Physical Therapy Commons^™

Selection Of Post-Acute Care For Stroke Patients, Kathryn M. Gulfo, Glen Gillen, Lauri Bishop, Clare C. Bassile, Randy B. Kolodny, Joel Stein

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Significant variation exists in post-acute care for stroke survivors. This study examines referral practices of occupational and physical therapists for patients after acute stroke.

Method: Occupational therapists (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs) were surveyed either electronically or in person at a national conference. The respondents selected the most appropriate referral for each of five case vignettes. The referral choices included Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH), home with home services, or home with outpatient services. Demographic data included practice location, setting, and duration. The respondents were also asked to rate …

Current State Of Commercial Wearable Technology In Physical Activity Monitoring 2015-2017, J. A. Bunn, J. W. Navalta, C. J. Fountaine, J. D. Reece

Physical Therapy

No abstract provided.

The Comprehensive Pt Management Of A Patient With Chronic Low Back Pain And Lumbar Radiculopathy: A Case Report, Robin Mcguire

Case Report Papers

Background and Purpose: Low back pain is the most common health problem among older adults resulting in pain and disability. Lumbar radiculopathy is a disabling condition causing low back pain that radiates into the lower extremity along the sensory distribution of the spinal nerve root. The purpose of this case report is to describe a comprehensive physical therapy plan for a patient with chronic low back pain and lumbar radiculopathy that included: therapeutic exercises using directional preference, interferential current, and manual traction. Case Description: The patient was a 60-year-old male with lumbar radiculopathy due to nerve root compression. He presented …

Effect Of Individual Height And Testing Methods On Outcome Of The Forward Functional Reach Test, Jill Elaine Heitzman

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Background: With falls a leading cause of injuries among those over age 65, early recognition of risk is imperative to reduce rising rates. The Forward Functional Reach test (FFRT) (Duncan et al., 1990) is frequently used to identify fall risk, however, the variability in cut values found in the research may be related to height and reach strategies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if FFRT is affected by an individual’s height and if bilateral reach to height ratio could more accurately identify fall risk.

Methods: Sixty-six participants (60 and older) were recruited from a senior center …

Use Of A Telerehabilitation Delivery System For Fall Risk Screening, Robert W. Nithman

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Problem: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that falls are the “leading cause of injury death and the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admission for trauma among people ages 65 and older.”1 Falls can have significant economic consequences to the individual and payer sources. To address these consequences, telerehabilitation was hypothesized to be a suitable supplement for fall screening efforts. Several sources concluded that support for synchronous telerehab was underdeveloped in the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the acceptability, feasibility, reliability, and validity of telehealth-delivered fall screening among community-dwelling older …

Predictors Of Shoulder Injuries In Female Collegiate Swimmers, Eric Lee Lippincott

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Competitive swimmers frequently injure their shoulders. The risk factors for shoulder injuries in competitive swimmers have not been clearly identified. The primary purposes of this study were to describe the characteristics of female collegiate swimmers at the onset of a swim season, identify the risk factors of shoulder injury in female collegiate swimmers, characterize the swim volume of female collegiate swimmers, and determine if swim volume is a predictor of shoulder injury.

A prospective longitudinal cohort multi-center design was utilized. Female collegiate swimmers [n=53, mean age=19.3+/– 1.2] from four NCAA Division II universities were recruited to participate in this study. …

Diagnostic Musculoskeletal Imaging: How Physical Therapists Utilize Imaging In Clinical Decision-Making, Hilmir Agustsson

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This qualitative study describes how physical therapist experts in musculoskeletal disorders evaluate and interpret imaging studies and how they employ imaging in clinical decision-making. The informants are physical therapists who are certified orthopedic clinical specialists (OCS) and/or fellows of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT). The study employed web conferencing to display patient cases, record screen-capture videos, and to conduct interviews. Informants were observed and their activity video-captured as they evaluated imaging studies and, afterwards, interviews were employed to explore the processes they utilized to evaluate and interpret the images and to discuss imaging-related clinical decision-making, including …

Shoulder Symptom Irritability: Development And Testing Of A New Construct, Stephen Michael Kareha

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Background: Physical therapists regularly make decisions regarding intervention intensity based upon pathoanatomy and symptom irritability, but the reliability and validity of classifying patients by symptom irritability are unknown. Purpose: Examine the reliability and construct validity of the shoulder symptom irritability classification (SSIC) system for the purposes of determining an appropriate treatment intensity. Design: Prospective repeated-measures cross-sectional single-blinded design. Methods: 101 consecutive subjects with primary complaints of shoulder pain were assessed by a pair of blinded raters. Raters recorded the SSIC level and selected the appropriate intervention intensities for the subjects. Data Analysis: Prevalence-adjusted, bias-adjusted Kappa for ordinal scales (PABAK-OS) and …

