Clinical tests predictive of temporary low back pain development during the prolonged standing test in physical therapy students.

Low back pain among physical therapists is a common musculoskeletal disorder that first occurs early in their career or as a student. This observational prospective study assessed the ability of hip and lumbopelvic neuromuscular control, endurance and hip range of motion tests to predict the development of transient low back pain development during a standing task. Seventy-two physical therapy students without low back pain completed nine performance tests and a 2-hour standing test on two separate days.

Is Real-Time Poolside Assessment of Upper Limb Errors in Front Crawl Swimming Technique Reliable and Equivalent to Video Analysis?

Context: Swimming technique is widely believed to influence performance, but this relationship has rarely been tested objectively using a real-time poolside assessment.

Objective: To determine the (1) test-retest reliability, interrater reliability, and criterion validity (live vs video) of real-time poolside assessment of upper limb (UL) errors in front crawl (FC) swimming technique and (2) the relationship between UL errors and FC swimming performance.

Design: Cross-sectional reliability, validity, and correlational study.

Workload and Noncontact Musculoskeletal Injury in Collegiate Swimmers: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Context: Swimmers are known for experiencing high training loads and a high incidence of overuse injuries, but few researchers have investigated the relationship between the two at the collegiate level.

Objective: To determine the association between workload and noncontact musculoskeletal injury in collegiate swimmers.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Intrinsic Risk Factors for Noncontact Musculoskeletal Injury in Collegiate Swimmers: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Context: Shoulder pain is pervasive in swimmers of all ages. However, given the limited number of prospective studies, injury risk factors in swimmers remain uncertain.

Objective: To determine the extent to which the risk factors of previous injury, poor movement competency, erroneous freestyle swimming technique, and low perceived susceptibility to sport injury were associated with noncontact musculoskeletal injury in collegiate swimmers.

Relationships of hip abductor strength, neuromuscular control, and hip width to femoral length ratio with peak hip adduction angle in healthy female runners.

A large peak hip adduction angle during running is a risk factor for several overuse injuries in women. The purpose of this study was to determine if female runners with a large peak hip adduction angle have differences in eccentric hip abductor muscle strength, hip neuromuscular control, and/or hip width to femoral length ratio (HW:FL) compared to those with a small angle. Hip adduction during running, hip strength, hip control, and HW:FL were measured in sixty healthy female runners (1.

Comparison of core neuromuscular control and lower extremity postural stability in athletes with and without shoulder injuries.

Background: The kinetic chain theory is widely used as a rationale for the inclusion of core stability training in athletes. Core stability (muscle capacity and neuromuscular control) impairments may result in less than optimal performance and abnormal force dissipation to the shoulder complex that could lead to shoulder injuries. However, a paucity of literature exists to support this relationship, and no previous studies have investigated the relationship between isolated core neuromuscular control and shoulder injuries.

Comprehensive movement system screening tool (MSST) for athletes: Development and measurement properties.

Objectives: Non-traumatic extremity injuries are particularly common in sports, representing a significant economic, academic, and psychosocial burden on athletes. Proposed musculoskeletal risk factors for increased injury and decreased performance in athletes include movement pattern inefficiency, decreased regional stability, decreased mobility, and asymmetrical movement. The Movement System Screening Tool (MSST) is a comprehensive screening tool designed to assess these factors.

Individuals With and Without Low Back Pain Use Different Motor Control Strategies to Achieve Spinal Stiffness During the Prone Instability Test.

Background: The prone instability test is used to identify individuals with low back pain (LBP) who would benefit from trunk stabilization exercises. Although activity from muscles during the leg-raising portion of the prone instability test theoretically enhances spinal stiffness and reduces pain, evidence for this is lacking.

Objectives: To compare and contrast (1) pain and stiffness changes between prone instability testing positions, and (2) muscle activation patterns during the prone instability test leg raise in individuals with and without LBP.

COMPARISON OF CORE STABILITY AND BALANCE IN ATHLETES WITH AND WITHOUT SHOULDER INJURIES.

Background: Relationships between core stability and lower extremity injuries have been described in the literature; however, evidence of the relationship between upper extremity injuries and core stability and balance is limited.

Hypothesis/purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare clinical measures of core stability and balance between athletes with and without non-traumatic shoulder injuries.

Study Design: Cross sectional.

Intra- and Interrater Reliability and Concurrent Validity of a New Tool for Assessment of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema of the Upper Extremity.

Objective: The goal of this study was to develop and assess intra- and interrater reliability and validity of a clinical evaluation tool for breast cancer-related lymphedema, for use in the context of outcome evaluation in clinical trials.

Design: Blinded repeated measures observational study.

Setting: Outpatient research laboratory.

Pectoralis minor muscle elongation and scapulothoracic motion do not differ in individuals with short versus typical resting pectoralis minor muscle length: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Individuals with short resting pectoralis minor muscle length have been shown to have aberrant scapulothoracic motion when compared to individuals with long resting pectoralis minor muscle length. However, the degree to which the pectoralis minor muscle can be lengthened and whether or not scapulothoracic motion differs between individuals with short and typical resting pectoralis minor muscle length is unknown.

