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  3. Medical: Instruments

portance

16:01 Apr 3, 2010
This question was closed without grading. Reason: No acceptable answer

French to English translations [PRO]
Medical - Medical: Instruments / therapeutic mattresses
French term or phrase: portance
....pour obtenir un PORTANCE optimale du patient par le matelas afin de minimiser la pressiond'interface exercee par le matelas sur la peau du patient....

I know this term has come up before, but it has multiple meanings and I'm not sure what fits best in this context: bearing? lifting? I hesitate to use "support" because the source text also uses that term (dipositif de support, supporter le poids du patient, etc.).
John Speese
United States
Local time: 10:07


Summary of answers provided
4 +2weight distribution or pressure distribution
Debbie Tacium Ladry
4firmness
B D Finch


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
weight distribution or pressure distribution


Explanation:
I'm assuming this would be to avoid pressure sores.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2010-04-03 18:19:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"portance" actually means something quite different in engineering terms: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portance_(mécanique_des_fluides...
and it might be what the author is hinting at; if this is to reduce pressure sores, I think a different word or phrase should've been used in the original...

Debbie Tacium Ladry
Local time: 10:07
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: I think you're right, and prevention of bedsores is indeed what it's about, but they also say repartition de poids in this text, in other words there are a lot of synonyms or near-synonyms.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  david young: I think you're assuming right )
1 hr
  -> thank you david :-)
agree  Drmanu49
1 day 23 mins
  -> thank you Drmanu :-)
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18 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
firmness


Explanation:
As you say in your note to Debbie that "repartition de poids" is used elsewhere, I think that this may be what they are talking about.

"What conclusions can we draw from this study? The only information given about the mattress was the degree of firmness. Firm was compared with moderate-firm and the results indicated that in patients with chronic low back pain, moderate-firm mattresses are superior for alleviating symptoms. What we don’t know, is whether moderate mattresses are better, worse, or the same as moderate-firm mattresses. And we are likewise unsure about moderate-soft and soft mattresses. It is also not clear if we can generalize from patients with chronic low back pain to the public at large. Do people with chronic back pain have different characteristics in their backs that predispose them to responding better to a moderate-firm as opposed to a firm mattress? Would an asymptomatic person be better off on a firm mattress? While we can’t draw any firm (pardon the word-choice) conclusions, it does seem reasonable that people without back pain would also respond best to a moderate-firm as opposed to a firm mattress. It is reasonable that a patient with chronic low back pain has a sensitized back. So whereas the benefits of a moderate-firm mattress may not be as immediately apparent in a non-sensitized back, over time it does seem that the public at large without chronic low back pain would do best on a moderate-firm mattress."
http://www.mattresses-direct.co.uk/articles.html


B D Finch
France
Local time: 16:07
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
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