treatment

Measurements of environmental concentrations of hydrogen peroxide following bath treatment at a Norwegian fish farming site was performed by using a flexible, robust and mobile measurement system covering multiple depths, ranging from 5 to 100 m. This system was supported by real-time current and dispersion modelling, making it possible to detect and track the hydrogen peroxide as it spread from the treated net pen. The collected data indicates a complex vertical behaviour of the bath water after the release of the tarpaulin, with hydrogen peroxide found both in the surface layer and at depth within the study area. Concentrations peaked in the upper 40 m near the net pen where the highest concentrations reached 300 mg/L, equivalent to a dilution factor of 5. A falling gradient of concentrations was found with increasing distance from the net pen. Numerical model simulations were used to support and gain further insight into the measured data. Experience gained in the present and in previous studies points also to potential improvements that can be incorporated in future studies, where particular attention should be paid to the near-field effects of the tarpaulin removal, as well as measurements of concentrations further downstream from the fish farm.

Effect of Context Specificity on Response to the Shortened WOMAC Function Scale in Patients Undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty

ObjectiveTo determine, in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), whether increasing context specificity of selected items of the shortened version of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index function (WOMAC-F) scale (ShortMAC-F) (1) enhanced the convergent validity of the ShortMAC-F with performance-based mobility measures (ii) affected mean scale score, structural validity, reliability, and interpretability. DesignSecondary analysis of randomized clinical trial data. SettingA tertiary teaching hospital. ParticipantsPatients undergoing TKA (N=114). InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresThe ShortMAC-F was modified by specifying the “ascending stairs” and “rising from sitting” items to enquire about difficulty in performing the tasks without reliance on compensatory strategies, whereas the modified “level walking” item enquired about difficulty in walking 400 m. Before and 12 weeks after TKA, patients completed the WOMAC-F questionnaire, modified ShortMAC-F questionnaire, knee pain scale questionnaire, sit-to-stand test, fast gait speed test, and stair climb test. Interpretability was evaluated by calculating anchor-based substantial clinical benefit estimates. ResultsThe modified ShortMAC-F correlated significantly more strongly than ShortMAC-F or WOMAC-F with pooled performance measures (differences in correlation values, 0.12-0.14). Increasing item context specificity of the ShortMAC-F did not influence its psychometric properties of unidimensionality (comparative fit and Tucker–Lewis indices, >0.95; root mean square error of approximation, 0.05-0.08), reliability (Cronbach's α, 0.75-0.83), correlation with pain intensity (correlation values, 0.48-0.52), and substantial clinical benefit estimates (16 percentage points); however, it resulted in lower mean score (4.5-4.8 points lower). ConclusionsThe modified ShortMAC-F showed sufficient measurement properties for clinical application, and it seemed more adept than WOMAC-F at correlating with performance-based measures in TKA.

Surgical treatment of intracapsular temporomandibular disorders.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pathologies are prevalent, affecting approximately 40% of the worldwide population, with nearly 80% involving intracapsular disorders. Despite this, standardized treatment protocols are lacking. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of conservative and surgical approaches in managing intracapsular TMJ disorders. Eighty-six patients diagnosed with intracapsular TMJ disorders were included in the study, with 40 males and 46 females, averaging 52.4 ± 4.7 years. Patients were recruited from polyclinics in Beijing, China (n = 36), and Kyiv, Ukraine (n = 50). A comprehensive examination protocol was conducted, including assessment of patient complaints, medical history, jaw mobility measurements, TMJ palpation, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening. The main outcomes of our study revealed significant improvements in patients undergoing surgical intervention for intracapsular TMJ disorders, particularly in cases of disc displacement. Conservative mouth guard/occlusal splint treatment showed limited effectiveness, primarily improving joint effusion and disc displacement. Surgical intervention led to notable enhancements in various TMJ parameters, with significant improvements observed in joint function and pain reduction. Based on these findings, orthodontic rehabilitation was recommended to ensure long-term efficacy, focusing on optimizing occlusion and restoring TMJ function. These results highlight the importance of tailored treatment approaches for managing intracapsular TMJ disorders, emphasizing the role of surgical intervention coupled with comprehensive rehabilitation strategies. Future research should consider demographic factors and explore innovative examination methods, such as optical systems, to enhance understanding and management of intracapsular TMJ disorders.

