Development and Preliminary Testing of the Staffordshire Questionnaire for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (SQ-AIS): Content and Face Validity.

Introduction: Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is a structural spinal deformity with implications for health-related quality of life (HR-QoL). The Scoliosis Research Society-22 revised (SRS-22r) questionnaire is the standard for HR-QoL assessment. However, studies have identified limitations with the SRS-22r, including content and face validity issues, reliability concerns, and language appropriateness.

The national profile of the prosthetic and orthotic workforce in the UK: Sociodemographics and employment characteristics.

Background: Prosthetists and orthotists (POs) are essential members of the health care workforce and one of the United Kingdom's (UK's) allied health professions. There is a paucity of information on their demographics, which is essential for the development of the profession. To fill this void, this study has attempted to comprehensively explore the sociodemographics and work-related characteristics of the entire workforce.

The UK prosthetic and orthotic workforce: current status and implications for the future.

Background: Prosthetists and orthotists (POs) are the smallest of the 14 allied health profession (AHP) workforces within NHS England. Obtaining data on the workforce has always been challenging due to this information being held across different organisations. An understanding of the prosthetic and orthotic (P&O) workforce is essential to ensure that it is adequately equipped to meet the evolving needs of users of P&O services.

Non-Invasive Assessment of Back Surface Topography: Technologies, Techniques and Clinical Utility.

(1) Background: Frequent exposure to ionising radiation is often used to determine the diagnosis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), a lateral curvature of the spine in those aged between 10 and 18 years, and a treatment plan according to Cobb angle. This narrative review outlines the clinical utility of surface topography (ST), a radiation-free imaging modality. (2) Methods: Publicly available databases were searched to yield literature related to ST.

Exploration of the representation of the allied health professions in senior leadership positions in the UK National Health Service.

Background: Allied health professionals (AHPs) are an important group within the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK and make up a large portion of the workforce. Investment in AHP leadership is believed to lead to improvements in patient care, resource use, collaboration and innovation. This study aims to assess the current state of AHP strategic leadership within the NHS.

Do UK Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) have sufficient guidelines and training to provide telehealth patient consultations?

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a rapid shift to remote consultations. United Kingdom (UK) NHS Allied Health Professional (AHP) services may have been unprepared for telehealth implementation. This study explored these services' organisational readiness regarding telehealth guidelines implementation and staff training.

Assessment of the effect of a total contact cast on lower limb kinematics and joint loading.

Background: Total contact casts (TCCs) are used to immobilize and unload the foot and ankle for the rehabilitation of ankle fractures and for the management of diabetic foot complications. The kinematic restrictions imposed by TCCs to the foot and ankle also change knee and hip kinematics, however, these changes have not been quantified before. High joint loading is associated with discomfort and increased risk for injuries.

Provision of rehabilitation and assistive technology services in a low resource setting during the COVID-19 pandemic and introduction of telehealth: Service users' and providers' perspectives.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a challenge for providing assistive technology (AT) and rehabilitation services, with many service providers implementing telehealth service provision for the first time. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of people accessing and providing AT and rehabilitation services during the pandemic and to assess the implementation of telehealth service delivery at an assistive technology and rehabilitation center in India. A mixed-methods design, combining analysis of clinical data and semi-structured interviews, was utilized.

The potential impact of allied health professional telehealth consultations on health inequities and the burden of treatment.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid shift to remote consultations. The study aimed to explore the prevalence of telehealth consultations amongst allied health professional (AHP) services in the UK National Health Service (NHS), and the potential impact on health inequities and burden of treatment for patients.

Methods: Cross-sectional online survey.

Exploration of implementation, financial and technical considerations within allied health professional (AHP) telehealth consultation guidance: a scoping review including UK AHP professional bodies' guidance.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a shift to remote consultations, but telehealth consultation guidelines are lacking or inconsistent. Therefore, a scoping review was performed to chart the information in the articles exploring telehealth for the UK allied health professionals (AHPs) and compare them with the UK AHP professional bodies' guidelines.

Design: Scoping review following Aksey and O' Malley methodological framework.

The emergence of telehealth in orthotic services across the United Kingdom.

COVID-19 has impacted the National Health Service provision, creating urgency for departments to adapt and adopt new ways of delivering healthcare. The purpose of this service evaluation was to determine the emergence of telehealth in orthotic services across the UK in response to COVID-19. A survey exploring telehealth use was distributed online to orthotists approximately 6 months after the first peak of COVID-19 in the UK.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected orthotic services in the United Kingdom?

Background: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the National Health Service in the United Kingdom (UK).

