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Objective: To describe the pain profile of patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury., Methods: We enrolled 65 patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury. The Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire was used to classify pain and the SF-36 was used to evaluate quality of life., Results: The patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury were predominantly young male victims of motorcycle accidents. Pain was present in 75.4% of the individuals and 79% presented with neuropathic pain, mostly located in the hands (30.41%). The use of auxiliary devices (p = 0.05) and marital status (p = 0.03) were both independent predictors of pain. Pain also impacted negatively on the quality of life (p = 0.001)., Conclusions: Pain is frequent in patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury. Despite the peripheral nervous system injury, nociceptive pain is not unusual. Pain evaluation, including validated instruments, is essential to guide optimal clinical management of patients with the condition.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the quantitative results of functional and cognitive performance of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and disease severity; and to study the relationship between patients' functional and cognitive capacity and motor impairment (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale - UPDRS III)., Method: Twenty-nine subjects clinically diagnosed with PD were classified into three groups according to disease severity using the modified Hoehn and Yahr Scale (H&Y). They were submitted to functional (Senior Fitness Test) and neuropsychological tests. Stepwise regression analysis showed a significant association between H&Y and upper limb strength (r² =0.30; p=0.005) and executive function (r² =0.37; p=0.004). In relation to UPDRS III, there was a significant association between lower limb strength (r² =0.27; p=0.010) and global cognitive status (r² =0.24; p=0.024)., Conclusion: The implementation of simple tests of functional capacity associated with neuropsychological testing can help to assess disease severity and motor impairment, and can be used to monitor the response to treatment in PD.

Objective: To assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients with HTLV-I-associate myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and to correlate it with specific aspects of the disease., Methods: Fifty-seven HAM/TSP patients completed the SF-36 QoL questionnaire. They were also asked about common complaints related to the disease, and we looked for associations between QoL and these complaints., Results: Patients with HAM/TSP showed a strong negative association to QoL. Pain was the condition which most affected their QoL. The practice of physical activity is associated with better QoL in five out of eight domains of the scale., Conclusion: HAM/TSP leads to a poor QoL, mostly influenced by pain. Physical activity may have a positive association to QoL of these patients.