David Beckwée

Vrije Universiteit Brussel | VUB · Rehabilitation Research group

Objectives To investigate the relationship between offset analgesia magnitude and the responsiveness to conditioned pain modulation (CPM), temporal summation of (second) pain (TSP), and clinical pain severity in people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods Electrical stimuli were applied to 88 participants with KOA to measure offset analgesia at...

Background/Objectives: To investigate if intra-articular biomarkers relate to peripheral and central sensitization in patients with late-stage knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: A total of 17 (6M, 11F) patients (aged 69 ± 10 years) were assessed for peripheral (pressure pain thresholds (PPT)) and central (temporal summation (TS) and conditioned pa...

Introduction Pain is a prevalent side-effect seen in breast cancer survivors (BCS). Psychological factors are known role-players in pain mechanisms. Both pain and psychological factors contribute to or interact with healthcare use (HCU). However, the association between psychological factors and HCU has never been investigated in BCS with pain, whi...

Introduction: Hip microinstability has become a recognized cause of non-arthritic hip pain and disability in young patients. However, its pathophysiology remains unclear. We want to (1) present an overview of the evidence of hip microinstability and of its association with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), (2) map out the type of evidence availab...

Purpose: This review assesses the effect of electrotherapy (e.g. functional electrical stimulation (FES), motor and sensor therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES)) on muscle strength and skeletal muscle characteristics in individuals post-stroke compared to conventional or sham therapy. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDL...

The global aging population faces significant health challenges, including an increasing vulnerability to disability due to natural aging processes. Wearable lower limb exoskeletons (LLEs) have emerged as a promising solution to enhance physical function in older individuals. This systematic review synthesizes the use of LLEs in alignment with the...

Introduction Hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) are increasingly common with a significant impact on individuals and society. Non-pharmacological treatments are considered essential to reduce pain and improve function and quality of life. EULAR recommendations for the non-pharmacological core management of hip and knee OA were published in 2013. Give...

Introduction Muscle strengthening training (MST) and behavioural graded activity (BGA) show comparable effects on knee osteoarthritic (KOA) pain, but the mechanisms of action remain unclear. Both exercise-induced anti-inflammation and central sensitisation are promising pathways for pain relief in response to exercise therapy in patients with KOA:...

Background Vitality capacity (VC) is a key domain of intrinsic capacity (IC) and is the underlying biophysiological aspect of IC. Energy and metabolism (E&M) is one of the domains of VC. Fatigue is one of the main characteristics of E&M. Objective The aims of this umbrella review are (i) to identify the available instruments suitable for measuring...

The integration of Deep Learning (DL) models with the HoloLens2 Augmented Reality (AR) headset has enormous potential for real-time AR medical applications. Currently, most applications execute the models on an external server that communicates with the headset via Wi-Fi. This client-server architecture introduces undesirable delays and lacks relia...

Background: The increasing prevalence of knee osteoarthritis and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) impose a significant socioeconomic burden in developed and developing countries. Prehabilitation (rehabilitation in the weeks immediately before surgery) may be crucial to prepare patients for surgery improving outcomes and reducing assistance costs. Mor...

Background Long COVID is suggested to be present in 14 to 43% of COVID 19-survivors. Literature on this new condition states a need for a multidisciplinary approach including physical exercise and nutrition. The aim of the current pilot study is to investigate the feasibility of the proposed protocol to prepare for a randomized controlled study tha...

Purpose The world population is ageing rapidly because of longer life expectancy and shrinking fertility rates. Not all older adults age in a healthy way. Evidence-based estimates indicate that 35-40% of the older adults are in a frail or prefrail state. Multi-component physical activity (PA) programs have shown to be effective to tackle frailty. H...

Fatigue and pain are the most common side effects impacting quality of life (QoL) in cancer survivors. Recent insights have shown that perceived injustice (PI) can play a substantial role in these side effects, but research on cancer survivors is scarce. Furthermore, guidelines for recognizing clinically relevant levels of PI in cancer survivors ar...

