Jan Sture Skouen

Haukeland University Hospital · Clinic of Habilitation and Rehabilitation

Objective: Many patients suffer from concurrent neck pain and dizziness. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical symptoms and physical findings in patients with concurrent neck pain and dizziness and to examine whether they differ from patients with dizziness alone. Methods: Consecutive patients with dizziness and neck pain were recru...

Background: It is theorized that neck pain may cause reduced postural control due to the known physiological connection between the receptors in the cervical spine and the vestibular system. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the pressure pain threshold in the neck is associated with postural sway in patients with dizziness or neck p...

Objective To assess the efficacy of three months of antibiotic treatment compared with placebo in patients with chronic low back pain, previous disc herniation, and vertebral endplate changes (Modic changes). Design Double blind, parallel group, placebo controlled, multicentre trial. Setting Hospital outpatient clinics at six hospitals in Norway....

We thank for the opportunity to respond to Fernandez et al. concerns that readers may have been misguided about the reasonable likelihood of a “false positive” result from the 3‐year follow‐up of our trial (Vibe Fersum et al., 2019). While we agree, and had highlighted in the manuscript, that there is risk of bias of the 3‐year treatment effect due...

Objective: To predict psychological distress at 2 months for patients with mild traumatic brain injury. Method: A prospective cohort study of 162 patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) admitted consecutively to an outpatient clinic at Haukeland University Hospital, Norway. Demographic data were obtained from Statistics Norway and injury c...

Fysioterapeuter ved Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL) og Universitetet i Bergen (UiB) har inngått et spennende samarbeid med Institutt for Data- og realfag (HVL) for å utvikle virtuelle miljø til undersøkelse og rehabilitering. I løpet av de siste tre årene er flere pilotprosjekt blitt satt i gang, hvor nytteverdien av ulike virtuelle miljø for bl.a. p...

Objectives A tool for measuring neck pain in patients with dizziness is needed to further investigate the relationship between the two symptoms. The objective of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a hand‐held pressure algometer in measuring pressure pain threshold (PPT) in different cervical regions of dizzy patients. Method...

Background Previous systematic reviews have reported positive associations between Modic changes (MCs) and low back pain (LBP), but due to their narrow scope and new primary studies, there is a need for a comprehensive systematic review. Our objectives were to investigate if MCs are associated with non-specific LBP and/or activity limitation and if...

Data extraction and risk of bias assessment. (XLSX)

Protocol registered at PROSPERO. (PDF)

Full search strategy. (DOCX)

Articles excluded in full text assessment. (DOCX)

The cervical spine has a highly developed proprioceptive system and it is theorized that dizziness and reduced balance can occur due to neck pain.1,2 A connection between neck pain, dizziness and balance has not been established. The aim of this study is to examine 1) the relationship between pressure pain threshold in upper and lower neck and ba...

Background: A previous randomised controlled trial (RCT) of patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) and vertebral bone marrow (Modic) changes (MCs) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), reported that a 3-month, high-dose course of antibiotics had a better effect than placebo at 12 months' follow-up. The present study examines the effects of antib...

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of upper extremity virtual reality rehabilitation training (VR) to time-matched conventional training (CT) in the subacute phase after stroke. Methods: In this randomized, controlled, single-blind phase III multicenter trial, 120 participants with upper extremity motor impairment within 12 weeks after stro...

Objectives: To investigate to which degree stroke severity, disability, and physical function the first week post-stroke are associated with preferred walking speed (PWS) at 6 months. Design: Longitudinal observational study. Method: Participants were recruited from a stroke unit and tested within the first week (baseline) and at 6 months post...

Background Context Lumbar total disc replacement (TDR) is a treatment option for selected patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) that is non-responsive to conservative treatment. The long-term results of disc replacement compared with multidisciplinary rehabilitation (MDR) have not been reported previously. Purpose We aimed to assess the long-t...

Objectives: Cerebrovascular stroke is a main cause of lasting disability in older age, and initial stroke severity has been established as a main determinant for the degree of functional loss. In this study, we searched for other predictors of functional outcome in a cohort of stroke patients participating in an early supported discharge randomise...

