Physical Therapy Commons^™

The Science Of Pebax Shoes And Carbon Fiber Plates: What We Know Now, Matthew Klein

Faculty Publications - College of Physical Therapy

In April of 2020, we posted a critical review diving into the research and evidence around the quickly emerging carbon fiber-plated and/or PEBAX-based footwear. We discussed several things including early thoughts on carbon plates, newer foams, geometries, interactions between them, and most importantly how much we do not know about what was truly going on. In a short two years, there has been a large amount of research into these topics. While there are still significant holes in our understanding due to research being so far behind current industry trends and development, we decided to create an update to address …

What Unique Skills Are Associated With Strong Psychosocial Beliefs In Orthopedic Physical Therapists? (Poster), Jeff Houck, Grace Atherton, Maggie Haworth, Casey Ebelt, Sally Guildehaus, Fred Chang, Chris Hoekstra, Daniel Kang

Faculty Publications - College of Physical Therapy

No abstract provided.

Digital Rehabilitation For Hand And Wrist Pain: A Single-Arm Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study, Fabíola Costa, Dora Janela, Maria Molinos, Robert G Moulder, Jorge Lains, Gerard E Francisco, Virgílio Bento, Vijay Yanamadala, Steven P Cohen, Fernando Dias Correia

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Wrist and hand represent the third most common body part in work-related injuries, being associated with long-term absenteeism. Telerehabilitation can promote access to treatment, patient adherence, and engagement, while reducing health care-related costs.

Objective: Report the results of a fully remote digital care program (DCP) for wrist and hand pain (WP).

Methods: A single-arm interventional study was conducted on individuals with WP applying for a DCP. Primary outcome was the mean change in the Numerical Pain Rating Scale after 8 weeks (considering a minimum clinically important change of 30%). Secondary outcomes were: disability (Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, …

Emerging Evidence For Intrathecal Management Of Neuropathic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury, Jay Karri, James Doan, Christian Vangeison, Marissa Catalanotto, Ameet S Nagpal, Sheng Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A high prevalence of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) suffer from chronic neuropathic pain. Unfortunately, the precise pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have yet to be clearly elucidated and targeted treatments are largely lacking. As an unfortunate consequence, neuropathic pain in the population with SCI is refractory to standard of care treatments and represents a significant contributor to morbidity and suffering. In recent years, advances from SCI-specific animal studies and translational models have furthered our understanding of the neuronal excitability, glial dysregulation, and chronic inflammation processes that facilitate neuropathic pain. These developments have served advantageously to facilitate exploration into …

The Development And Evaluation Of A Pediatric Interprofessional Education (Ipe) Experience For Occupational And Physical Therapy Graduate Students, Lorry Liotta-Kleinfeld, Nancy Darr, Tamara Lemmonds, Teresa Plummer

Funded Scholarship

Interprofessional competence is needed to improve health care outcomes. The aim of this paper is to describe the development of theoretically grounded interprofessional education (IPE) experiences to advance interprofessional competencies for occupational and physical therapy doctoral students. In addition, a pretest/postest survey was designed to determine the participants’ perceptions of knowledge attainment, roles, and attitudes. Two cohorts of students (N=115) completed surveys pre and post IPE experiences. Statistically significant changes were found on perception of roles and knowledge attainment. Additional studies are needed to determine if IPE leads to behavioral changes in practice and improves patient outcomes.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is A Risk Factor For Lower-Limb And Back Injury In Law Enforcement Officers Commencing Their Basic Training: A Prospective Cohort Study, Myles C. Murphy, Nicole Merrick, Andrea B. Mosler, Garth Allen, Paola Chivers, Nicolas H. Hart

