Balance and Mobility Improvements During Inpatient Rehabilitation Are Similar in Young-Old, Mid-Old, and Old-Old Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: To compare balance, mobility, and functional outcomes across 3 age groups of older adults with traumatic brain injury; to describe differences between those discharged to private residences versus institutional care.

Setting: Acute inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Participants: One hundred adults, mean age of 78.

The ability of preoperative factors to predict patient-reported disability following surgery for rotator cuff pathology.

Purpose: Minimal research has examined the prognostic ability of shoulder examination data or psychosocial factors in predicting patient-reported disability following surgery for rotator cuff pathology. The purpose of this study was to examine these factors for prognostic value in order to help clinicians and patients understand preoperative factors that impact disability following surgery.

Methods: Sixty-two patients scheduled for subacromial decompression with or without supraspinatus repair were recruited.

Relationships among measures of balance, gait, and community integration in people with brain injury.

Objective: To examine the relationship among measures of gait, balance, and community integration in adults with brain injury.

Setting: Two rehabilitation hospitals.

Participants: Thirty-four community-dwelling individuals with brain injury, aged 18 to 61 years (mean = 32 years), who were able to walk at least 12 m independently or with supervision.

Change in knee cartilage volume in individuals completing a therapeutic exercise program for knee osteoarthritis.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To characterize knee cartilage change in individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) who have completed a therapeutic exercise program.

Background: While therapeutic exercise is frequently used successfully to improve pain and function in individuals with KOA, no studies have reported the volume of cartilage change or individual factors that may impact volume of cartilage change in those completing an exercise program for KOA.

Effect of baseline quadriceps activation on changes in quadriceps strength after exercise therapy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis.

Objective: To examine whether pretreatment magnitude of quadriceps activation (QA) helps predict changes in quadriceps strength after exercise therapy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We hypothesized that subjects with lower magnitudes of QA (greater failure of muscle activation) would have smaller gains in strength compared with those with higher magnitudes of QA following exercise therapy.

Methods: One hundred eleven subjects with knee OA (70 women) participated.

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation and volitional exercise for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis: a multiple-patient case report.

Background And Purpose: Muscle atrophy is common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is a viable treatment for muscle atrophy, there is no evidence about the use of NMES in patients with RA. The purposes of this multiple-patient case report are: (1) to describe the use of NMES applied to the quadriceps femoris muscles in conjunction with an exercise program in patients with RA; (2) to report on patient tolerance and changes in lean muscle mass, quadriceps femoris muscle strength (force-producing capacity), and physical function; and (3) to explore how changes in muscle mass relate to changes in quadriceps femoris muscle strength, measures of physical function, and patient adherence.