Background: The British STRATIFY tool was previously developed to predict falls in hospital. Although the tool has several strengths, certain limitations exist which may not allow generalizability to a Canadian setting. Thus, we tested the STRATIFY tool with some modification and re-weighting of items in Canadian hospitals.

This randomized controlled trial was designed to investigate the effect of a 6-month home-based exercise program versus control (usual activities) on quality of life for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who had at least one vertebral fracture. Twelve-month assessments of outcomes were completed to determine if women would continue exercising with minimal supervision and if benefit could be sustained. The home exercise program followed a "lifestyle exercise" approach where participants completed exercises 60 min per day, 3 days a week and could complete exercises in small periods of time throughout the day. Exercise activities included stretching, strength training and aerobics (i.e. walking). Participants were assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months using the Osteoporosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ), the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a balance test, and the Timed Up And Go test. Bone mineral density was assessed at baseline and 12 months for both the lumbar spine and femoral neck. Quality of life (OQLQ) improved over 6 months in the exercise group compared to the control group in the domains of symptoms (P=0.003), emotion (P=0.01) and leisure (P=0.03). Results from the balance test indicated a greater effect in the exercise group over 12 months (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in measures of Timed Up and Go, SIP at 6 and 12 months, and femoral neck and lumbar spine bone mineral density at 12 months. Home-based exercise with minimal supervision improves quality of life in elderly women with vertebral fractures. Future research is needed to determine if home exercise programs reduce falls and fall-related injuries in the elderly.

The intervention was simple, and improved quality of life after other treatment avenues for these participants were exhausted.

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These data indicate that: (1) There is an increased proportion of COPD patients with severe vertebral fracture, and (2) Documentation and treatment of osteoporosis in acute care COPD patients is low. Therefore, there is a need to target this high-risk group for osteoporosis screening and potential clinical management.

The findings provide support for the validity of serum CK measurement as an index of skeletal muscle injury caused by LDS, and demonstrate that LDS provides a useful model for measurement testing and development studies.

The aims of the present study were to compare levels of circulating inflammatory biomarkers and growth factors between patients with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and healthy control participants, and to assess the relationship among inflammatory markers and growth factors in the two groups.Biomarkers levels were assessed in patients (n = 37) with myofascial pain complaints recruited from the hospital emergency department and non-MPS controls (n = 21), recruited via advertisements in the hospital and community.Blood levels of the cytokines, namely, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interleukin-12 (IL-12), and the chemokine, namely, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), eotaxin, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and macrophage inflammatory proteins-1β (MIP-1β) were significantly higher in patients with MPS than controls. The results of the growth factor analyses revealed significantly higher levels of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in MPS patients versus controls. The pattern of correlation coefficients between cytokines and growth factors differed considerably for MPS patients and controls with far fewer significant positive coefficients observed in the controls. Serum inflammatory and growth factor biomarkers were elevated in MPS patients.Inflammatory biomarkers and growth factor levels may play an important role in the onset and maintenance of MPS and therefore may be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of MPS. Understanding the mechanisms of inflammation in MPS necessitates future research.

These findings provide evidence of reliability and validity for CFE measurement, and demonstrate that CFE detects clinical improvements. Variance on CFE emphasizes the need to consider inter-, and intra-subject standard deviations to interpret scores.