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

We aimed to report the epidemiology of lower-limb and lumbosacral injuries in Police Force recruits. We performed a cohort study of Police Force recruits undergoing a six-month training program with prospective injury data collected between 2018 and 2021. Cardiorespiratory fitness was quantified by the beep-test and police-specific-functional-capacity was quantified using a specifically designed physical performance evaluation (PPE) tool. Injury frequency and prevalence were reported. Fifteen percent (n = 180) of study Police Force recruits (n = 1,181) sustained a lower-limb or lumbosacral injury. The six-month training program significantly improved cardiorespiratory fitness (p < 0.001) and functional capacity (p < 0.001). Increased cardiorespiratory fitness at baseline decreased injury risk (OR = 0.8, 95%CI: 0.66–0.97, p = 0.019). Injury rates decreased over time and females were injured significantly earlier than males (HR = 0.70, 95%CI: 0.52 to 0.95, p = 0.021). Interventions that can pre-condition Police Force recruits prior to the commencement of their basic physical training may reduce the number of lower-limb and lumbosacral injuries.

Development Of A National Pain Management Competency Profile To Guide Entry-Level Physiotherapy Education In Canada, Nathan Augeard, Geoff Bostick, Jordan Miller, David Walton, Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme, Anne Hudon, André Bussières, Lynn Cooper, Nicol Mcniven, Aliki Thomas, Lesley Singer, Scott M. Fishman, Marie K. Hoeger Bement, Julia M. Hush, Kathleen A. Sluka, Judy Watt-Watson, Lisa C. Carlesso, Sinead Dufour, Roland Fletcher, Katherine Harman, Judith Hunter, Suzy Ngomo, Neil Pearson, Kadija Perreault, Barbara Shay, Peter Stilwell, Susan Tupper, Timothy H. Wideman

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Background

National strategies from North America call for substantive improvements in entry-level pain management education to help reduce the burden of chronic pain. Past work has generated a valuable set of interprofessional pain management competencies to guide the education of future health professionals. However, there has been very limited work that has explored the development of such competencies for individual professions in different regions. Developing profession-specific competencies tailored to the local context is a necessary first step to integrate them within local regulatory systems. Our group is working toward this goal within the context of entry-level physiotherapy (PT) programs across …

Safety, Feasibility And Initial Efficacy Of An App-Facilitated Telerehabilitation (After) Programme For Covid-19 Survivors: A Pilot Randomised Study, Jacob J. Capin, Sarah Jolley, Mary Morrow, Meghan Connors, Kristine Hare, Samantha Mawhinney, Amy Nordon-Craft, Michelle R. Rauzi, Sheryl Flynn, Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, Kristine M. Erlandson

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Objectives Determine the safety, feasibility and initial efficacy of a multicomponent telerehabilitation programme for COVID-19 survivors.

Design Pilot randomised feasibility study.

Setting In-home telerehabilitation.

Participants 44 participants (21 female, mean age 52 years) discharged home following hospitalisation with COVID-19 (with and without intensive care unit (ICU) stay).

Interventions Participants were block randomised 2:1 to receive 12 individual biobehaviourally informed, app-facilitated, multicomponent telerehabilitation sessions with a licenced physical therapist (n=29) or to a control group (n=15) consisting of education on exercise and COVID-19 recovery trajectory, physical activity and vitals monitoring, and weekly check-ins with study staff. Interventions were 100% remote and …

Perceived Exercise Habits Of Individuals With Parkinson’S Disease Living In The Community, Jordana Lockwich, Kate Schwartzkopf-Phifer, Camille L. Skubik-Peplaski, Richard D. Andreatta, Patrick H. Kitzman

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Publications

Context

Exercise has been shown to improve gait in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Stepping practice at higher intensity levels has been suggested as a beneficial treatment option to improve gait in the neurological population. Unfortunately, this mode is poorly understood and underutilized within the PD population. Information on what individuals with PD are doing for exercise would be beneficial to help tailor exercise programs to improve gait and provide exercise options in the community for intensity-based exercise.