Introduction: Fatigue resistance (FR) can be assessed as the time during which grip strength (GS) drops to 50% of its maximum during a sustained maximal voluntary contraction. For the first time, we compared force-time characteristics during FR test between two different handgrip systems and investigated age- and clinical-related differences in or...

The implementation of technology in healthcare shows promising results and provides new opportunities in rehabilitation. However, the adoption of technology into daily care is largely dependent on the acceptance rate of end-users. This study aims to gather information from healthcare professionals on the development of new assistive technology that...

Background: Perceived injustice (PI) is a multidimensional appraisal cognition comprising the severity of loss consequent to injury, blame, a sense of unfairness, and/or irreparability of loss. PI gained increasing interest in pain research since it potentially contributes to the experience and burden of (chronic) pain. Objectives: This systemat...

Purpose This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the effectiveness of psychologically informed practice (PIP) with behavioural graded activity (BGA) compared to (1) waitlist controls (WLC), (2) other interventions (OI), (3) PIP alone or (4) BGA alone in cancer patients and survivors (CPaS). Methods PubMed, Web of Science and Emb...

We compared changes in spatiotemporal gait parameters of 11 healthy older adults (mean age: 88.6 years) over 3 conditions of walking with the Honda Walking Assist (HWA), a hip-assistive exoskeleton. Differences in 14 gait parameters between (1) normal overground walking, (2) walking with a nonassisting HWA, and (3) optimally assisting HWA were anal...

Background: In the pathogenesis of knee osteoarthritis (KOA), inflammatory mediators play an important role. However, the precise underlying mechanism by which regular exercise therapy (ET) exert effects on the immune system in KOA patients is unknown. Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the basal and acute effects o...

Background Long COVID is suggested to be present in 14 to 43% of COVID 19-survivors. Literature on this new condition states a need for a multidisciplinary approach including physical exercise and nutrition. The aim of the current UNLOCK study is to investigate the feasibility of the proposed protocol to prepare for a randomized controlled study th...

Background A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the importance of implementing movement-evoked pain in conventional pain assessments, with a significant role for psychological factors being suggested. Whether or not to include these factors in the assessment of movement-evoked pain has not yet been determined. Objectives The aim of this sys...

Background During hospitalization older people have a high risk of developing functional impairments unrelated to the reasons for their admission. This is termed hospital-associated disability. This systematic review aimed to assess the incidence of hospital-associated disability among older patients admitted to acute care, to identify the tools us...

Background: Rehabilitation is important in the first months after a stroke for recovery of functional ability, but it is also challenging, since distinct recovery trajectories are seen. Therefore, studying the early changes in muscle characteristics over time (e.g. muscle strength, muscle mass and muscle volume), which are known to be associated w...

Objective: To estimate the effects of musculoskeletal rehabilitation interventions on movement-evoked pain and to explore the methods/protocols used to evaluate movement-evoked pain in adults with musculoskeletal pain. Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis. Literature search: Three electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopu...

Purpose: Neuromuscular training (NMT) is effective at reducing football injuries. The purpose of this study was to document the use of NMT to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injuries and lateral ankle sprains in adult amateur football and to identify barriers for using NMT. Methods: A preseason and in-season online survey was completed by pla...

Objective Multidimensional aspects of pain have raised awareness about cognitive appraisals, such as perceived injustice (PI) and pain catastrophizing (PC). It has been demonstrated that they play an important role in patients’ pain experience. However, the mediating effect of these appraisals has not been investigated in breast cancer survivors (B...

This review discusses chronic pain, multiple modifiable lifestyle factors, such as stress, insomnia, diet, obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity, and the relationship between these lifestyle factors and pain after cancer. Chronic pain is known to be a common consequence of cancer treatments, which considerably impacts cancer s...

Background Soccer is one of the highest risk sports for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. These injuries have serious long-term consequences and cause substantial socio-economic costs. The preventive effect of an exercise program is highly dependent on its components and the level of compliance. In Belgium, it is unknown whether non-elite...

Objective: Guidelines regarding physical therapy for COVID-19 patients are often based on expert opinion. Recent clinical trials have reported effects on several rehabilitation outcomes in COVID-19 patients. This review summarizes the effects of physical therapy in COVID-19 patients. Data sources: PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were...

