Physical Therapy Commons^™

Disability Self-Assessment And Upper Quarter Muscle Balance In Females, Eric Glenn Johnson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background and Purpose. This study compared upper quarter muscle balance of working female dental hygienists and non-dental hygiene females who had no history of upper quarter pathology. The upper quarter was operationally defined as the shoulder and neck region; and muscle balance, as muscular flexibility and muscular performance. Muscular performance was operationally defined as a combination of strength and endurance.

Subjects. The study group consisted of 41 working dental hygienists between the ages of 22 and 60 years with a mean age of 38 years. The control group consisted of 46 non-dental hygienists between the ages of 20 and 54 …

Factors In Predicting The Number Of Home Care Physical Visits, Bruce D. Bradley

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

There has been a significant increase in the utilization of home health care during the past decade. Medicare has attempted to control home care costs by 1) allowing Medicare beneficiaries to join Health Maintenance Organizations, and 2) requiring the use of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) for all patients admitted to home care services. These changes have challenged the home care physical therapist to be a better predictor of the total number of visits needed to complete the rehabilitation process. This was a retrospective study of 335 patients who received home health care physical therapy. The first part …

Toward The Optimal Waveform For Electrical Stimulation, Scott Douglas Bennie

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Electrical stimulation (ES) is used to strengthen muscle, improve abnormal tone, and improve the healing rate of pressure sores. Four male and three female research subjects received four minute bouts of electrically stimulated isometric contractions equal to 10% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of their right quadriceps muscle to study subjective comfort and physiological responses to different waveforms, including Russian, interferential, sine, and square. Frequency remained constant at 30pps. The pulse width for the Russian waveform was 200ps, while the sine, square, and interferential waveforms used a lOOps pulse width. The amplitude of stimulation was adjusted to maintain the …

Comparison Of Elderly Non-Fallers And Fallers On Performance Measures Of Functional Reach, Sensory Organizations, And Limits Of Stability, Harvey W. Wallmann

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare elderly non-fallers and fallers for differences in the following: (1) mean functional reach (FR), (2) mean anterior limits of stability (LOS), (3) mean posterior LOS, and (4) mean sensory organization test (SOT) composite score. The following correlations were tested for significance separately in the sample of non-fallers and the sample of fallers: (1) FR and anterior LOS, (2) FR and posterior LOS, (3) FR and SOT composite score, (4) anterior LOS and the SOT composite score, and (5) posterior LOS and the SOT composite score.

DESIGN: Two group comparison design.

SETTING: …

Patient Participation In Physical Therapy Goal-Setting, Susan M. Baker

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background and Purpose. An important part of treatment planning in physical therapy is effective goal-setting. The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice recommends that therapists identify the patient’s goals and objectives during the initial evaluation as a way to maximize treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether therapists seek patient participation in goal-setting and, if so, with what methods. We also examined therapists’ attitudes toward participation and patient satisfaction with the evaluation encounter.

Subjects and Methods. Twenty-two physical therapists audiotaped the initial evaluation of 73 elder patients. The audiotaped evaluations were then scored using the Participation …

Prediction Of Discharge Destination From Initial Physical Therapy Assessment Using The Physical Assessment Key (Pak), Wendy L. Chung, Kimberly A. Vieten

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if a patient’s discharge destination could be predicted by information available upon the physical therapy initial evaluation using the Physical Assessment Key (PAK). There were 141 subjects (58 male, 83 female) included in this study and their ages ranged from 19 to 89 years (mean age=57.1 years). Each subject was given a PAK score on the day of the initial physical therapy evaluation and on the day of discharge from the hospital. The PAK evaluates a patient in the areas of transfer activities, self-care activities, locomotion and excretion management. A patient was …

Does The Oswestry Or Sf-36 Help A Therapist To Predict Treatment Classification, Amy Crawford, Denese D. Kaufeldt-Soliz