Objective

To investigate the current exercise habits of individuals living with PD in the community aimed at improving walking and to understand …

Hip Muscle Function In Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability, Lindsay Carroll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Hip muscle function has been reported to be altered in individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI). The purpose of this study was (1) to determine whether the single leg squat test (SLST) could be used to detect differences in proximal muscle activation between individuals with and without CAI and (2) to determine if there was a difference in maximum isometric body weight normalized torque output of the hip lateral rotators, extensors, and abductors between individuals with and without CAI.

Subjects: Forty-eight subjects (14 males, 34 females; median age = 22.00 years, interquartile range (IQR) = 1.00; median height = …

Evidence Of Myomir Regulation Of The Pentose Phosphate Pathway During Mechanical Load-Induced Hypertrophy, Taylor Valentino, Vandre C. Figueiredo, C. Brooks Mobley, John J. Mccarthy, Ivan J. Vechetti Jr.

Physiology Faculty Publications

Many of the molecular and cellular mechanisms discovered to regulate skeletal muscle hypertrophy were first identified using the rodent synergist ablation model. This model reveals the intrinsic capability and necessary pathways of skeletal muscle growth in response to mechanical overload (MOV). Reminiscent of the rapid cellular growth observed with cancer, we hypothesized that in response to MOV, skeletal muscle would undergo metabolic programming to sustain increased demands to support hypertrophy. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the gene expression of specific metabolic pathways taken from transcriptomic microarray data of a MOV time course. We found an upregulation of genes involved …

Minimizing Musculoskeletal Injury Risk In Health Care Professionals With Education On Safe Patient Handling, Aubrey Graves

Honors College Theses

Introduction: Nursing is a high-risk occupation for musculoskeletal injuries due to the strenuous activity of patient handling. These tasks include, assisting a patient in bed, moving a patient from the bed to a wheelchair, and assisting with walking. These work-related tasks can create a large amount of stress on the body, especially the back if proper technique is not utilized and/or if excessive loads are applied. The purpose of this study is to examine if teaching proper body mechanics and the dangers of not performing the tasks properly is an effective way of reducing musculoskeletal injuries.

Methods: The NUR 202 …

Effects On Adherence And Comprehension With Video Demonstration Support Versus Traditional Home Exercise Programs: Culminating Project, Emily E. Morales

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

This culminating project examines the need for video-supported home exercise programs (HEP) in outpatient hand therapy clinics in South Jersey by developing a YouTube channel. This YouTube channel will consist of HEPs for common upper extremity diagnoses including proper demonstration of each exercise and clear concise written instructions within a playlist correlating to diagnosis. Advance clinical skill in hand therapy is the main goal for this capstone project. An analysis was completed evaluating adherence and comprehension when clients are prescribed traditional HEP to HEP supported by a video demonstration. The ultimate goal of this project was to establish an easily …

The Rehabilitation Of A 75-Year-Old Male Presenting With A Right Hip Flexor Strain Concomitant With Numerous Psychosocial Factors: A Case Report, Jillian Battista, Megan Chapski, Suma Varanasi, Jillian Witwicki, Tara Paradie

Case Report Posters

Musculoskeletal disorders, often well understood, are a leading cause of disability worldwide. Concomitant psychosocial factors add a layer of complexity to the physical therapy treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the potential impact psychological factors have in the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders, specifically the rehabilitation of a right hip flexor strain.

Utilizing An Evidence-Based Practice Framework In Non-Operative Acl Rehabilitation - A Case Report, Eric Norman, Michael Madore, Kathryn Magee, Tyler Calimer, Parker Nally

Case Report Papers

Study Design: Case Report. Background: The patient was a 51-year-old female who tore her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) playing pickleball and opted for non-operative treatment. The clinicians involved treated the patient using the three pillars of practice: relevant scientific evidence, clinician experience, and patient perspective.
Treatment: The patient’s treatment consisted of therapeutic exercises, neuromuscular re-education, soft tissue massage, and motivational interviewing. Therapeutic exercises were designed to strengthen the muscles surrounding her hip and knee. Neuromuscular re-education helped to improve the patient’s knee stability and balance, while soft tissue massage was used to decrease swelling. Motivational interviewing helped her better …