Objective: This study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on orthotic services in the United Kingdom.

Study Design: Cross sectional survey.

Defining and grouping children's therapeutic footwear and criteria for their prescription: an international expert Delphi consensus study.

Objectives: This study aimed to achieve an expert consensus on how to define and group footwear interventions for children, with a further focus on the design characteristics and prescription of off-the-shelf stability footwear for children with mobility impairment.

Setting: A group of multinational professionals, from clinicians to those involved in the footwear industry, were recruited to ensure a spectrum of opinions.

Participants: Thirty panellists were contacted, of which 24 consented to participate and six withdrew before round 1, a further two withdrew after round 1.

Reliability and validity of an enhanced paper grip test; A simple clinical test for assessing lower limb strength.

Background: The paper-grip-test (PGT) involves pulling a small card from underneath the participant's foot while asking them to grip with their hallux. The PGT is shown to be effective in detecting foot muscle-weakening but its outcome is operator-dependent. To overcome this limitation, an enhanced PGT (EPGT) is proposed that replaces the pass/fail outcome of the PGT with a continuous measurement of the pulling force that is needed to remove the card (EPGT-force).

Effectiveness of therapeutic footwear for children: A systematic review.

Background: It is estimated that 2% of the global childhood population is living with some form of mobility impairment. Although footwear interventions are proposed to aid ambulation, there appears to be a paucity in the understanding of the effects of therapeutic footwear. This review aims to explore the effectiveness of footwear as an intervention for mobility impairment in children.

Cross-sectional survey of orthotic service provision in the UK: does where you live affect the service you receive?

Objective: To investigate the quantity and quality of orthotic service provision within the UK.

Design: Cross-sectional survey obtained through freedom of information request in 2017.

Setting: National Health Service (NHS) Trusts/Health Boards (HBs) across the UK.

Key concepts in children's footwear research: a scoping review focusing on therapeutic footwear.

Background: Reports suggest that children with mobility impairment represent a significant proportion of the population living with a disability. Footwear is considered to be the key extrinsic factor affecting children's gait and footwear modifications have been historically postulated to assist with locomotory difficulty. Although therapeutic footwear has been considered within the literature, there is a lack of consistency on terminology and paucity on the overall understanding.

Localized pressure stimulation using turf-like structures can improve skin perfusion in the foot.

Objective: Improving perfusion under the skin can potentially reduce ulceration and amputation risk in people with diabetic foot. Localized pressure stimulation has been proven capable of improving skin perfusion in the scalp but its effectiveness for the foot has not been tested. In this study, localized pressure stimulation was realized using flexible turf-like structures (TLS) with dense vertical fibers and their ability to increase perfusion was assessed.

The relationship between hallux grip force and balance in people with diabetes.

Background: Diabetes accelerates the decline in muscle strength in older people and substantially increases the risk for fall and injury. Weakening of lower extremity muscles, in particular, is a strong predictor for falls, but currently there is no established method for its assessment in clinics. The paper grip test (PGT) offers a qualitative assessment of hallux plantar flexor strength and its usefulness for predicting falls has been demonstrated in non-diabetic populations.

A scoping literature review of studies assessing effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of prosthetic and orthotic interventions.

Approximately 1.5% of the world's population (∼100 million people) need a prosthesis/orthosis. The objective of the study was to establish an overview of the literature that has examined prosthetic and orthotic interventions with a view to inform policy development.

Agreement Between the Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters of Healthy Adults From the OptoGait System and a Traditional Three-Dimensional Motion Capture System.

While previous research has assessed the validity of the OptoGait system to the GAITRite walkway and an instrumented treadmill, no research to date has assessed this system against a traditional three-dimensional motion analysis system. Additionally, previous research has shown that the OptoGait system shows systematic bias when compared to other systems due to the configuration of the system's hardware. This study examined the agreement between the spatiotemporal gait parameters calculated from the OptoGait system and a three-dimensional motion capture (14 camera Vicon motion capture system and 2 AMTI force plates) in healthy adults.

Thigh-Derived Inertial Sensor Metrics to Assess the Sit-to-Stand and Stand-to-Sit Transitions in the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Task for Quantifying Mobility Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis.

Inertial sensors generate objective and sensitive metrics of movement disability that may indicate fall risk in many clinical conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS). The Timed-Up-And-Go (TUG) task is used to assess patient mobility because it incorporates clinically-relevant submovements during standing. Most sensor-based TUG research has focused on the placement of sensors at the spine, hip or ankles; an examination of thigh activity in TUG in multiple sclerosis is wanting.