JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies最新文献

{"title":"Movement Component Analysis of Reaching Strategies in Individuals With Stroke: Preliminary Study.","authors":"Hirofumi Ota, Masahiko Mukaino, Yukari Inoue, Shoh Matsuura, Senju Yagi, Yoshikiyo Kanada, Eiichi Saitoh, Yohei Otaka","doi":"10.2196/50571","DOIUrl":"10.2196/50571","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Upper limb motor paresis is a major symptom of stroke, which limits activities of daily living and compromises the quality of life. Kinematic analysis offers an in-depth and objective means to evaluate poststroke upper limb paresis, with anticipation for its effective application in clinical settings.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to compare the movement strategies of patients with hemiparesis due to stroke and healthy individuals in forward reach and hand-to-mouth reach, using a simple methodology designed to quantify the contribution of various movement components to the reaching action.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A 3D motion analysis was conducted, using a simplified marker set (placed at the mandible, the seventh cervical vertebra, acromion, lateral epicondyle of the humerus, metacarpophalangeal [MP] joint of the index finger, and greater trochanter of the femur). For the forward reach task, we measured the distance the index finger's MP joint traveled from its starting position to the forward target location on the anterior-posterior axis. For the hand-to-mouth reach task, the shortening of the vertical distance between the index finger MP joint and the position of the chin at the start of the measurement was measured. For both measurements, the contributions of relevant upper limb and trunk movements were calculated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 20 healthy individuals and 10 patients with stroke participated in this study. In the forward reach task, the contribution of shoulder or elbow flexion was significantly smaller in participants with stroke than in healthy participants (mean 52.5%, SD 24.5% vs mean 85.2%, SD 4.5%; P<.001), whereas the contribution of trunk flexion was significantly larger in stroke participants than in healthy participants (mean 34.0%, SD 28.5% vs mean 3.0%, SD 2.8%; P<.001). In the hand-to-mouth reach task, the contribution of shoulder or elbow flexion was significantly smaller in participants with stroke than in healthy participants (mean 71.8%, SD 23.7% vs mean 90.7%, SD 11.8%; P=.009), whereas shoulder girdle elevation and shoulder abduction were significantly larger in participants with stroke than in healthy participants (mean 10.5%, SD 5.7% vs mean 6.5%, SD 3.0%; P=.02 and mean 16.5%, SD 18.7% vs mean 3.0%, SD 10.4%; P=.02, respectively).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Compared with healthy participants, participants with stroke achieved a significantly greater distance via trunk flexion in the forward reach task and shoulder abduction and shoulder girdle elevation in the hand-to-mouth reach task, both of these differences are regarded as compensatory movements. Understanding the characteristics of individual motor strategies, such as dependence on compensatory movements, may contribute to tailored goal setting in stroke rehabilitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e50571"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10731574/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138488567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identifying the Active Ingredients of a Computerized Speech and Language Therapy Intervention for Poststroke Aphasia: Multiple Methods Investigation Alongside a Randomized Controlled Trial.","authors":"Madeleine Harrison, Rebecca Palmer, Cindy Cooper","doi":"10.2196/47542","DOIUrl":"10.2196/47542","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Aphasia is a communication disorder affecting more than one-third of stroke survivors. Computerized Speech and Language Therapy (CSLT) is a complex intervention requiring computer software, speech and language therapists, volunteers, or therapy assistants, as well as self-managed practice from the person with aphasia. CSLT was found to improve word finding, a common symptom of aphasia, in a multicenter randomized controlled trial (Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Computer Treatment for Aphasia Post Stroke [Big CACTUS]).</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study provides a detailed description of the CSLT intervention delivered in the Big CACTUS trial and identified the active ingredients of the intervention directly associated with improved word finding for people with aphasia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a multiple methods study within the context of a randomized controlled trial. In study 1, qualitative interviews explored key informants' understanding of the CSLT intervention, how the components interacted, and how they could be measured. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Qualitative findings informed the process measures collected as part of a process evaluation of the CSLT intervention delivered in the Big CACTUS trial. In study 2, quantitative analyses explored the relationship between intervention process measures (length of computer therapy access; therapists' knowledge of CSLT; degree of rationale for CSLT tailoring; and time spent using the software to practice cued confrontation naming, noncued naming, and using words in functional sentences) and change in word-finding ability over a 6-month intervention period.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Qualitative interviews were conducted with 7 CSLT approach experts. Thematic analysis identified four overarching components of the CSLT approach: (1) the StepByStep software (version 5; Steps Consulting Ltd), (2) therapy setup: tailoring and personalizing, (3) regular independent practice, and (4) support and monitoring. Quantitative analyses included process and outcome data from 83 participants randomized to the intervention arm of the Big CACTUS trial. The process measures found to be directly associated with improved word-finding ability were therapists providing a thorough rationale for tailoring the computerized therapy exercises and the amount of time the person with aphasia spent using the computer software to practice using words in functional sentences.