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of two disability questionnaires, the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (Oswestry) and the Medical Outcome Study Short Form-36 (SF-36), and a standardized physical examination and diagnostic classification system. The physical examination was performed by the evaluating therapists from the clinic and classification was determined by the evaluating therapists and the investigators to ensure correct subject placement into treatment Stages la, lb, or II. Data collection occurred at an outpatient physical therapy clinic in a metropolitan area health maintenance organization, where a sample of 221 subjects with low back pain …

Reliability And Validity Of Assessing Student Performance Of Psychomotor Skills In Entry Level Physical Therapy Curricula, Nancy Sue Darr

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Physical therapists rely on a large repertoire of psychomotor skills for patient evaluation and treatment. Reliable and accurate assessments of student performance of psychomotor skills are required to provide feedback to students and faculty, to establish student competence, and to enable faculty members to evaluate their instructional methods. In this study a scoring system was designed to objectively assess student performance of five selected ankle joint mobilization procedures. A detailed task analysis was performed on each joint mobilization procedure, which included dividing each procedure into 13 subtasks. Criteria were written for successful completion of each task and subtask. A scoring …

Reference Serum Chemistry And Hematological Values For Spinal Cord Injured Patients, Michael S. Laymon, Antone L. Davis Ii

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Serum chemistry and hematological values from 220 traumatic spinal cord injured patients (157 male and 63 female between the ages of 15-47, with greater than six months from injury) were compiled via chart review. Traumatic spinal cord injured patient’s reference ranges were determined and compared with the general population reference ranges. Reference ranges within the spinal cord population were compared by age, gender, level of injury and chronicity of injury. The reference ranges determined for all groups within this spinal cord population fall within the reference ranges of the general population. This supports recent research which suggests that a decrease …

Discharge Outcomes : An Evaluation Of A Functional Index Of Physical Assistance, Jan R. Snell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between a functional score given to the patient on the day of discharge from an acute setting and the setting to which the patient is discharged. There were 102 subjects (58 female, 44 male) included in the study and their ages ranged from 20 to 91 years (mean age=61.6 years). The following data were collected on all subjects: age, gender, diagnosis, past medical history, duration of hospital stay, duration of physical therapy, reason for discharge, family support, type of insurance, and Physical Assistance Key (PAK) score on …

Predicting Intentions Of Physical Therapy Students To Practice Primary Prevention, Sharon Potter Anderson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Physical therapy (PT) has traditionally been a hands-on, tertiary-care field. Although the American Physical Therapy Association has mandated a broader perspective, little primary prevention is yet being reported in the U. S. An attitude change toward prevention must occur if physical therapists can be expected to become involved in preventive physical therapy. The purpose of this project was to determine predictors of physical therapy student intention to perform primary prevention with a questionnaire based on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. The theory uses attitude, subjective norm and perceived control to predict intention based on beliefs and strength of beliefs in …

A Comparison Of Strength Improvement On Free Weights And The Universal Centurion, David J. Davies

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was designed to investigate the comparative effectiveness of free weights and the Universal Centurion in improving muscular strength. The subjects were twenty-two male students enrolled at Loma Linda University in La Sierra, California. Subjects were divided into two experimental groups, one training with free weights and the other with the Universal Centurion. The bench press exercise was utilized as both the exercise medium for the eight-week training period and also as the testing medium for the pre- and post-tests.

Pre- and post-test differences between the two groups were compared by an analysis of covariance. Results of the analysis …

The Effect Of Dextrose Ingestion On Cardiovascular Endurance, Judith M. Axford

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of dextrose on cardiovascular endurance. The subjects were nineteen male students enrolled at Loma Linda University in Riverside, California. The subjects were exercised to their maximum while being tested on the treadmill.· Subjects were each tested twice. Thirty minutes before exercising, they ingested one hundred grams of dextrose for one test and ten ounces of sugar-free Kool-aid for the second test. The difference in exhaustion times was then recorded.

The data indicated that dextrose ingestion decreased exhaustion time on the treadmill. Subjects were able to exercise for a longer period of time …