The aim of this study was to explore employees’ and supervisors’ experiences with a brief functional evaluation for employees with musculoskeletal disorders on short-term sick leave or working despite complaints. Health-care workers in Bergen municipality, Norway, underwent a functional evaluation in 2012–2013. Four weeks later, they returned a sho...

More knowledge is needed about how different rehabilitation models in the municipality influence stroke survivors' ability in activities of daily living (ADL). To compare three models of outpatient rehabilitation; early supported discharge (ESD) in a day unit, ESD at home and traditional treatment in the municipality (control group), regarding chan...

For mild-to-moderate stroke survivors, early supported discharge from hospital, followed by home rehabilitation is preferred over conventional care. How this mode of service contributes to recovery from stroke survivors' perspective needs further investigation. The aim of this study was to explore mild-to-moderate stroke survivors' experiences with...

The aim of this study was to describe self-reported and physically tested function in health care workers with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and to examine how function was associated with work participation. A cross-sectional study was conducted. 250 health care workers attended an evaluation where self-reported and physical function were measu...

Background: Novel virtual reality rehabilitation systems provide the potential to increase intensity and offer challenging and motivating tasks. The efficacy of virtual reality systems to improve arm motor function early after stroke has not been demonstrated yet in sufficiently powered studies. The objective of the study is to investigate whether...

Objective: This study sought to identify potential differing clinical characteristics between patients with a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) who attended a planned follow-up session and not. This study investigated whether clinical characteristics and attendance for a planned follow-up service 2-months after injury could be related to return-t...

To compare the effects on balance and walking of three models of stroke rehabilitation: early supported discharge with rehabilitation in a day unit or at home, and traditional uncoordinated treatment (control). Group comparison study within a randomised controlled trial. Hospital stroke unit and primary healthcare. Inclusion criteria: a score of 2-...

Abstract is missing (Letter).

. Action observation has been suggested as a possible gateway to retraining arm motor function post stroke. However, it is unclear if the neuronal response to action observation is affected by stroke and if it changes during the course of recovery. . To examine longitudinal changes in neuronal activity in a group of patients with subacute stroke wh...

Background: Non-specific chronic low back pain disorders have been proven resistant to change, and there is still a lack of clear evidence for one specific treatment intervention being superior to another. Methods: This randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate the efficacy of a behavioural approach to management, classification-based cognit...

Objective: This study sought to explore whether subgroups of patients with mild TBI could be identified by their symptom profile according to cluster analysis. We also investigated whether these clusters are uniquely associated with structural brain damage as well as their relationship to anxiety and depression, other health complaints, functioning...

Schematic overview of the four different components of the CB-CFT treatment.

Displays an overview of the randomized subjects (n = 121) and how they spread out in the different categories.

Displays an overview of the multidimensional classification system. This system is guided by a clinical reasoning process that considers the presence and dominance of different factors, allowing for patient-centred targeted intervention.

There is significant evidence to suggest that psychological and stress-related factors are important predictors of the onset of chronic widespread pain (CWP) and fibromyalgia (FM). The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, together with the efferent sympathetic/adrenomedullary system, influence all body organs (including muscles) during short- and l...

A prospective study to evaluate whether certain baseline characteristics can predict outcome in patients treated with disc prosthesis or multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Secondary analysis of 154 patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) for at least 1 year and degenerative discs originally recruited for a randomized trial. Outcome measures were O...

ABSTRACT – This article reports the case of a man who developed a pure motor paraplegia following epidural anesthesia with a pattern of slow recovery over subsequent months. Reviewing the available literature on post-epidural paraplegia we noted a number of potential etiologies and analyzed their role in its causation. On the basis of this analysis...

There is a lack of studies examining whether mechanism-based classification systems (CS) acknowledging biological, psychological and social dimensions of long-lasting low back pain (LBP) disorders can be performed in a reliable manner. The purpose of this paper was to examine the inter-tester reliability of clinicians' ability to independently clas...

Former studies have questioned the effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation for working-age adults with musculoskeletal pain problems. The lack of analysis within subgroups may explain why an effect of treatment of long-term musculoskeletal pain was not documented in former studies. In this ar- ticle three later studies on long-term muscul...