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The qualitative exploration of the CSLT approach provided a detailed description of the components, theories, and mechanisms underpinning the intervention and facilitated the identification of process measures to be collected in the Big CACTUS trial. Quantitative analysis furthered our understanding of which components of the intervention are associated with clinical improvement. To optimize the benefits of using","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e47542"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10731555/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138488566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prediction of Physical Activity Patterns in Older Patients Rehabilitating After Hip Fracture Surgery: Exploratory Study.","authors":"Dieuwke van Dartel, Ying Wang, Johannes H Hegeman, Miriam M R Vollenbroek-Hutten","doi":"10.2196/45307","DOIUrl":"10.2196/45307","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Building up physical activity is a highly important aspect in an older patient's rehabilitation process after hip fracture surgery. The patterns of physical activity during rehabilitation are associated with the duration of rehabilitation stay. Predicting physical activity patterns early in the rehabilitation phase can provide patients and health care professionals an early indication of the duration of rehabilitation stay as well as insight into the degree of patients' recovery for timely adaptive interventions.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to explore the early prediction of physical activity patterns in older patients rehabilitating after hip fracture surgery at a skilled nursing home.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The physical activity of patients aged ≥70 years with surgically treated hip fracture was continuously monitored using an accelerometer during rehabilitation at a skilled nursing home. Physical activity patterns were described in our previous study, and the 2 most common patterns were used in this study for pattern prediction: the upward linear pattern (n=15) and the S-shape pattern (n=23). Features from the intensity of physical activity were calculated for time windows with different window sizes of the first 5, 6, 7, and 8 days to assess the early rehabilitation moment in which the patterns could be predicted most accurately. Those features were statistical features, amplitude features, and morphological features. Furthermore, the Barthel Index, Fracture Mobility Score, Functional Ambulation Categories, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score were used as clinical features. With the correlation-based feature selection method, relevant features were selected that were highly correlated with the physical activity patterns and uncorrelated with other features. Multiple classifiers were used: decision trees, discriminant analysis, logistic regression, support vector machines, nearest neighbors, and ensemble classifiers. The performance of the prediction models was assessed by calculating precision, recall, and F₁-score (accuracy measure) for each individual physical activity pattern. Furthermore, the overall performance of the prediction model was calculated by calculating the F₁-score for all physical activity patterns together.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The amplitude feature describing the overall intensity of physical activity on the first day of rehabilitation and the morphological features describing the shape of the patterns were selected as relevant features for all time windows. Relevant features extracted from the first 7 days with a cosine k-nearest neighbor model reached the highest overall prediction performance (micro F₁-score=1) and a 100% correct classification of the 2 most common physical activity patterns.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Continuous monitoring of the physical activity of older patients in the first we","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e45307"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10727481/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138463156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clinicians' Perspective on Implementing Virtual Hospital Care for Low Back Pain: Qualitative Study.","authors":"Alla Melman, Simon P Vella, Rachael H Dodd, Danielle M Coombs, Bethan Richards, Eileen Rogan, Min Jiat Teng, Chris G Maher, Narcyz Ghinea, Gustavo C Machado","doi":"10.2196/47227","DOIUrl":"10.2196/47227","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Alternate \"hospital avoidance\" models of care are required to manage the increasing demand for acute inpatient beds. There is currently a knowledge gap regarding the perspectives of hospital clinicians on barriers and facilitators to a transition to virtual care for low back pain. We plan to implement a virtual hospital model of care called \"Back@Home\" and use qualitative interviews with stakeholders to develop and refine the model.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We aim to explore clinicians' perspectives on a virtual hospital model of care for back pain (Back@Home) and identify barriers to and enablers of successful implementation of this model of care.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted semistructured interviews with 19 purposively sampled clinicians involved in the delivery of acute back pain care at 3 metropolitan hospitals. Interview data were analyzed using the Theoretical Domains Framework.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 10 Theoretical Domains Framework domains were identified as important in understanding barriers and enablers to implementing virtual hospital care for musculoskeletal back pain. Key barriers to virtual hospital care included patient access to videoconferencing and reliable internet, language barriers, and difficulty building rapport. Barriers to avoiding admission included patient expectations, social isolation, comorbidities, and medicolegal concerns. Conversely, enablers of implementing a virtual hospital model of care included increased health care resource efficiency, clinician familiarity with telehealth, as well as a perceived reduction in overmedicalization and infection risk.