Motor recovery following stroke is believed to necessitate alteration in functional connectivity between cortex and muscle. Cortico-muscular coherence has been proposed as a potential biomarker for post-stroke motor deficits, enabling a quantification of recovery, as well as potentially indicating the regions of cortex involved in recovery of function. We recorded simultaneous EEG and EMG during wrist extension from healthy participants and patients following ischaemic stroke, evaluating function at three time points post-stroke. EEG–EMG coherence increased over time, as wrist mobility recovered clinically, and by the final evaluation, coherence was higher in the patient group than in the healthy controls. Moreover, the cortical distribution differed between the groups, with coherence involving larger and more bilaterally scattered areas of cortex in the patients than in the healthy participants. The findings suggest that EEG–EMG coherence has the potential to serve as a biomarker for motor recovery and to provide information about the cortical regions that should be targeted in rehabilitation therapies based on real-time EEG.

Many established technologies are limited in analyzing the executive functions in motion, especially while walking. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) fills this gap. The aim of the study is to investigate the inter-session reliability (ISR) of fNIRS-derived parameters at the prefrontal cortex while walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy control (HC) individuals. Twenty people with MS/HC individuals walked a 12 m track back and forth over 6 min. The primary outcomes were the absolute and relative reliability of the mean, slope coefficient (SC), and area under the curve (A) of the oxy-/deoxyhemoglobin concentrations (HbO/HbR) in the Brodmann areas (BA) 9/46/10. The SC and the A of HbO exhibited a fair ISR in BA10 in people with MS. For the mean and A of the HbR, almost all areas observed revealed a fair ISR. Overall, the ISR was better for HbR than HbO. A fair to excellent ISR was found for most BA of the prefrontal cortex in HC individuals. In total, the ISR of the analyzed fNIRS-derived parameters was limited. To improve the ISR, confounders such as fatigue and mind wandering should be minimized. When reporting the ISR, the focus should be on the mean/A rather than SC.

These differences may reflect the degree of autonomy and self-care associated with the different treatment modalities. In practice, our findings suggest that the early identification and inclusion of persons providing social support for patients may have a positive effect on different aspects of their care and quality of life.

The focus of the study is the analysis of changes in health-related quality of life in various cancer entities during and after an inpatient rehabilitation programme. In a multicentre longitudinal study, a total of 211 cancer patients (breast cancer: N = 84; prostate cancer: N = 90; colon cancer: N = 37) were asked about their quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30; HADS) at the beginning, the end and 3 months after the end of the rehabilitation programme. In different domains of quality of life significant and mostly clinically relevant improvements were found during rehabilitation. The breast and prostate cancer patients improved most in emotional functioning, colon cancer patients in global quality of life. With regard to the severity of symptoms, the fatigue burden improved in breast and colon cancer patients, nausea in the prostate cancer patients. However, they are increases 3 months after rehabilitation. Functional burdens improved 3 months after the end of rehabilitation in the physical domain for all cancer patients. For breast cancer patients, emotional functioning decreased significantly 3 months after rehabilitation. An inpatient oncological rehabilitation programme can lead to an improvement in quality of life.

BackgroundTo date, research has neglected the patient's psychosocial and cognitive conditions as contributing factors to dialysis modality decision-making. Hence, the Choice of Renal Replacement Therapy (CORETH) study aims to examine these conditions with regard to their impact on the choice. Here we describe the design of the multicentre study, which is supported by a grant from the German Ministry for Education and Research.MethodsTwo groups of patients will be compared after having chosen peritoneal or haemodialysis as permanent treatment. About 1200 participants from 50 dialysis centres all over Germany will be questioned. The questionnaire addresses social, psychological and shared decision-making aspects. Furthermore, cognitive functioning will be tested. For an economic evaluation direct and indirect costs of treatment will be calculated. Changes will be examined through a one-year follow-up.ConclusionsThe results will enlighten the treatment choice under the German healthcare system. They will provide further insight regarding the discussion on patient autonomy. From the patients' perspective, the results will help to strengthen their participation in the individual process of health-related decision-making.