Constructing a valid rehabilitation of disorders of consciousness : The clues obtained from a meta-analysis of the misdiagnosis rate

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  • 意識障害における有効なリハビリテーション方法の構築 : 誤診率のメタ分析を手がかりとして

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Abstract

Recently, evidence from a large number of studies that evaluated the effects of caring for patients with higher brain dysfunction has accumulated. However, few studies have so far demonstrated the effects of medical caring for patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), which is characterized by a lack of awareness of self or the environment. Of these disorders, the vegetative state (VS) is considered to be the representative. With this background, we performed for the first time, a meta-analysis of the data from the previous paper which demonstrated a high rate of misdiagnosis of a VS. As a result, these findings indicated the the importance of caring for such patients. Accordingly, new methods to quantify the type of care needed for such patients still needs to be established. To achieve this goal, we then suggest that a preliminary verification method should be established in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation program, not of general medical care itself. Our suggestion that the development of a method which utilizes neural plasticity may allow us to correctly assess the effects of rehabilitation, making it possible to establish effective rehabilitation programs for patients with DOC, while also developing systematic methods of patient care in such programs

Journal

  • Bioethics

    Bioethics 19 (1), 13-20, 2009

    Japan Association for Bioethics

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