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The successful implementation of Back@Home relies on key stakeholder buy-in. Addressing barriers to implementation and building on enablers is crucial to clinicians' adoption of this model of care. Based on clinicians' input, the Back@Home model of care will incorporate the loan of internet-enabled devices, health care interpreters, and written resources translated into community languages to facilitate more equitable access to care for marginalized groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e47227"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10698644/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138177482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validating the Safe and Effective Use of a Neurorehabilitation System (InTandem) to Improve Walking in the Chronic Stroke Population: Usability Study.","authors":"Kirsten Elisabeth Smayda, Sarah Hodsdon Cooper, Katie Leyden, Jackie Ulaszek, Nicole Ferko, Annamaria Dobrin","doi":"10.2196/50438","DOIUrl":"10.2196/50438","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Persistent walking impairment following a stroke is common. Although rehabilitative interventions exist, few exist for use at home in the chronic phase of stroke recovery. InTandem (MedRhythms, Inc) is a neurorehabilitation system intended to improve walking and community ambulation in adults with chronic stroke walking impairment.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>Using design best practices and human factors engineering principles, the research presented here was conducted to validate the safe and effective use of InTandem.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In total, 15 participants in the chronic phase of stroke recovery (≥6 months after stroke) participated in this validation study. Participants were scored on 8 simulated use tasks, 4 knowledge assessments, and 7 comprehension assessments in a simulated home environment. The number and types of use errors, close calls, and operational difficulties were evaluated. Analyses of task performances, participant behaviors, and follow-up interviews were conducted to determine the root cause of use errors and difficulties.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During this validation study, 93% (14/15) of participants were able to successfully complete the critical tasks associated with the simulated use of the InTandem system. Following simulated use task assessments, participants' knowledge and comprehension of the instructions for use and key safety information were evaluated. Overall, participants were able to find and correctly interpret information in the materials in order to answer the knowledge assessment questions. During the comprehension assessment, participants understood warning statements associated with critical tasks presented in the instructions for use. Across the entire study, 3 \"use errors\" and 1 \"success with difficulty\" were recorded. No adverse events, including slips, trips, or falls, occurred in this study.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this validation study, people in the chronic phase of stroke recovery were able to safely and effectively use InTandem in the intended use environment. This validation study contributes to the overall understanding of residual use-related risks of InTandem in consideration of the established benefits.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e50438"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10696501/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138048066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Use of Assistive Technology for Persons with Psychosocial Disability: Systematic Review.","authors":"Ikenna D Ebuenyi, Celina Flocks-Monaghan, Sarju S Rai, Ralph de Vries, Soumitra S Bhuyan, Jonathan Pearlman, Nev Jones","doi":"10.2196/49750","DOIUrl":"10.2196/49750","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Assistive technology (AT) refers to assistive products (AP) and associated systems and services that are relevant for function, independence, well-being, and quality of life for individuals with disabilities. There is a high unmet need for AT for persons with disabilities and this is worse for persons with cognitive and mental or psychosocial disabilities (PDs). Further, information and knowledge on AT for PDs is limited.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this review was to explore the pattern of AT use among persons with PDs and its associated socioeconomic and health benefits.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The review was reported according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), and we conducted systematic searches in the 4 databases: PubMed, Embase.com, APA PsycInfo (Ebsco), and Web of Science (Core Collection) with the following index terms: \"Assistive Technology,\" \"Self-Help Devices,\" \"Quality of Life,\" \"Activities of Daily Living,\" \"Mental Disorders.\" We included only AT individuals with PDs can independently use without reliance on a provider. Identified papers were exported to EndNote (Clarivate) and we undertook a narrative synthesis of the included studies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 5 studies were included in the review which reported use of different AT for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety disorders. The APs described in the included studies are Palm tungsten T3 handheld computer, MOBUS, personal digital assistant, automated pill cap, weighted chain blankets, and smartphone function. All the AT products identified in the studies were found to be easily usable by individuals with PDs. The APs reported in the included studies have broad impact and influence on social function, productivity, and treatment or management. The studies were heterogeneous and were all conducted in high-income countries.