The importance of classifying chronic low back pain (LBP) patients into homogeneous sub-groups has recently been emphasized. This paper reports on two studies examining clinicians ability to agree independently on patients' chronic LBP classification, using a novel classification system (CS) proposed by O'Sullivan. In the first study, a sub-group o...

A subgroup of 195 patients with chronic low back pain, being part of a larger study of other musculoskeletal patients, were included in a randomized controlled prospective clinical study. To evaluate the outcome in terms of return to work and cost-effectiveness of a light multidisciplinary treatment program with an extensive multidisciplinary progr...

The purpose of the study was to evaluate possible relationships between physical findings, as measured with the Global Physiotherapeutic Examination (GPE-78), and psychological characteristics, as measured with the revised Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), in three groups of patients with long-lasting musculoskeletal pain. A tot...

Measurement of changes in cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of nerve tissue markers, total proteins, and immunoglobulin after compression of nerve root or application of nucleus pulposus in a pig model. To assess whether compression or application of nucleus pulposus to spinal nerve roots may cause increased levels of cerebrospinal fluid markers o...

Low back pain patients (n=142) on sick leave for at least 8 weeks were given a multi-modal cognitive behavioural treatment program (MMCBT) that lasted for 4 weeks. Before treatment, all patients were tested with a comprehensive test battery. The outcome at 12-month follow-up was predictable from the pretest, but only when combining medical and psyc...

We studied 180 adult patients admitted to the Neurological Department, Haukeland Hospital in Bergen, Norway, for a period of 5 years from 1984 to 1988. One hundred fifty-seven patients were followed up 3.9-9.0 years after admittance to the Neurological Department. The purpose of this study was to find out if the total cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) prot...

In a randomized controlled study multimodal cognitive behavioral treatment (MMCBT), including physical treatment, cognitive behavioral modification, education, and examination of the work situation for each patient, was given to patients sick-listed for musculoskeletal pain (n = 469). Patients were recruited through the National Insurance System. A...

We studied 180 adult patients admitted to the Neurological Department, Haukeland Hospital in Bergen, Norway, for a period of 5 years from 1984 to 1988. One hundred fifty-seven patients were followed up 3.9-9.0 years after admittance to the Neurological Department. The purpose of this study was to find out if the total cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) prot...

We have tested a method to evaluate leakage of i.v. injected contrast media (CM) through the 3 partitions between blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in controls and in patients with acute cerebrovascular disease (ACBVD) to detect differences between normal brains and brains with ischemic lesions. High-osmolar (HOCM) and low-osmolar (LOCM) CM were...

We have tested a method to evaluate leakage of i.v. injected contrast media (CM) through the 3 partitions between blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in controls and in patients with acute cerebrovascular disease (ACBVD) to detect differences between normal brains and brains with ischemic lesions. High-osmolar (HOCM) and low-osmolar (LOCM) CM were...

The protein concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is often increased in patients with sciatica, probably due to leaking of plasma proteins through the blood-nerve root barrier into CSF. Positive straight leg raising test, paresis, altered sensibility, reduced reflexes, and type of treatment were related to the CSF protein concentrations in...

We carried out a study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteins in 180 patients with sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation to elucidate further the degree and mechanisms of protein elevations. The 63 controls were patients with tension headache or migraine without aura. The CSF/serum albumin ratios were higher in the patients (mean 8.84, SD 5.16)...

Patients with sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation were studied to identify biochemical changes in the cerebrospinal fluid related to myelographic findings and clinical observations. One hundred forty-three patients were evaluated by myelography with regard to involvement of the dural sac and the nerve root. A medial group (20 patients) with e...

Waiting for treatment usually contributes to patients' psychological and financial problems. In this study we calculate and discuss the economic implications of these patients being on a waiting list for treatment. Our calculations show that the income lost in economic production is higher than the cost of treating patients with degenerative low ba...

This article reports the case of a man who developed a pure motor paraplegia following epidural anesthesia with a pattern of slow recovery over subsequent months. Reviewing the available literature on post-epidural paraplegia we noted a number of potential etiologies and analyzed their role in its causation. On the basis of this analysis we have id...