Impact Of An Exercise Program On Stress, Fatigue, And Quality Of Life For Individuals Living With Primary Immunodeficiency Disease, Kerri Sowers

Department of Physical Therapy Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Background: There are over 300 Primary Immunodeficiency diseases (PID) that are a result of a genetic or idiopathic dysfunction of any aspect of the immune system. These conditions result in a higher frequency of infections, autoimmune conditions, or malignancies. Moderate intensity exercise is thought to help the immune system, while high intensity exercise may have a negative impact on immune function. The impact of exercise on individuals with an impaired immune system due to PID is not yet understood. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a low to moderate intensity exercise program would have an effect …

Supporting Play Exploration And Early Developmental Intervention Versus Usual Care To Enhance Development Outcomes During The Transition From The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit To Home: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial, Stacey C. Dusing, Tanya Tripathi, Emily C. Marcinowski, Leroy R. Thacke, Lisa F. Brown, Karen D. Hendricks-Muñoz

Physical Therapy Publications

Background

While therapy services may start in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) there is often a gap in therapy after discharge. Supporting Play Exploration and Early Development Intervention (SPEEDI) supports parents, helping them build capacity to provide developmentally supportive opportunities starting in the NICU and continuing at home. The purpose of this single blinded randomized pilot clinical trial was to evaluate the initial efficacy of SPEEDI to improve early reaching and exploratory problem solving behaviors.

Methods

Fourteen infants born very preterm or with neonatal brain injury were randomly assigned to SPEEDI or Usual Care. The SPEEDI group participated in …

Can Patient Reported Outcomes Guide Therapy Needs In Foot And Ankle Patients?, Jeff Houck, Jillian Santer, Judith Baumhauer

Faculty Publications - College of Physical Therapy

Introduction/Purpose: The patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) is a validated question establishing if patients activity and symptoms are at a satisfactory low level for pain and function. Surprisingly, ~20% of foot and ankle patients at their initial visit present for care with an acceptable symptom state (i.e. PASS yes). These patients are important to identify to prevent over treatment and avoid excessive cost. It is also unclear what health domains (Pain Interference (PI), Physical Function (PF), or Depression (Dep)) influence a patients judgement of their PASS state (i.e. why they are seeking treatment). The purpose of this analysis is to …

A Scoping Review Of Biopsychosocial Risk Factors And Co-Morbidities For Common Spinal Disorders, Bart N Green, Claire D Johnson, Scott Haldeman, Erin Griffith, Michael B Clay, Edward J Kane, Juan M Castellote, Shanmuganathan Rajasekaran, Matthew Smuck, Eric L Hurwitz, Kristi Randhawa, Hainan Yu, Margareta Nordin

Physical Therapy Collection

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review was to identify risk factors, prognostic factors, and comorbidities associated with common spinal disorders.

METHODS: A scoping review of the literature of common spinal disorders was performed through September 2016. To identify search terms, we developed 3 terminology groups for case definitions: 1) spinal pain of unknown origin, 2) spinal syndromes, and 3) spinal pathology. We used a comprehensive strategy to search PubMed for meta-analyses and systematic reviews of case-control studies, cohort studies, and randomized controlled trials for risk and prognostic factors and cross-sectional studies describing associations and comorbidities.

RESULTS: Of …

Analytical Cpg Model Driven By Limb Velocity Input Generates Accurate Temporal Locomotor Dynamics, Sergiy Yakovenko, Anton Sobinov, Valeriya Gritsenko

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The ability of vertebrates to generate rhythm within their spinal neural networks is essential for walking, running, and other rhythmic behaviors. The central pattern generator (CPG) network responsible for these behaviors is well-characterized with experimental and theoretical studies, and it can be formulated as a nonlinear dynam- ical system. The underlying mechanism responsible for locomotor behavior can be expressed as the process of leaky integration with resetting states generating appropriate phases for changing body velocity. The low-dimensional input to the CPG model generates the bilateral pattern of swing and stance modulation for each limb and is consistent with the desired …

The Complementary Health Approaches For Pain Survey (Chaps): Validity Testing And Characteristics Of A Rural Population With Pain, Termeh Feinberg, Dina L. Jones, Christa Lilly, Amna Umer, Kim Innes

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objectives

Little is known about patterns and correlates of Complementary Health Approaches (CHAs) in chronic pain populations, particularly in rural, underserved communities. This article details the development and implementation of a new survey instrument designed to address this gap, the Complementary Health Approaches for Pain Survey (CHAPS).

