Standardized Patients versus Volunteer Patients for Physical Therapy Students' Interviewing Practice: A Pilot Study.

Purpose: To compare the use of standardized patients (SPs) and volunteer patients (VPs) for physical therapy students' interviewing practice in terms of students' perception and overall costs.

Methods: Students in the Master of Physical Therapy programme (n=80) at a Canadian university were divided into 20 groups of 4 and were randomly assigned to interview either an SP (10 groups) or a VP (10 groups). Students completed a survey about their perception of the usefulness of the activity and the ease and depth of information extraction.

Survey of a pelvic health physiotherapy community of practice: a pilot study to gain member input to help sustain and advance the group.

Purpose: To gather input and perspectives from members of the Calgary Pelvic Health Physiotherapists' Community of Practice (PHPT CoP) to ensure common goals that help sustain and advance the group.

Method: An online survey grounded in CoP theory was used to elicit feedback from 23 PHPTs. Descriptive statistics summarized survey results.

Effect of a novel movement strategy in decreasing ACL risk factors in female adolescent soccer players: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the effect of a novel movement strategy incorporated within a soccer warm-up on biomechanical risk factors for anterior cruciate ligament injury during 3 sport-specific movement tasks.

Design: Single-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial.

Setting: Laboratory setting.

The effect of a novel movement strategy in decreasing ACL risk factors in female adolescent soccer players.

There is a need to investigate the effect of specific movement strategies in reducing biomechanical risk factors for anterior cruciate ligament injury in young female athletes. The purpose of this study was (a) to determine the feasibility of implementing a novel movement strategy (Core-PAC) into a team warm-up before soccer training based on subject compliance and integration of the Core-PAC into the warm-up and (b) to determine whether the Core-PAC would improve peak knee flexion angles and peak abduction moments at the knee during a side cut (SC) and an unanticipated side cut (USC) before kicking a soccer ball, and a side hop (SH) task after immediate instruction and after a 4-week training program. A convenience sample of ten 14- to 16-year-old female soccer players were instructed in the Core-PAC immediately after baseline testing and during a training program consisting of a 20-minute warm-up, 2 times per week.

Deficits in muscle strength, mass, quality, and mobility in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Purpose: Midthigh intramuscular fat (IF), a feature of reduced muscle quality, is an important predictor of self-reported mobility loss in the elderly. This study compared measures of muscle strength, mass, IF, and mobility in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy subjects. Associations between measures of muscle strength, mass, IF, and mobility were explored.

Associations of the Stair Climb Power Test with muscle strength and functional performance in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The Stair Climb Power Test (SCPT) is a functional test associated with leg muscle power in older people.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to compare the results of the SCPT in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and people who were healthy and to explore associations of the SCPT with muscle strength (force-generating capacity) and functional performance.

Design: The study was a cross-sectional investigation.

The placement of skin surface markers for non-invasive measurement of scapular kinematics affects accuracy and reliability.

Abnormal scapular movement is widely believed to be an important factor in clinical pathology of the shoulder joint complex. Validated non-invasive techniques for measuring scapular movement have been developed, but the effect of marker placement on accuracy is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy and reliability of different groupings of markers to achieve the best accuracy and reliability for measuring scapular kinematics.

A new subject-specific skin correction factor for three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the scapula.

Noninvasive measurement of scapular kinematics using skin surface markers presents technical challenges due to the relative movement between the scapula and the overlying skin. The objectives of this study were to develop a noninvasive subject-specific skin correction factor that would enable a more accurate measurement of scapular kinematics and evaluate this new technique via comparison with a gold standard for scapular movement. Scapular kinematics were directly measured using bone pins instrumented with optoelectronic marker carriers in eight healthy volunteers while skin motion was measured simultaneously with optoelectronic markers attached to the skin surface overlying the scapula.

Preservation of eccentric strength in older adults: Evidence, mechanisms and implications for training and rehabilitation.

Overall reductions in muscle strength typically accompany the aging process. However, older adults show a relatively preserved capacity of producing eccentric strength. The preservation of eccentric strength in older adults is a well-established phenomenon, occurring indiscriminately across different muscle groups, independent of age-related architectural changes in muscle structure and velocity of movement.

