Predictors of Success in a Graduate, Entry-Level Professional Program: From Admissions to Graduation.

Introduction: Admission to health professional programs (HPPs) in Canada is competitive. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how factors identifiable by the admissions package may predict incidences of academic concerns in one physiotherapy program in Canada.

Review Of Literature: Previous literature has identified many concepts that contribute to "academic success.

Interactions of cumulative load with biomarkers of cartilage turnover predict knee cartilage change over 2 years: data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

The purpose was to investigate relationships of cumulative load and cartilage turnover biomarkers with 2-year changes in cartilage in knee osteoarthritis. From participants with Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grades of 1 to 3, cartilage thickness and transverse relaxation time (T2) were computed from 24-month (baseline) and 48-month magnetic resonance images. Cumulative load was the interaction term of the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) and body mass index (BMI).

Difference in Physiotherapy Students' Training and Objective Structured Clinical Exam Performance Before and During COVID-19.

Purpose: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and station examinations, in general, have been widely utilized in health professional programmes to evaluate students' clinical performance prior to advancing to a clinical placement. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted student preparation and implementation of our programme's OSCEs. The impact on changes in student OSCE performance due COVID-19 has not been well studied.

Does peak expiratory flow moderate trajectories of cognitive function among individuals with lung diseases? A longitudinal analysis of the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Introduction: Impaired cognitive function can co-exist in chronic respiratory diseases. However, it is not clear if peak expiratory flow (PEF) impacts changes in cognitive function. Our objective was to explore whether peak expiratory flow moderates trajectories of memory, visuospatial abilities, and executive function in individuals with chronic respiratory diseases.

Sex Differences in Functional Capacity in Older Adults With Stroke: An Analysis of Data From the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Objective: Women experience greater disability following stroke, but biological sex differences in both overall and specific domains of functional capacity are not well understood. The primary objective of this study was to examine sex differences in overall functional capacity (Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB] score) cross-sectionally and longitudinally over a 3-year follow-up period. The secondary objective was to determine whether sex differences exist in specific domains of functional capacity of walking speed and lower extremity functional strength.

Muscle strength gains after strengthening exercise explained by reductions in serum inflammation in women with knee osteoarthritis.

Background Individuals with knee osteoarthritis have elevated circulating inflammatory markers and altered cartilage properties but it is unclear if these features adapt to exercise. We aimed to determine (1) whether inflammatory markers, cartilage transverse relaxation time and thickness mediate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on quadriceps strength at baseline; and (2) whether these changes explain variance in quadriceps strength improvements after 12 weeks of exercise in women with knee osteoarthritis. Methods This secondary analysis (17 women with clinical knee osteoarthritis) of a randomized control trial compared supervised group interventions, 3 times/week for 12 weeks (36 sessions): (a) weight-bearing progressive resistive quadriceps exercise or (b) attention control.

Development and assessment of a verbal response scale for the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) in a low-literacy, non-western population.

Purpose: The Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) is a routinely used measure of physical function with a 0-10 response scale. We aimed to develop verbal response options for the PSFS, pre-test it for use in a multilingual, low-literacy country- Nepal, and compare preference and error rates between numeric and verbal scale. We hypothesized that a verbal scale would be preferred by respondents and yield fewer errors.

How to Optimize Measurement Protocols: An Example of Assessing Measurement Reliability Using Generalizability Theory.

This article identifies how to assess multiple sources of measurement error and identify optimal measurement strategies for obtaining clinical outcomes. Obtaining, interpreting, and using information gained from measurements is instrumental in physiotherapy. To be useful, measurements must have a sufficiently small measurement error.

Assessing Arm Volume in People During and After Treatment for Breast Cancer: Reliability and Convergent Validity of the LymphaTech System.

Background: There are challenges related to the accurate and efficient measurement of lymphedema in people with breast cancer. The LymphaTech 3D Imaging System (LymphaTech, Atlanta, GA, USA) is a mobile, noninvasive platform that provides limb geometry measurements.

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the reliability and validity of the LymphaTech for measuring arm volume in the context of women seeking care in a specialty breast cancer rehabilitation clinic.

Clinical Interpretation of the Neck Functional Status Computerized Adaptive Test.

Background: Clinical interpretation of patient-reported outcome measures is an essential step in patient-centered care. Interpretation of scores derived from the Neck Functional Status Computerized Adaptive Test (NFS-CAT) has not been studied.

Objectives: To (1) assess the reliability of point estimates and improvement scores, (2) determine thresholds of minimal clinically important improvement (MCII), and (3) develop a functional staging model to facilitate clinical interpretation of NFS-CAT scores.

Effects of Covertly Measured Home Exercise Adherence on Patient Outcomes Among Older Adults With Chronic Knee Pain.