Design

Following pilot-testing using pre-specified criteria to assess quality and comprehension in our target population, and after feedback regarding face-validity from content experts and stakeholders, the final cross-sectional self-report survey required 10–12 minutes to com- plete. It contained 69 demographic, lifestyle and health-related factors, and utilized a Trans- theoretical Model (TTM) underpinning to …

Comparison Of Four Fitbit And Jawbone Activity Monitors With A Research-Grade Actigraph Accelerometer For Estimating Physical Activity And Energy Expenditure, Mary T. Imboden, Michael B. Nelson, Leonard A. Kaminsky, Alexander Hk Montoye

Faculty Publications - Department of Kinesiology

Background/aim Consumer-based physical activity (PA) monitors have become popular tools to track PA behaviours. Currently, little is known about the validity of the measurements provided by consumer monitors. We aimed to compare measures of steps, energy expenditure (EE) and active minutes of four consumer monitors with one research-grade accelerometer within a semistructured protocol.

Methods Thirty men and women (18–80 years old) wore Fitbit One (worn at the waist), Fitbit Zip (waist), Fitbit Flex (wrist), Jawbone UP24 (wrist) and one waist-worn research-grade accelerometer (ActiGraph) while participating in an 80 min protocol. A validated EE prediction equation and active minute cut-points were …

Treatment Of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome In A 53-Year-Old Female: A Case Study, Jarad Syrstad

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

Background and Purpose. Subacromial impingement syndrome (SAIS) is a common shoulder pathology. The purpose of this case report is to discuss the outcomes of subsequent physical therapy after operative treatment for SAIS and the clinical decision making involved in seeking surgical intervention.

Case Description. This case report describes a 54 y/o female who participated in eight weeks of physical therapy after undergoing shoulder decompression surgery while failing conservative physical therapy prior to surgical intervention.

Intervention. Physical therapy interventions were designed to strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder, increase range of motion, decrease pain, and improve functional activity. …

Electromyographic Activity Of Hamstrings And Quadriceps Muscle During Jumping And Landing: Pilot Study, Jayla Greene, Brecca Wahlund, Jay Mittlieder, Adam Lutz

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this pilot study was to see if there was a difference in amount of electromyographic (EMG) activity in the quadriceps (vastus medialis and vastus lateralis) compared to amount of EMG activity in the hamstrings (biceps femoris and semitendinosus) in active male and female subjects during vertical jumping and landing. In addition, we looked at the amount of knee flexion that occurred in the male and female subjects shortly after landing from a vertical jump.

Methods EMG activity was recorded using a Noraxon TeleMyo DTS telemetry unit with a sampling rate of 1 kHz. EMG …

Effects Of Physical Therapy On An Elderly Patient With L5-S1 Radiculopathy: A Case Study, Mackenzie Mears

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

Background and Purpose. Low back pain is a major disabling diagnosis for adults over 60 with 36-70% suffering from this condition. There is little research demonstrating the effectiveness of physical therapy on the outcome of older patients with a lumbar disc herniation resulting in lumbosacral radiculopathy. The purpose of this scholarly project is to use a case report to explore the effectiveness of physical therapy in elderly patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy as the result of a L5-S1 disc herniation.

Case Description. The case study reviews an 81-year-old male who presented to physical therapy with insidious onset of left …

Conservative Treatment Of A 58 Year-Old Male Referred To Physical Therapy With A Knee Sprain And Knee Osteoarthritis, Chase Pruitt

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

Background and Purpose: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common condition in people over 50. Although there may be an association between acute knee injuries and knee OA later in life, the occurrence of acute knee injuries in patients with existing OA is less clear. The purpose of this case study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an impairment based therapy program in an individual with an acute knee injury and knee OA.

Case Description: This case follows a 57 year old male referred to physical therapy with an acute knee sprain and tri-compartmental knee OA. Treatment lasted 7 sessions …

A Case Report: Outpatient Physical Therapy Treatment Of A Patient With Unilateral Medial And Posterior Knee Pain And Osteoarthritis, Joseph T. Griffin

Physical Therapy Scholarly Projects

Background & purpose: Meniscus tears are commonly considered to be associated with a traumatic event, but the degenerative nature of osteoarthritis can also damage the cartilage. As meniscal tears are a common orthopedic pathology, choosing the correct treatment can be difficult and involve several factors. Current treatment options include partial or total meniscectomy, meniscal repair, or conservative management. There is growing research supporting the effectiveness in non-operative management of degenerative meniscal tears (DMT). The purpose of this case report was to investigate the non-operative management of a 47-year-old male with a unilateral DMT combined with osteoarthritis.

Case description: …