Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS) is characterized by physical, psychological and cognitive symptoms with a negative impact on daily activities. This study tested the responsiveness and construct validity of the original version of the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRS) in a cohort of Italian hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This longitudinal study involved 79 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with rehabilitation needs, assessed after 12 and 26 weeks post-infection. Functional and patient-reported outcome measures were correlated with 10 items of the C19-YRS to test the construct validity, whereas distribution-based methods were used for the responsiveness over time. After 12 weeks since infection, 88.5% of patients reported fatigue, 83.3% breathlessness, 69.4% anxiety, 55.6% depression, and 44.9% pain. Moreover, 84.6% experienced reduced mobility, 75.7% had difficulties with usual activities, and 47.4% with personal care. Single items for each symptom had significant correlation (rho 0.25–0.60) with well-established scales for these symptoms. At 26 weeks, except for anxiety, all the PCS symptoms were still present but significantly reduced. The C19-YRS had moderate responsiveness for the most represented deficit reported. The C19-YRS was a valuable patient-reported outcome for screening, assessing severity, and monitoring the persistence of symptoms after 12 and 26 weeks from SARS-CoV2 infection in a cohort of Italian hospitalized patients.

We designed and implemented an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment for upper limb rehabilitation, which possesses several notable features. First, by exploiting modern computer graphics its can present a variety of scenarios that make the rehabilitation routines challenging yet enjoyable for patients, thus enhancing their adherence to the therapy. Second, immersion in a virtual 3D space allows the patients to execute tasks that are closely related to everyday gestures, thus enhancing the transfer of the acquired motor skills to real-life routines. Third, in addition to the VR environment, we also developed a client app running on a PC that allows to monitor in real-time and remotely the patients’ routines thus paving the way for telerehabilitation scenarios. Here, we report the results of a feasibility study in a cohort of 16 stroke patients. All our patients showed a high degree of comfort in our immersive VR system and they reported very high scores of ownership and agency in embodiment and satisfaction questionnaires. Furthermore, and notably, we found that behavioral performances in our VR tasks correlated with the patients’ clinical scores (Fugl-Meyer scale) and they could thus be used to assess improvements during the rehabilitation program. While further studies are needed, our results clearly support the feasibility and effectiveness of VR-based motor rehabilitation processes.

Background: We need good outcome predictors to maximize the treatment efficiency of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The in-brace correction has shown an important predictive effect on brace failure, while the influence of other variables is still debated. We aimed to identify new outcome predictors from a big prospective database of AIS. Methods: Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Inclusion criteria: AIS between 21 and 45°, Risser 0–2, brace prescription during the observation, treatment conclusion. All of the participants followed a personalized conservative approach according to the SOSORT Guidelines. Outcomes: End of growth below 30°–40°–50°. The regression model included age, BMI, Cobb angle, ATR, TRACE score, real brace wear (RBW), and in-brace correction (IBC). Results: A total of 1050 patients, 84% females, ages 12.1 ± 1.1, 28.2 ± 7.9° Cobb. IBC increased by 30%, 24%, and 23% the odds of ending treatment below 30°, 40°, and 50°, respectively. The OR did not change after the covariate adjustment. Cobb angle and ATR at the start also showed a predictive effect. Conclusions: The systematic evaluation of IBC in clinics is useful for individuating the patient response to brace treatment more accurately, even in relation to the Cobb angle and ATR degrees at the start. Further studies are needed to increase the knowledge on predictors of AIS treatment results.

We designed and implemented an immersive virtual reality environment for upper limb rehabilitation, which possesses several notable features. First, by exploiting modern computer graphics its can present a variety of scenarios that make the rehabilitation routines challenging yet enjoyable for patients, thus enhancing their adherence to the therapy. Second, immersion in a virtual 3D space allows the patients to execute tasks that are closely related to everyday gestures, thus enhancing the transfer of the acquired motor skills to real-life routines. Third, in addition to the VR environment, we also developed a client app running on a PC that allows to monitor in real-time and remotely the patients’ routines thus opening the door to telerehabilitation scenarios.Here, we report the results of a feasibility study in a cohort of 16 stroke patients. All our patients showed a high degree of comfort in our immersive VR system and they reported very high scores of ownership and agency in embodiment and satisfaction questionnaires. Furthermore, and notably, we found that behavioral performances in our VR tasks correlated with the patients’ clinical scores (Fugl-Meyer scale) and they can thus be used to assess improvements during the rehabilitation program. While further studies are needed, our results clearly support the feasibility and effectiveness of VR-based motor rehabilitation processes.Significance statementApproximately 80% of stroke patients suffer from a hemiparesis of the contralateral upper limb. Motor rehabilitation has been proven to be of key importance to regain, partially or totally, the impaired motor skills. Rehabilitation techniques are based on the repetitive and intense execution of simple motor behaviors. As such they can become taxing and cumbersome for the patients. This often produces non-adherence issues with an obvious negative impact on motor recovery.Here we describe a novel immersive virtual environment for upper limb motor rehabilitation and we report the results that we obtained in a cohort of 16 stroke patients. Our system was designed to turn rehabilitation routines into engaging games and to allow the remote monitoring of the patients’ exercises thus allowing telerehabilitation.All our patients showed a high degree of comfort in our immersive VR system and they reported very high scores of ownership and agency in embodiment and satisfaction questionnaires. Furthermore, and notably, we found that behavioral performances in our VR tasks correlated with the patients’ clinical scores (Fugl-Meyer scale) and they can thus be used to assess improvements during the rehabilitation program.