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study contributes to and strengthens existing evidence on the relevance of AT for PDs and its potential to support socioeconomic participation and health. Although AT has the potential to improve function and participation for individuals with PDs; this review highlights that research on the subject is limited. Further research and health policy changes are needed to improve research and AT service provision for individuals with PDs especially in low-income settings.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>PROSPERO CRD42022343735; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=343735.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e49750"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10687692/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"107592412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Available Assistive Technology Outcome Measures: Systematic Review.","authors":"Francesca Borgnis, Lorenzo Desideri, Rosa Maria Converti, Claudia Salatino","doi":"10.2196/51124","DOIUrl":"10.2196/51124","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The World Health Organization claimed that measuring outcomes is necessary to understand the benefits of assistive technology (AT) and create evidence-based policies and systems to ensure universal access to it. In clinical practice, there is an increasing need for standardized methods to track AT interventions using outcome assessments.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This review provides an overview of the available outcome measures that can be used at the follow-up stage of any AT intervention and integrated into daily clinical or service practice.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We systematically searched for original manuscripts regarding available and used AT outcome measures by searching for titles and abstracts in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to March 2023.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We analyzed 955 articles, of which 50 (5.2%) were included in the review. Within these, 53 instruments have been mentioned and used to provide an AT outcome assessment. The most widely used tool is the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology, followed by the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Technology Scale. Moreover, the identified measures addressed 8 AT outcome domains: functional efficacy, satisfaction, psychosocial impact, caregiver burden, quality of life, participation, confidence, and usability. The AT category Assistive products for activities and participation relating to personal mobility and transportation was the most involved in the reviewed articles.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Among the 53 cited instruments, only 17 (32%) scales were designed to evaluate specifically assistive devices. Moreover, 64% (34/53) of the instruments were only mentioned once to denote poor uniformity and concordance in the instruments to be used, limiting the possibility of comparing the results of studies. This work could represent a good guide for promoting the use of validated AT outcome measures in clinical practice that can be helpful to AT assessment teams in their everyday activities and the improvement of clinical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":" ","pages":"e51124"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10687703/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41145162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Use of Virtual Reality in Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Treatment With Insights From Health Care Professionals and Patients: Action Research Study.","authors":"Darcy Ummels, Elise Cnockaert, Inge Timmers, Marlies den Hollander, Rob Smeets","doi":"10.2196/47541","DOIUrl":"10.2196/47541","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Chronic pain is a widespread global health problem. Interdisciplinary multimodal pain treatment (IMPT) is a treatment option for people with chronic pain. Virtual reality (VR) could be used to broaden IMPT programs. However, despite the advantages of VR, it is rarely used in daily clinical practice.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This research aimed to explore how, when, and with whom VR can be used meaningfully during IMPT, either as an addition or substitution as a component of IMPT.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This research used an action research design to help health care professionals and patients learn how, when, and with whom they can use VR. Data were collected through reflection sessions with health care professionals and semistructured interviews with patients in 2 specialized centers that provide IMPT for chronic pain. Two researchers performed direct content analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 4 physiotherapists, 1 occupational therapist, 3 psychologists, and 22 patients participated in this research. Three iteration cycles, including 9 reflection sessions and 8 semistructured interviews, were performed. Both health care professionals and patients considered VR to be useful in therapy as an addition but not a substitution. VR was used as a diagnostic and intervention tool with all patients at the rehabilitation center or home. VR was used to gain insight into patients' pain beliefs, cognitions, and irrational cognitions about additional damage and physical abilities. Considering VR as an intervention tool, the health care professionals had 3 goals: balancing relaxation and competition, grading activities, and exposure in vivo.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>VR could be a valuable addition to IMPT for both patients with chronic pain and health care professionals. More research should be performed to assess the additional effects of VR on patients' participation in daily life.