Objectives: To determine if: (1) pectoralis minor muscle elongation (percent pectoralis minor muscle can be actively and passively lengthened beyond resting length), (2) pectoralis minor muscle percent length change during overhead reaching, and (3) scapulothoracic motion during overhead reaching differ between individuals with short and typical resting pectoralis minor muscle length.

Agreement of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound and Clinical Assessment of Shoulder Impairment in Manual Wheelchair Users With Various Duration of Spinal Cord Injury.

Objectives: To determine (1) agreement of musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK-US) findings of shoulder pathology and related shoulder special test results in individuals with varied durations of manual wheelchair (MWC) use after spinal cord injury (SCI); and (2) whether shoulder musculoskeletal impairments, per MSK-US and clinical examination, differed in individuals with SCI and varying durations of MWC use.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Setting: Laboratory setting.

Kinematic characterization of clinically observed aberrant movement patterns in patients with non-specific low back pain: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Clinical observation of aberrant movement patterns during active forward bending is one criterion used to identify patients with non-specific low back pain suspected to have movement coordination impairment. The purpose of this study was to describe and quantify kinematic patterns of the pelvis and trunk using a dynamics systems approach, and determine agreement between clinical observation and kinematic classification.

Method: Ninety-eight subjects performed repeated forward bending with clinical observation and kinematic data simultaneously collected.

Intratester Reliability and Construct Validity of a Hip Abductor Eccentric Strength Test.

Context: Side-lying hip abductor strength tests are commonly used to evaluate muscle strength. In a "break" test, the tester applies sufficient force to lower the limb to the table while the patient resists. The peak force is postulated to occur while the leg is lowering, thus representing the participant's eccentric muscle strength.

Association of Pectoralis Minor Muscle Extensibility, Shoulder Mobility, and Duration of Manual Wheelchair Use.

Objective: To assess the relation of pectoralis minor muscle (PMm) length and extensibility to shoulder pain, shoulder girdle motion, and duration of manual wheelchair (MWC) use, and to compare differences in muscle length, muscle extensibility, peak humeral elevation, and pain among groups based on duration of wheelchair use.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Setting: Laboratory setting.

Reliability and validity of active and passive pectoralis minor muscle length measures.

Background: Pectoralis minor muscle length is believed to play an important role in shoulder pain and dysfunction. Current clinical procedures for assessing pectoralis minor muscle length may not provide the most useful information for clinical decision making.

Objective: To establish the reliability and construct validity of a novel technique to measure pectoralis minor muscle length under actively and passively lengthened conditions.

VALIDATION OF TWO CLINICAL MEASURES OF CORE STABILITY.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests poor core stability is a risk factor for low back and lower extremity injuries in athletes. Recently the trunk stability test (TST) and unilateral hip bridge endurance test (UHBE) were developed to clinically assess core stability. Although these and other clinical tests of core stability exist, how well they assess core stability when compared to biomechanical measures of isolated core stability has not been thoroughly evaluated.

Critical review of the impact of core stability on upper extremity athletic injury and performance.

Background: Programs designed to prevent or rehabilitate athletic injuries or improve athletic performance frequently focus on core stability. This approach is based upon the theory that poor core stability increases the risk of poor performance and/or injury. Despite the widespread use of core stability training amongst athletes, the question of whether or not sufficient evidence exists to support this practice remains to be answered.

Using kinematics and a dynamical systems approach to enhance understanding of clinically observed aberrant movement patterns.

The objective of this technical paper is to demonstrate how graphing kinematic data to represent body segment coordination and control can assist clinicians and researchers in understanding typical and aberrant human movement patterns. Aberrant movements are believed to be associated with musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. A dynamical systems approach to analysing movement provides a useful way to study movement control and coordination.

Defining functional shoulder range of motion for activities of daily living.

Introduction: The range of motion (ROM) in the wrist and elbow required for daily activities has been reported to be less than the normal anatomic ROM. This functional ROM has not been defined for the shoulder. Many shoulder outcome assessment tools use specific functional tasks of daily living to score functional results of treatment.

Shoulder impairments and their association with symptomatic rotator cuff disease in breast cancer survivors.

Over 2.6 million breast cancer survivors currently reside in the United States. While improvements in the medical management of women diagnosed with breast cancer have resulted in a 5-year survival rate of 89%, curative treatments are associated with a high prevalence of shoulder and arm morbidity, which, in turn, can negatively impact a woman's quality of life.

The use of acetic Acid iontophoresis in the management of a soft tissue injury.

Background: Contusions are common injuries that occur in athletics. If repeated, complications like myositis ossificans can occur. This case describes the examination and treatment of an athlete with an acute soft tissue injury.

Exercise protocol for the treatment of rotator cuff impingement syndrome.

Reference/citation:: Kuhn JE. Exercise in the treatment of rotator cuff impingement: a systematic review and a synthesized evidence-based rehabilitation protocol. 2009;18(1):138–160.