Background The importance of cognitive appraisals in the effectiveness of pain coping is well established. Two key variables in these appraisal processes are pain catastrophizing (PC) and perceived injustice (PI), which are known to increase the risk of long-term disability and aggravate the pain-related distress through maladaptive behavioral resp...

A human motion capture system using an RGB-D camera could be a good option to understand the trunk limitations in spondyloarthritis. The aim of this study is to validate a human motion capture system using an RGB-D camera to analyse trunk movement limitations in spondyloarthritis patients. Cross-sectional study was performed where spondyloarthritis...

This study aimed to determine deficits in knee-extensor muscle function through the torque-time and torque-velocity relationships and whether these deficits are associated with reduced functional performance in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). A clinical sample of postmenopausal women with established KOA (n=18, ≥55 years) was c...

Background: The presence of pain decreases survival rates in cancer. Pain management in clinical settings is often suboptimal and secondary to other cancer-related treatments, leaving many people undertreated. Opioid use is associated with side effects and decreased survival rate in cancer patients. Hence, there is an urgent need for considering f...

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows: 1) To determine the effectiveness of virtual reality interventions compared with alternative or no intervention in people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) on: gait and balance function, 2) To determine the effectiveness of virtual reality interventions compared with...

PurposeIn 2018, the SARCUS working group published a first article on the standardization of the use of ultrasound to assess muscle. Recommendations were made for patient positioning, system settings and components to be measured. Also, shortcomings in knowledge were mentioned. An important issue that still required standardization was the definiti...

There is an increasing incidence, prevalence, and burden of knee osteoarthritis due to a global increase in obesity and an aging population. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of the addition of aerobic exercises performed in an unloaded or loaded position to a conventional exercise program in overweight subjects with kne...

Low back pain (LBP) can lead to motor control disturbance which can be one of the causes of reoccurrence of the complaint. It is important to improve our knowledge of movement related disturbances during assessment in LBP and to classify patients according to the severity. The aim of this study is to present differences in kinematic variables using...

Pain conditions are among the leading causes of global disability, impacting on global healthcare utilization (HCU). Health seeking behavior might be influenced by cognitive and emotional factors (CEF), which can be tackled by specific therapies. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the evidence concerning associations between CEF...

Ageing is characterized by a low-grade chronic inflammation marked by elevated circulating levels of inflammatory mediators. This chronic inflammation occurring in the absence of obvious infection has been coined as inflammageing and represents a risk factor for morbidity and mortality in the geriatric population. Also, with ageing, important pertu...

In stroke rehabilitation there is a growing body of evidence that not all patients have the same potential to recover. Understanding the processes that give rise to the heterogeneous treatment responses in stroke survivors will lay foundations for any conceivable advance in future rehabilitation interventions. This review was set out to shine new l...

Three promising directions for improving care for osteoarthritis (OA) include novel education strategies to target unhelpful illness and treatment beliefs; methods to enhance the efficacy of exercise interventions; and innovative, brain-directed treatments. Here we explain that each of those three promising directions can be combined through a para...

Context: Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalized skeletal muscle disorder associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes such as falls, disability, and death. The Belgian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics has developed evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. This umbrella review presents the results...

Background Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide. The therapeutic management of patients with chronic LBP is challenging. Objectives The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of heat and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) combined on pain relief in participants with chronic LBP. Methods Fifty part...

Background Fatigue resistance (FR) was here defined as the time during which grip strength (GS) drops to 50% of its maximum during sustained contraction. Since different GS systems exist, we compared FR obtained with Pneumatic (Pneu) and Hydraulic (Hydr) handgrip systems. Hand pain induced by both systems was also investigated since this might infl...

Background: The RGB-D camera is an alternative to asses kinematics in order to obtain objective measurements of functional limitations. The aim of this study is to analyze the validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the motion capture depth camera in sub-acute and chronic low back pain patients. Methods: Thirty subjects (18-65 years) with n...

Background Breast cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among women worldwide, with rising incidence numbers. In Belgium, one out of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, 80% of those breast cancer patients will still be alive 10 years after diagnosis due to improvements in screening and treatment strategi...

