Search Results (4)

Background: There is a high incidence of nonspecific Low Back Pain (LBP) in patients visiting Emergency Departments (EDs), but there is a lack of knowledge regarding emergency physiotherapy for LBP. The effect of on-site physiotherapy in these patients was therefore never demonstrated. We assessed short-term outcomes, feasibility and patient satisfaction with physiotherapy in ED patients presenting with nonspecific LBP. Methods: A block-randomized, controlled, open-label trial with a follow-up of 42 days. Patients aged 18 years or older presenting to an ED with nonspecific LBP were prospectively enrolled. Both groups received the same booklet with written information on LBP management and exercises. Patients in the intervention group were given additional instructions by a certified physiotherapist. Results: We included 86 patients in the primary analysis. The median age was 40, and 40.7% were female. At day 7, the median Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) was 2 points lower in the intervention group compared to the control group, which was not statistically significant. There was no between-group difference in pain at day 7. Patients who received physiotherapy felt significantly more confident with the exercises they were taught (p = 0.004, effect size = 0.3 [95% CI 0.1 to 0.5]). Conclusions: On-site physiotherapy in ED patients presenting with nonspecific low back pain is associated with higher patient satisfaction, compared to standard of care. The effect of physiotherapy was small, with only minimal improvement in disability, but without a reduction in pain. Despite the very small effect size, physiotherapeutic interventions should be investigated in larger cohorts with an extended intervention including patient education, exercises, and other physiotherapeutic modalities. Full article

Coil embolization has become a well-established option for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Yet, wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms (WNBAs) remain a challenge. The pCONUS is the first generation of a stent-like implant for the bridging of WNBAs to enable coiling. The pToWin study was a prospective, single-arm, multicenter study conducted to analyze the safety and efficacy of the pCONUS in the treatment of WNBAs. The primary effectiveness endpoint was the rate of adequate occlusion of the aneurysm at 3–6 and 7–12 months. The primary safety endpoint was the occurrence of major ipsilateral stroke or neurological death during the follow-up. A total of 115 patients were included. Aneurysm locations were the middle cerebral artery in 52 (45.2%), the anterior communicating artery in 35 (30.4%), the basilar artery in 23 (20%), the internal carotid artery terminus in three (2.6%), and the pericallosal artery in two (1.7%) patients. Treatment was successfully performed in all but one patient. The morbi-mortality rate was 1.9% and 2.3% at 3–6 and 7–12 months, respectively. Of the aneurysms, 75.0% and 65.6% showed adequate occlusion at 3–6 and 7–12 months, respectively. pCONUS offers a safe and reasonably effective treatment of WNBAs, demonstrated by acceptable adequate aneurysm occlusion and low rates of adverse neurologic events. Full article

The economy for the common good (ECG) has been developed as a practical economic model, starting in Austria, Bavaria, and South Tyrol in 2010. Nowadays, ECG is considered a viable approach for sustainable transformation across Europe, and also worldwide. Within economic policy, ECG expands social market economy concepts; from a theoretical perspective of economics the question arises, of whether the implicit theoretical model refines the neoclassical paradigm or actually transcends it. During the first scientific conference on the ECG, at the end of 2019 at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen, some 150 participants concluded that an investigation of ECG practices was necessary, and that the fundamental theory needs to be developed in an explicit and systematic way. This article is a first attempt at contrasting the theoretical basis of the ECG model with neoclassical economics, using core concepts and cornerstones of the latter’s paradigm. The outcome is the cornerstone of common good economics. Full article

In relation to organizational performance measurement, there is a growing concern about the creation of value for people, society and the environment. The traditional corporate reporting does not adequately satisfy the information needs of stakeholders for assessing an organization’s past and future potential performance. Practitioners and scholars have developed new non-financial reporting frameworks from a social and environmental perspective, giving birth to the field of Integrated Reporting (IR). The Economy for the Common Good (ECG) model and its tools to facilitate sustainability management and reporting can provide a framework to do it. The present study depicts the theoretical foundations from the business administration field research on which the ECG model relies. Moreover, this paper is the first one that empirically validates such measurement scales by applying of Exploratory Factor Analysis on a sample of 206 European firms. Results show that two out of five dimensions are appropriately defined, along with some guidelines to refine the model. Consequently, it allows knowledge to advance as it assesses the measurement scales’ statistical validity and reliability. However, as this is the first quantitative-driven research on the ECG model, the authors’ future research will confirm the present results by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Full article