Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

The Role Of Balance And Neck Strength In Youth Concussion, Chris Koch, Jenny Neudorfer, Peter Heuberger, Tel Winegar, Calvin Lee, Jarrett Fegel

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

Concussion: A concussion is a trauma-induced alteration in mental status that may or may not involve loss of consciousness; this can include a direct blow to the head or a blow to the body resulting in the head and brain moving quickly back and forth (1).

Current Screen: Current concussion screen consists of: symptom checklist, cognitive assessment known as Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT), and Balance Errors Scoring System (BESS) (2).

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine an assessment to screen an individual’s risk of sustaining a sport-related concussion.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized the SCAT 4, BESS, Four …

Are Preseason Functional And Biomechanical Measures Associated With Lower Quadrant Injury Risk In Division Iii Athletes?, Natalie Ellis, Jordan Petersen, Jordon Reyes, Victor Wilson, Cj Zita

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

A recent trend in sports medicine research is to determine risk of injury during sport based on preseason functional performance test (FPT) measures.

Equivocal findings associated with prior studies may leave PTs with uncertainty as to which FPT, or combination of FPTs, can best identify athletes who have a greater risk for injury.

Previous studies have utilized "low-tech" FPT measures: standing long jump (SLJ), single-leg hop (SLH), lower extremity functional test (LEFT), and the Y-balance test (YBT) (1,3,4).

These "low-tech" options may not be able to identify potential deficits that could be collected with "high-tech" measures (e.g., DVJ measures collected …

Developing An Auditory And Visual Cross-Modal Continuous Performance Task For Evaluating Concussion, Chris Koch, Taylor Charbonnier, Kristin Dissinger, Steven Egeberg, Matthew Johnson, Lindsey Levanen, Matthew Scott

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

Neurocognitive tests like the SCAT3 and ImPACT have become standard concussion assessment tools. Although these tests have adequate sensitivity, specificity, and reliability, they are unimodal in nature. Consequently, the tests do not fully assess the range of processing that can be affected by concussion (Thompson, 2012). Therefore, we developed a cross-modal continuous performance task to examine cognitive processing post-concussion. Forty-three middle school school lacrosse players, college students, and physical therapy graduate students participated in the study. Twelve of these participants had been previously diagnosed with a concussion. Participants completed a symptom checklist from SCAT3 along with other demographic information (e.g., …

Stroke Survivor And Physical Therapist Perceptions Of Community-Based Exercise In Northwest Oregon: A Qualitative Pilot Study, Angela Grenier, Megan Hofstede, Matthew Hornback, Sara Mason, Breanne Myers, David Sjelin, Cindy Zablotny

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

Upon discharge from formal rehabilitation programs, individuals with chronic stroke are often constrained by physical limitations, leading to a diminished quality of life, participation restrictions, and an increased risk of further disability. (Rose et al, 2013) Community-based exercise (CBE) programs specific to individuals post-stroke may offer a mechanism to ameliorate these sequelae. (Pang et al, 2005) Current evidence supports the efficacy of CBEs in improving health-related outcomes, quality of life, and social participation post-stroke. (Lau et al, 2016)

The aim of this region-specific study is to explore current physical therapy practice in educating and preparing stroke survivors for CBE, from …

Influence Of 4-Week Exercise Program On Clinical And Biomechanical Measures Of Foot Function, Lacey Seidl, Josh Keefer, Miranda Walker, Austin Montgomery, Jeff Houck

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

The significance of foot muscle function associated with flat feet is unclear. It is reported that flat feet have significantly decreased lateral forefoot pressure during ambulation with increased midfoot contact area and increased pressure under the big toe. There are passive mechanisms in the foot that support the arch during static standing, but cannot produce energy for dynamic activity. The two most plausible explanations for energy generation of the midfoot for dynamic activity are muscle contributions or recoil of stretched soft tissue (i.e. plantar fascia and other ligaments) or a combination. No studies to date evaluate the ability of foot …

Sit-To-Stand Symmetry In Individuals With Hip Pathology, Andrew J. Meszaros, Stephen Block, Jake Edwards, Brittany Jones, Elizabeth Keeler, Christina Ridley, Ashley Yates

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

Why study hip fracture?

• Hip fractures occur in approximately 300,000 individuals over 65 years of age and is on the rise

• 53.3% of those who fall, fall again • 50% loss of function in involved lower extremity post fracture

• 25% increased mortality rate 1 year post hip fracture

An asymmetry in force production has been found to exist between fractured/non- fractured sides during a sit-to-stand task post hip fracture, despite having adequate

capacity to perform the task symmetrically.

Houck 2011 found the asymmetry is a result of weakness in the fractured lower extremity.

Briere 2013 found the …

Promis Physical Function Scale Bookmarking And Validation, Luke Skerjanec, Amanda Tamanaha, Alex Wegner, Zane Wise, Jeff Houck

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

• Quick, valid and responsive outcome measure are critical for physical therapists

• The NIH’s Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is a universal, 124 item, computer adapted system (CAT) that evaluates various health domains including physical function without a ceiling or floor effect.

• PROMIS demonstrates good convergent validity with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and Short-form 36 (SF-36) physical function subscale1 and also with ‘gold standard' International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scale. PROMIS score can also predict poor outcomes at various follow-up lengths ranging from 3-52 weeks2.

• The modified physical performance test (mPPT) is …

Morphological Changes In Achilles Tendon Thickness Following An 8-Week Heavy Load Eccentric Exercise Program, W. Howe, B. Telfer, J. Leung, M. Suzuki, C. Young, Tyler Cuddeford

Student-Faculty Research - College of Physical Therapy

• Achilles Tendinopathy (AT) is an overuse injury characterized by pain, focal tenderness, and intratendinous imaging changes.

• Current protocols for treating mid-portion AT are not effective, likely due to not providing sufficient load to the tendon.

• Alfredson’s eccentric protocol, which utilizes high repetition with low load, reduces pain with mid-portion AT in 60.3% of individuals (Van der Plas, 2011)

• Research indicates that heavier loading of the Achilles tendon yields superior results to high repetition with low load (Stevens, 2014)

• Tendons have demonstrated plasticity in their ability to adapt to heavy resistance training. Combined with knowledge that …