The predictive value of the multiple hop test for first-time noncontact lateral ankle sprains. Background: Lateral ankle sprains (LAS) are very common sports injuries, cause high health care costs and are associated with postural control deficits. From a preventive point of view, clinicians should dispose valid field tests to identify athletes at...

Study design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Background: Quantitative mechanical sensory testing (QST) assesses sensory functioning and detects functional changes in (central) nociceptive processing. In the current low back pain literature it has been hypothesized that these functional changes might be apparent in people with non-specific...

Spatiotemporal gait analysis can provide quantitative information to assess treatment outcomes in stroke survivors. Therefore, clinicians need a portable, easy-to-use and low-cost tool, which accurately and reliably measures spatiotemporal gait parameters. This study examined the concurrent validity and reproducibility of the Gait Up© gait analysis...

Objectives The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the efficacy of different exercise interventions to counter sarcopenia in older adults. This review will allow the Belgian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics and other scientific societies to formulate specific exercise recommendations in their Clinical Guidelines for Sarc...

Background: Clinical decision making (CDM) is recognized as an important component of professional development, but many healthcare students experience difficulties with it. Teaching methods to develop this skill are under-researched and little structure exists to guide students and clinicians through this complex process. Purpose: We aimed to set...

Purpose Measurement of muscle mass is paramount in the screening and diagnosis of sarcopenia. Besides muscle quantity however, also quality assessment is important. Ultrasonography (US) has the advantage over dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and bio-impedance analysis (BIA) to give both quantitative and qualitative information on muscle. How...

Patient empowerment, a concept focused on patient-centeredness and patients autonomy, is a well-discussed topic in health literature. However, translating theory into practice is a challenge. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of interventions on patient empowerment and to identify and compare the modalities of these interven...

Introduction The differentiation between acute and chronic pain can be insufficient for an appropriate pain management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of the predominant pain type (nociceptive, neuropathic or central sensitization pain) in breast cancer survivors (BCS) with chronic pain. The secondary aims were to examine 1) d...

Background: To date, the accuracy of bio-impedance (BIA) to assess body composition & sarcopenia in persons aged 80 and over remains unclear. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the agreement between dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and BIA equations to determine lean mass, as well as their suitability to identify sarcopenia. Design: 174 com...

Background: Sarcopenia, defined as the pathological decline in muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance with aging, has become one of the geriatric giants because of its increasing prevalence and devastating health effects. The Belgian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (BSGG) is currently developing evidence-based guidelines for t...

Patient empowerment, a concept focused on patient-centeredness and patients autonomy, is a well-discussed topic in health literature. However, translating theory into practice is a challenge. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of interventions on patient empowerment and to identify and compare the modalities of these interven...

Background: Breast cancer remains the number 1 lethal malignancy in women. With rising incidence and decreased mortality, the number of breast cancer survivors has increased. Consequently, sequelae, such as pain, are becoming more important. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for the development of pain in breast can...

Background Although aromatase inhibitors have proven to be an effective treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women, aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia (AIA) is an adverse event associated with low compliance with treatment. The aim of this literature study is to assess the prevalence of AIA and to provide an ov...

Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) has proven to be effective for postsurgical pain relief. However, there is a lack of well-constructed clinical trials investigating the effect of TENS after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). In addition, previous investigations reported that low- and high-frequency TENSs produced analgesic tolerance aft...

Background: Although an orthotic device of the lower limb improves the functionality of neurological patients, anecdotally clinical experience suggests that the compliance is rather limited. Objectives: The aim was to determine the satisfaction and acceptance of a lower limb orthotic device. Study design: A qualitative observational pilot study wit...

Introduction: Frailty is one of the most important concerns regarding our aging population. Evidence grows that the syndrome is linked to several important health outcomes. A general overview of frailty concepts and a comprehensive meta-analysis of their relation with negative health outcomes still lacks in literature, making it difficult for heal...

Relevance: Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Exercise programmes, defined as structured physical activity, are primarily put forward to counter clear-cut negative health outcomes (balance, muscle mass, pain, etc.) in specific diseases. Both exercise and physical activity programmes aim to increase health but their...