The Rehabilitation Of A 75-Year-Old Male Presenting With A Right Hip Flexor Strain Concomitant With Numerous Psychosocial Factors: A Case Report, Jillian Battista, Megan Chapski, Suma Varanasi, Jillian Witwicki

Case Report Papers

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders, often well understood, are a leading cause of disability worldwide. Concomitant psychosocial factors add a layer of complexity to the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the potential impact psychological factors have in the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders, specifically the rehabilitation of a right hip flexor strain.
Case Description: The patient was a 75-year-old male referred to outpatient physical therapy for the assessment of a right hip flexor strain, presenting with psychosocial factors including anxiety and kinesiophobia. Procedural interventions included patient education, neuromuscular re-education, therapeutic exercise, and manual therapy, but …

Lower Extremity Power And Movement Velocity In Competitive Older Athletes, Becca D. Jordre

Dissertations and Theses

Older adults are a rapidly growing population which house a subset of older athletes who regularly engage in sport competition. The physical health and risk factors of this competitive older athlete population have been largely overlooked by healthcare providers and researchers and are poorly understood. Older athletes exhibit distinctly different measures of physical performance which require unique thresholds to identify health-related risk factors. While lower extremity power and movement velocity have been identified as valuable measures of physical performance and fall risk in community-dwelling older adults this relationship has not been explored in competitive older athletes. One method for analyzing …

Executive Functions And Student Success During Physical Therapist Education: An Exploratory Study, Jane Roitsch, Martha L. Walker, Anastasia M. Raymer

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Clinical reasoning relies on executive functions (EFs) that manage attention, inhibition, organization, and decision-making. Assessment of EFs may help identify students who excel at clinical reasoning, yet data showing this relationship in physical therapy (PT) education programs are lacking. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine EFs in relationship to success in PT educational programs. METHODS: Thirteen third-year PT graduate students completed two EF tests which were compared to culminating scores in the program and admissions scores. RESULTS: A relationship existed between National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) and comprehensive exam results and one EF test score; …

Phrenic Afferent Activation Modulates Cardiorespiratory Output In The Adult Rat, Kristi A. Streeter, Michael D. Sunshine, Paul W. Davenport, David D. Fuller

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Phrenic afferents project to brainstem areas responsible for cardiorespiratory control and the mid-cervical spinal cord containing the phrenic motor nucleus. Our purpose was to quantify the impact of small- and large-diameter phrenic afferent activation on phrenic motor output. Anesthetized and ventilated rats received unilateral phrenic nerve stimulation while contralateral phrenic motor output and blood pressure were recorded. Twelve currents of 40-Hz inspiratory-triggered stimulation were delivered (20 s on, 5 min off) to establish current response curves. Stimulation pulse width was varied to preferentially activate large-diameter phrenic afferents (narrow pulse width) and recruit small-diameter fibers (wide pulse width). Contralateral phrenic amplitude …

The Effect Of Dual-Task Testing On The Balance And Gait Of People With Lower Limb Amputations: A Systematic Review, Humberto Omana, Edward Madou, Manuel Montero-Odasso, Michael W. Payne, Ricardo Viana, Susan W. Hunter

Physical Therapy Publications

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature on the effect of dual-task testing on the balance and gait of people with lower limb amputations (PLLA).

LITERATURE SURVEY: Databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched in duplicate (inception to December 1, 2020).

METHODOLOGY: Inclusion criteria: participants were adults with transtibial, knee-disarticulation, transfemoral, or bilateral lower limb amputations; balance or gait was paired with a secondary task; and studies were peer-reviewed and published in English. Two authors independently reviewed articles and consensus was required. A standardized data extraction sheet was used to gather study relevant information in duplicate. …