This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of remote physical exercise (PE) to prevent mobility loss among pre-disabled older adults during the COVID-19 lockdowns.Participants followed a 12-week PE remote program in Zoom© supervised groups (Web-Ex group, n=11) or phone-supervised individual booklet-based home-program (Booklet group, n=33).The total rate of adherence was 82.5% in the Web-Ex group and 85.8% in the Booklet group. The level of satisfaction was « a lot » for 60% of the participants in the Web-ex group and for 37.9% of those included in the Booklet group. Respectively 10% and 31% of the participants rated the difficulty as « low » in the web-ex and Booklet groups.Remote physical exercise using a web technology or booklets at home with regular and personalized follow-up during the lockdown was feasible and acceptable among pre-disabled seniors.

Introduction: The radiological and clinical follow-up of patients with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is often heterogeneous, as there is no official guideline for CT scan control. Furthermore, public sector health expenditure has increased significantly as the number of MRI and CT scan almost doubled in Canada in the last decade. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to describe the current management practices of mTBI patients with intracranial hemorrhage at two level-1 trauma centers. Methods: Design: An historical cohort was created at the CHU de Québec – Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus (Québec City) and Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur (Montréal). Consecutive medical records were reviewed from the end of 2017 backwards until sample saturation using a standardized checklist. Participants: mTBI patients aged ⩾16 with an ICH were included. Measures: The main and secondary outcomes were the presence of a control CT scan and neurosurgical consultation/admission. Analyses: Univariate descriptive analyses were performed. Inter-observer measures were calculated. Results: Two hundred seventy-four patients were included, of which 51.1% (n = 140) came from a transfer. Mean age was 60.8 and 68.9% (n = 188) were men. Repeat CT scan was performed in 73.6% (n = 201) of our patients as 12.5% showed a clinical deterioration. The following factors might have influenced clinician decision to proceed to a repeat scan: anticoagulation (association of 87.1% with scanning; n = 27), antiplatelet (84.1%; 58), GCS of 13 (94.1%; 16), GCS of 14 (75%; 72) and GCS of 15 (70.2%; 111). 93.0% (n = 254) of patients had a neurosurgical consultation and only 6.7% (17) underwent a neurosurgical intervention. Conclusion: The management of mild traumatic brain injury with hemorrhage uses a lot of resources that might be disproportionate with regards to risks. Further research to identify predictive factors of deterioration is needed.

Objectives To assess whether remote physical exercise interventions helped maintain function in daily life, level of physical activities, basic mobility and frailty status in pre-disabled seniors during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Design This is an interventional study conducted from May 2020 to May 2021. Setting Community-dwelling older adults in 2 Canadian cities. Participants 84 pre-disabled seniors. Intervention 12-week physical exercise programs (1 hour/ 3 times/ week) in kinesiologist-guided groups using Zoom or phone-supervised individual booklet-based home-program (n=44) vs. Control (usual life habits; n=40). Measurements Functional status in daily activities (OARS scale); Daily level of aerobic (TAPA-1) and strengthening/flexibility (TAPA-2) physical activities; Basic mobility abilities (SPPB: balance, lower limbs strength, walking speed; Timed Up-and-Go) and Frailty (SOF index) were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, 9 and 12-month follow-ups. Results The participants’ mean age was 78.5 ± 7.2 and 76.5 % were women. There was a group * time effect for the OARS scale (p=0.02), the TAPA-1 (p=0.06) and the TAPA-2 (p=0.007) scores. For these outcomes, scores significantly improved during the first 3 months of follow-up and then stabilised in the intervention group whereas they remained constant in the control group over time. There was an overall time effect for the SPPB (p=0.004), the 4-m walking speed (p=0.02) and for the SOF index (p=0.004), with no between-group differences. Finally, no effect was observed for the TUG. Conclusion Remote home-based physical exercise interventions and monitoring during the first Covid-19 lockdown seemed to have helped maintain seniors’ level of physical activities without impacting on basic mobility abilities. Further studies are needed to identify parameters of remote exercise programs that can improve daily function and mobility in this population. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s12603-023-1914-1.

Context: Minor thoracic injury causes non-negligible pain that could reduce the cough capacity and can cause infectious problems and atelectasis. Objectives: To describe the association between atelectasis and cough capacity, and to assess the concordance of cough capacity perceptions between health professionals and the patient. Design:The data were collected from 2006 to 2012 in 4 Canadian emergency departments (ED). Participants: Patients with a chief complaint of minor thoracic injury, ≥ 16 years old, discharged home from the ED after an evaluation by the attending physician, were included. They have three visits, at the ED, 7-day and 14-day follow-up. The initial ED visit included medical evaluation, data collection and mandatory chest and rib radiography. Main outcome measures: The presence of atelectasis was noted at the initial ED and subsequent visits.Participants cough capacity was noted by a physician, a nurse and the patients himself at subsequentvisits and classified as good, diminished, weak /absent.Results: Among the 1474 patients, 8.89% (95% CI: 7.55 - 10.47), 7.33% (95% CI: 6.04 – 8.89) and 4.63% (95% CI: 3.51 – 6.09) had atelectasis at the initial visit, 7-day and 14-day follow-up visit respectively. Except for patients with weak or absent cough capacity at the 7-day visit, which had a 2.89 (95%CI: 2.05 – 4.05) folds atelectasis proportion relative to those with a good cough capacity, they were no associations between cough capacity and atelectasis. The weighted kappa coefficient suggests a moderate to substantial agreement between the cough capacity measured by patients and nurses (0.52 to 0.65).Conclusion: There was not strong evidence of an association between atelectasis and cough capacity and the best agreement between cough capacity perception was between nurses and patients.

Objectives 1) To characterize mild, moderate, and severe fear of falling in older emergency department (ED) patients for minor injuries, and 2) to assess whether fear of falling could predict falls and returns to the ED within 6 months of the initial ED visit. Methods This study was part of the Canadian Emergency and Trauma Initiative (CETI) prospective cohort (2011–2016). Patients ages ≥ 65, who were independent in their basic daily activities and who were discharged from the ED after consulting for a minor injury, were included. Fear of falling was measured by the Short Falls Efficacy Scale International (SFES-I) in order to stratify fear of falling as mild (SFES-I = 7-8/28), moderate (SFES-I = 9-13/28), or severe (SFES-I = 14-28/28). Many other physical and psychological characteristics where collected. Research assistants conducted follow-up phone interviews at 3 and 6 months’ post-ED visit, in which patients were asked to report returns to the ED. Results A total of 2,899 patients were enrolled and 2,009 had complete data at 6 months. Patients with moderate to severe fear of falling were more likely to be of ages ≥ 75, female, frailer with multiple comorbidities, and decreased mobility. Higher baseline fear of falling increased the risk of falling at 3 and 6 months (odds ratio [OR]-moderate-fear of falling: 1.63, p < 0.05, OR-severe-fear of falling 2.37, p < 0.05). Fear of falling positive predictive values for return to the ED or future falls were 7.7% to 17%. Conclusion Although a high fear of falling is associated with increased risk of falling within 6 months of a minor injury in older patients, fear of falling considered alone was not shown to be a strong predictor of return to the ED and future falls.