Life space assessment and falls in older adults with multiple sclerosis

Background/objectiveFalls research in older adults with MS (OAMS) is scarce, and no studies have reported on the association between life-space mobility and falls in this group. Herein, we hypothesized that higher baseline life-space scores would be associated with reduced odds of reporting falls during follow-up, and explored whether the association differed by MS subtype (progressive vs. relapsing-remitting). MethodsOAMS (n = 91, mean age = 64.7 ± 4.3ys, %female = 66.9,%progressive MS = 30.7) completed the University of Alabama at Birmingham Life-Space-Assessment (UAB-LSA) scale and reported falls during a structured monthly telephone interview during follow-up (mean = 16.39 ± 11.44 months). General Estimated Equations (GEE) models were utilized to determine whether UAB-LSA scores predicted falls during follow-up. ResultsGEE models revealed that higher UAB-LSA scores were associated with a significant reduction in the odds of falling during follow-up (OR = 0.69, p = 0.012, 95 %CI = 0.51 to 0.92). Stratified analyses revealed that this association was significant in progressive (OR = 0.57, p = 0.004, 95 %CI = 0.39 to 0.84), but not relapsing-remitting (OR = 0.93, p = 0.779, 95 %CI = 0.57 to 1.53) MS. ConclusionHigher life-space mobility was associated with lower odds of falling among OAMS with progressive subtype. The UAB-LSA may complement existing mobility measures for predicting fall risk.

Impact of long-term white matter hyperintensity changes on mobility and dexterity.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH), a common feature of cerebral small vessel disease, are related to worse clinical outcomes after stroke. We assessed the impact of white matter hyperintensity changes over 1 year after minor stroke on change in mobility and dexterity, including differences between the dominant and non-dominant hands and objective in-person assessment versus patient-reported experience. We recruited participants with lacunar or minor cortical ischaemic stroke, performed medical and cognitive assessments and brain MRI at presentation and at 1 year. At both time points, we used the timed-up and go test and the 9-hole peg test to assess mobility and dexterity. At 1 year, participants completed the Stroke Impact Scale. We ran two linear mixed models to assess change in timed-up and go and 9-hole peg test, adjusted for age, sex, stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale), dependency (modified Rankin Score), vascular risk factor score, white matter hyperintensity volume (as % intracranial volume) and additionally for 9-hole peg test: Montreal cognitive assessment, hand (dominant/non-dominant), National Adult Reading Test (premorbid IQ), index lesion side. We performed ordinal logistic regression, corrected for age and sex, to assess relations between timed-up and go and Stroke Impact Scale mobility, and 9-hole peg test and Stroke Impact Scale hand function. We included 229 participants, mean age 65.9 (standard deviation = 11.13); 66% male. 215/229 attended 1-year follow-up. Over 1 year, timed-up and go time increased with aging (standardized β [standardized 95% Confidence Interval]: 0.124[0.011, 0.238]), increasing National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (0.106[0.032, 0.180]), increasing modified Rankin Score (0.152[0.073, 0.231]) and increasing white matter hyperintensity volume (0.176[0.061, 0.291]). Men were faster than women (-0.306[0.011, 0.238]). Over 1 year, slower 9-hole peg test was related to use of non-dominant hand (0.290[0.155, 0.424]), aging (0.102[0.012, 0.192]), male sex (0.182[0.008, 0.356]), increasing National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (0.160 [0.094, 0.226]), increasing modified Rankin Score (0.100[0.032, 0.169]), decreasing Montreal cognitive assessment score (-0.090[-0.167, -0.014]) and increasing white matter hyperintensity volume (0.104[0.015, 0.193]). One year post-stroke, Stroke Impact Scale mobility worsened per second increase on timed-up and go, odds ratio 0.67 [95% confidence interval 0.60, 0.75]. Stroke Impact Scale hand function worsened per second increase on the 9-hole peg test for the dominant hand (odds ratio 0.79 [0.71, 0.86]) and for the non-dominant hand (odds ratio 0.88 [0.83, 0.93]). Decline in mobility and dexterity is associated with white matter hyperintensity volume increase, independently of stroke severity. Mobility and dexterity declined more gradually for stable and regressing white matter hyperintensity volume. Dominant and non-dominant hands might be affected differently. In-person measures of dexterity and mobility are associated with self-reported experience 1-year post-stroke.