FRE and FKRGL assign a grade level by measuring semantic and syntactic difficulty. They serve as a simple tool that provides some information about the potential literacy difficulty of written health information. However, health information documents often involve complex medical words and may incorporate pictures and tables to improve the legibility. In their assessments, FRE and FKRGL do not take into account (1) document factors (layout, pictures and charts, color, font, spacing, legibility, and grammar), (2) person factors (education level, comprehension, health literacy, motivation, prior knowledge, information needs, anxiety levels), and (3) style of writing (cultural sensitivity, comprehensiveness, and appropriateness), and thus, inadequately assess reading level. New readability measures incorporate pictures and use complex algorithms to assess reading level but are only moderately used in health-care research and not in clinical practice. Future research needs to develop generic and disease-specific readability measures to evaluate comprehension of a written document based on individuals' literacy levels, cultural background, and knowledge of disease.

Aim To describe the nature and extent of the literature addressing the medical and its re/habilitative management of cerebral palsy (CP) in India. Method Online worldwide scholarly databases, research hosting directories, Indian publishing houses, and grey literature were used to identify papers published between 2005 and 2016. We retrieved 144 English language papers that described the medical and rehabilitative management of Indian children with CP. Results Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research designs are published by a variety of health care professionals in India. Intervention (45%) and observational studies (30%) predominate. Outcomes were categorized using the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework, with body structure and function most reported and activity/participation least reported; 57% described its re/habilitation interventions and 43% were medical interventions. Interpretation There is a substantial body of CP research in India that focuses on interventions to reduce impairments, with minimal attention given to activities and participation, environmental, and personal factors. Twenty‐six per cent of studies are published in what appear to be ‘predatory journals’. This paper serves as an alert about the presence of ‘predatory journals’ in medicine that may introduce publication bias, which can distort results reported in those studies individually, or from conclusions drawn in reviews that contain those studies. What this paper adds Cerebral palsy research in India focuses on interventions to reduce impairment. Activities, participation, and environmental factors are minimally addressed. Quantitative studies are more common than qualitative studies. Many Indian studies are published in journals that are not indexed in worldwide databases of scholarly journals.

Canadian parents experience a more enabling environment and express a more social view of their child's health, suggesting both education on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health principles and services are needed to better enable and empower Indian parents. There remains a need for healthcare professionals and services in both countries to be more family-centered. Implications for rehabilitation To help parents in rehabilitating their children with cerebral palsy (CP), in India, there is a need to (1) incorporate ICF education into medical curricula and clinical practice; (2) increase the availability of skilled healthcare professionals and centers; (3) make infrastructural and policy reforms to make the society more accessible for the disabled children. Education, counseling and awareness about CP might help both groups of parents, society, and HCPs to change their beliefs and attitudes regarding CP and its rehabilitation. Both countries would benefit from user-friendly and transparent policies. This will help parents to become more aware of them and use them in the rehabilitation process.

BackgroundGeneralized joint hypermobility (GJH), in the absence of symptoms, is a common clinical finding. The joint instability present due to excessive musculoskeletal flexibility in hypermobile joints impairs the external force production during muscle contraction. However, whether GJH is associated with muscle weakness is unclear. This study evaluated differences in upper and lower limb muscle strengths among asymptomatic young adults with and without GJH.MethodsOne hundred six young adults (53 hypermobile, i.e. 25 male (mean age 22 ± 1.8); 28 female (mean age 21 ± 1.8), and 53 non-hypermobile, i.e. 25 male (mean age 19 ± 1.06); 28 female (mean age 20 ± 1.4) were selected using a cut-off ≥ 4 on Beighton and Horan Joint Mobility Index. Isometric strength of elbow and knee extensors was measured using an isokinetic dynamometer. Independent sample t- tests were done to compare the muscle strengths of hypermobile and non-hypermobile participants. One-way ANCOVA was applied to control the effect of height and body mass on muscle strength.ResultsMale hypermobile participants had significantly less strength than non-hypermobile males in the right (71.7 Nm, SD = 23.1, vs 97.6 Nm, SD = 47.4, p = 0.006*) and left (74.8 Nm, SD = 24.3, vs 97.7 Nm, SD = 45.5, p = 0.007*) elbow extensors and right knee extensors (188.7 Nm, SD = 83.3, vs 228.3 Nm, SD = 106.7, p = 0.03*). In females, both elbow extensors (right: 51.9 Nm, SD = 16.2 vs 48.8 Nm, SD = 17.8, p = 0.4; left: 48.9 Nm, SD = 17.2, vs 44.7 Nm, SD = 15.1, p = 0.2) and knee extensors (right: 161.3 Nm, SD = 74.9 vs 145.5 Nm, SD = 75.8, p = 0.3; left: 155.2 Nm, SD = 73 vs 124.3 Nm, SD = 69.6, p = 0.07) strength were not statistically different between hypermobile and non-hypermobile participants.ConclusionThe findings indicate that male participants with GJH have less isometric muscle strength in both elbow extensors and right knee extensors compared to non-hypermobile male participants. Female hypermobile participants did not show any significant differences in muscle strength compared to non-hypermobile female participants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13102-016-0037-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.