Article

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effectiveness of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation
program for persons following definitive primary brain tumour treatment in a
community cohort. METHODS:
The brain tumour (glioma) survivors (n = 106) were
allocated either to the treatment group (n = 53) (intensive ambulatory
multidisciplinary rehabilitation), or the waitlist control group
(n = 53). The primary outcome - Functional Independence Measure (FIM), measured 'Activity'
limitation; secondary measures included Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale,
Perceived Impact Problem Profile and Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System.
Assessments were at baseline,
3 and 6 months after program completion. RESULTS:
Participants were predominantly women (56%), with mean age 51 years (standard
deviation 13.6) and median time since diagnosis of 2.1 years. Intention-to-treat
analysis showed a significant difference between groups at
3-month in favour of
multidisciplinary rehabilitation program in FIM motor subscales: 'self-care',
'sphincter', 'locomotion', 'mobility'(p < 0.01 for all); and FIM 'communication'
(p < 0.01) and 'psychosocial' subscales (p < 0.05), with small to moderate effect
size (r = 0.2-0.4). At 6-month follow-up, significant improvement in the
treatment group was maintained only for FIM 'sphincter', 'communication' and
'cognition' subscales (p < 0.01 for all). No difference between groups was noted
in other subscales.
CONCLUSIONS: brain tumour survivors can improve function with
multidisciplinary rehabilitation, with some gains maintained up to 6 months.
Evidence for specific interventions in the 'blackbox' of rehabilitation is
needed.

Langue : ANGLAIS