Improved motor function with Bowen therapy for rehabilitation in chronic stroke: a pilot study

INTRODUCTION: Bowen therapy is an established complementary therapy with anecdotal reports of effectiveness. However, there is limited published research to substantiate safety or effectiveness. This is a pilot study to explore the potential impact of Bowen therapy in chronic stroke. METHODS: A case series of 14 people with chronic stroke were offered 13 sessions of Bowen therapy over a three-month period. RESULTS: Motor assessments of the 13 people who participated showed improvements—gross motor function trended to improvement; SF-36 role-physical, physical health summary scale and total SF-36 scores showed statistically significantly improvements. However, grip strength reduced. CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, Bowen therapy was associated with improvements in neuromuscular function in people with chronic stroke. At this stage of study, it is not possible to conclude that there is definite benefit; however the results suggest that exploration through further research is appropriate. KEYWORDS: Bowen Therapy; stroke; rehabilitation

General Health Status of Children With d -Transposition of the Great Arteries After the Arterial Switch Operation

Background To study the long-term impact on general health status of d -transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) after the arterial switch operation (ASO) during infancy, we asked parents to complete the Child Health Questionnaire, Parent Form-50 when their children were 8 years old. Methods and Results Of 160 eligible patients, questionnaires were completed for 155 subjects (96%). Median age at surgery was 6 days (range 1 to 67 days), and median age at completion of the Child Health Questionnaire was 8.1 years (7.6 to 10.0 years). Subsequent to questionnaire completion, children underwent psychometric testing. Mean Physical Health Summary and Psychosocial Summary scores were 54.0±6.1 and 49.7±9.9, respectively, which were similar to those of normal subjects. Compared with the normative sample, parents of D-TGA patients reported more problems with attention, learning, and speech, as well as greater frequency of developmental delay ( P <0.001 for each). Worse Psychosocial Summary scores were significantly associated with lower full-scale IQ ( P =0.001) and lower achievement in reading ( P =0.005) and math ( P =0.007). Worse Physical Health Summary scores were associated with longer hospital stay after the ASO ( P =0.02). General health status scores were not significantly related to presence of ventricular septal defect, age at surgery, perfusion variables during the ASO, sex, or history of cardiac reoperation. Conclusions At age 8 years, children with D-TGA after ASO have an overall physical and psychosocial health status similar to that of the general population. Lower IQ and academic achievement are associated with worse psychosocial health status, whereas longer hospital course after initial surgery is associated with worse physical health status.