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"10 ","pages":"e47541"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10674140/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72015587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rehabilitation Supported by Immersive Virtual Reality for Adults With Communication Disorders: Semistructured Interviews and Usability Survey Study.","authors":"Atiyeh Vaezipour, Danielle Aldridge, Sebastian Koenig, Clare Burns, Nilufar Baghaei, Deborah Theodoros, Trevor Russell","doi":"10.2196/46959","DOIUrl":"10.2196/46959","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Individuals who have acquired communication disorders often struggle to transfer the skills they learn during therapy sessions to real-life situations. Immersive virtual reality (VR) technology has the potential to create realistic communication environments that can be used both in clinical settings and for practice at home by individuals with communication disorders.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This research aims to enhance our understanding of the acceptance, usefulness, and usability of a VR application (SIM:Kitchen), designed for communication rehabilitation. Additionally, this research aims to identify the perceived barriers and benefits of using VR technology from the perspective of individuals with acquired communication disorders.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Semistructured interviews and usability surveys were conducted with 10 individuals with acquired neurogenic communication disorders aged 46-81 (mean 58, SD 9.57) years after trialing an immersive VR application. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify themes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The quantitative data regarding the usability of the system associated with participants' immersion experience in the VR application were promising. Findings from semistructured interviews are discussed across five key thematic areas including (1) participant's attitude toward VR, (2) perceived usefulness of the VR system, (3) perceived ease of use of the VR system, (4) their willingness to continue using VR, and (5) the factors they perceived as challenges or facilitators to adopting this VR technology.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Overall, participants in this study found the VR experience to be enjoyable and were impressed by the realism of the VR application designed for communication rehabilitation. This study highlighted personally relevant, immersive VR interventions with different levels of task difficulty that could enhance technology uptake in the context of communication rehabilitation. However, it is essential that VR hand controller technology is refined to be more naturalistic in movement and able to accommodate user capabilities.</p>","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"1 1","pages":"e46959"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10646677/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43987825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Models and Approaches for Comprehension of Dysarthric Speech Using Natural Language Processing: Systematic Review.","authors":"Benard Alaka, Bernard Shibwabo","doi":"10.2196/44489","DOIUrl":"10.2196/44489","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Speech intelligibility and speech comprehension for dysarthric speech has attracted much attention recently. Dysarthria is characterized by irregularities in the speed, strength, pitch, breath control, range, steadiness, and accuracy of muscle movements required for articulatory aspects of speech production.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study examined the contributions made by other studies involved in dysarthric speech comprehension. We focused on the modes of meaning extraction used in generalizing speaker-listener underpinnings in light of semantic ontology extraction as a desired technique, applied method types, speech representations used, and databases sourced from.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study involved a systematic literature review using 7 electronic databases: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, PubMed, ACM, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar. The main eligibility criterion was the extraction of meaning from dysarthric speech using natural language processing or understanding approaches to improve on dysarthric speech comprehension. In total, out of 834 search results, 30 studies that matched the eligibility requirements were acquired following screening by 2 independent reviewers, with a lack of consensus being resolved through joint discussion or consultation with a third party. In order to evaluate the studies' methodological quality, the risk of bias assessment was based on the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool version 2 (RoB2) with 23 of the studies (77%) registering low risk of bias and 7 studies (33%) raising some concern over the risk of bias. The overall quality assessment of the study was done using TRIPOD (Transparent Reporting of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Following a review of 30 primary studies, this study revealed that the reviewed studies focused on natural language understanding or clinical approaches, with an increase in proposed solutions from 2020 onwards. Most studies relied on speaker-dependent speech features, while others used speech patterns, semantic knowledge, or hybrid approaches. The prevalent use of vector representation aligned with natural language understanding models, while Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient representation and no representation approaches were applied in neural networks. Hybrid representation studies aimed to reconstruct dysarthric speech or improve comprehension. Comprehensive databases, like TORGO and UA-Speech, were commonly used in combination with other curated databases, while primary data was preferred for specific or unique research objectives.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We found significant gaps in dysarthric speech comprehension characterized by the lack of inclusion of important listener or speech-independent features in the speech representations, mode of extraction, and data sources used. Further res","PeriodicalId":36224,"journal":{"name":"JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies","volume":"1 1","pages":"e44489"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10655903/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41346748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}