Reliability and validity of observational risk screening in evaluating dynamic knee valgus.

Study Design: Nonexperimental methodological study.

Objectives: To determine the interrater and intrarater reliability and validity of using observational risk-screening guidelines to evaluate dynamic knee valgus.

Background: A deficiency in the neuromuscular control of the hip has been identified as a key risk factor for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in postpubescent females.

Muscle torque preservation and physical activity in individuals with stroke.

Background: A greater percent loss of concentric versus eccentric muscle torque (i.e., relative eccentric muscle torque preservation) has been reported in the paretic limb of individuals with stroke and has been attributed to hypertonia and/or cocontractions.

Effects of Pilates exercises on shoulder range of motion, pain, mood, and upper-extremity function in women living with breast cancer: a pilot study.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Pilates exercises on shoulder range of motion (ROM), pain, mood, and upper-extremity (UE) function in women who had been treated for breast cancer.

Participants: The participants were 4 women who had undergone axillary dissection and radiation therapy for stage I to IV breast cancer.

Methods: A nonconcurrent, multiple-baseline, single-subject research design was used to examine the effects of Pilates exercises on the 4 outcomes.

Preservation of eccentric torque of the knee extensors and flexors in patients with COPD.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the concentric and eccentric torque of the knee extensors (KEs) and flexors (KFs) in persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with matched controls. Muscle volume and intramuscular fat infiltration of the thigh muscles were also compared between groups.

Methods: Twenty persons with moderate to severe COPD and 20 control participants, matched for age, sex, and body mass index, participated in the study.

Estimation of thigh muscle mass with magnetic resonance imaging in older adults and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background And Purpose: Quantifying muscle mass is an essential part of physical therapy assessment, particularly in older adults and in people with chronic conditions associated with muscle atrophy. The purposes of this study were to examine the relationship between muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and volume by use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to compare anthropometric estimations of midthigh CSA with measurements obtained from MRI.

Subjects And Methods: Twenty older adults who were healthy and 20 people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), matched for age, sex, and body mass index, underwent MRI to obtain measurements of thigh muscle CSA and volume.

Three-dimensional rotation of the scapula during functional movements: an in vivo study in healthy volunteers.

The goal of this study was to measure 3-dimensional shoulder motion by use of a direct invasive technique during 4 different arm movements in healthy volunteers. Eight subjects with healthy shoulders were recruited. Optoelectronic marker carriers (ie, infrared light-emitting diodes) were mounted on bone pins, which were inserted into the lateral scapular spine.

Recovery of lower limb function following 6 weeks of non-weight bearing.

Skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy occur following an extended period of decreased use, including space flight and limb unloading. It is also likely that affected muscles will be susceptible to a re-loading injury when they begin return to earth or weight bearing. However, there is a paucity of literature evaluating the response of human unloaded muscle to exercise and return to activity.

Leg muscle strength is reduced in Parkinson's disease and relates to the ability to rise from a chair.

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) have difficulties rising from a chair; however, factors contributing to this inability have never been investigated. We compared lower extremity strength between individuals with PD and healthy controls and quantified the relationships between strength and the ability to rise from a chair. Ten men with mild PD and 10 sex- and age-matched controls performed maximal concentric, isokinetic knee and hip extensor torque on an isokinetic dynamometer to quantify muscle strength.

Test-retest reliability of glenohumeral internal and external rotator strength.

Objective: To establish test-retest reliability for a strength testing protocol of the glenohumeral internal and external rotator muscles using a KinCom (Chattanooga Group, Hixson, TN) isokinetic dynamometer.

Design: Prospective test-retest reliability study.

Setting: Rehabilitation research laboratory.

Reliability of lower extremity strength measures in persons with chronic stroke.

Objective: To determine the reliability of isokinetic concentric strength measures of both the hemiparetic and noninvolved limbs for flexion and extension motions of the hip, knee, and ankle joints in individuals who have had a stroke.

Design: Test-retest, repeated-measures intraobserver reliability design.

Setting: Tertiary rehabilitation center.