Background: Assessment of home exercise adherence and the degree to which adherence influences changes in patient outcomes is limited by the use of self-reported measures.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between adherence to a home strengthening program, covertly measured by accelerometers in ankle cuff weights, and changes in self-reported pain, physical function, and knee extensor strength among people with chronic knee pain.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from a clinical measurement study in 54 adults, aged 45 years or older, with chronic knee pain who completed a 12-week, home-based quadriceps-strengthening program.

Labelling a Patient's Change Status: It's a Confidence Game.

The past several decades have seen considerable interest in identifying and applying threshold change values with outcome measures commonly used by physiotherapists. The crucial question of interest to clinicians is, To what extent can valid inferences be drawn from an outcome measure's change or improvement score? To date, typical reporting by researchers includes the presentation of a validity coefficient, often in the form of the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve, and a threshold change or improvement value. A limitation of existing work is that it does not convey the confidence that a clinician can have in a decision based on applying the proposed threshold change value.

Estimating the Threshold Value for Change for the Six Dimensions of the Impairment Inventory of the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment.

Our purpose was to estimate a threshold value for change for the six dimensions of the Impairment Inventory of the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment and the confidence in labelling a person as having improved or not. Secondary analysis of two data sets, previously reported by two research teams, consisted of two statistical analyses. The first analysis used a multiple of the standard error of measurement to calculate the threshold value for change for the six dimensions.

Self-reported Home Exercise Adherence: A Validity and Reliability Study Using Concealed Accelerometers.

Background: Accurate measurement of adherence to prescribed exercise programs is essential. Diaries and self-report rating scales are commonly used, yet little evidence exists to demonstrate their validity and reliability.

Objectives: To examine the concurrent validity of adherence to home strengthening exercises measured by (1) exercise diaries and (2) a self-report rating scale, compared to adherence measured using an accelerometer concealed in an ankle cuff weight.

Characterizing the recovery trajectories of knee range of motion for one year after total knee replacement.

: Retrospective analysis of routinely collected clinical data. : This study modeled the recovery in knee flexion and extension range of motion (ROM) over 1 year after total knee replacement (TKR). : Recovery after TKR has been characterized for self-reported pain and functional status.

Impact of Risk Adjustment on Provider Ranking for Patients With Low Back Pain Receiving Physical Therapy.

Background The impact of risk adjustment on clinic quality ranking for patients treated in physical therapy outpatient clinics is unknown. Objectives To compare clinic ranking, based on unadjusted versus risk-adjusted outcomes for patients with low back pain (LBP) who are treated in physical therapy outpatient clinics. Methods This retrospective cohort study involved a secondary analysis of data from adult patients with LBP treated in outpatient physical therapy clinics from 2014 to 2016.

Submaximal normalizing methods to evaluate load sharing changes in the shoulder during repetitive work.

The EMG-force relationship changes with muscle fatigue, making interpretation of load sharing between muscles challenging. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the efficacy of normalizing EMG to repeated, static, submaximal exertions to mitigate fatigue artifacts in EMG amplitude (increased amplitude without muscle force change). Participants completed repetitive work tasks, in 60-second cycles, until exhaustion.

Self-efficacy, pain, and quadriceps capacity at baseline predict changes in mobility performance over 2 years in women with knee osteoarthritis.

This study examined the extent to which baseline measures of quadriceps strength, quadriceps power, knee pain and self-efficacy for functional tasks, and their interactions, predicted 2-year changes in mobility performance (walking, stair ascent, stair descent) in women with knee osteoarthritis. We hypothesized that lesser strength, power and self-efficacy, and higher pain at baseline would each be independently associated with reduced mobility over 2 years, and each of pain and self-efficacy would interact with strength and power in predicting 2-year change in stair-climbing performance. This was a longitudinal, observational study of women with clinical knee osteoarthritis.

Baseline knee adduction moment interacts with body mass index to predict loss of medial tibial cartilage volume over 2.5 years in knee Osteoarthritis.

This study aimed to determine the extent to which changes over 2.5 years in medial knee cartilage thickness and volume were predicted by: (1) Peak values of the knee adduction (KAM) and flexion moments; and (2) KAM impulse and loading frequency, representing cumulative load, after controlling for age, sex and body mass index (BMI). Adults with clinical knee osteoarthritis participated.

Acute changes in knee cartilage transverse relaxation time after running and bicycling.

Purpose: To compare the acute effect of running and bicycling of an equivalent cumulative load on knee cartilage composition and morphometry in healthy young men. A secondary analysis investigated the relationship between activity history and the change in cartilage composition after activity.

Methods: In fifteen men (25.

A Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire Target Value to Distinguish between Functional and Dysfunctional States in People with Low Back Pain.

Purpose: To estimate a threshold Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMQ) value that could be used to classify patients with low back pain (LBP) as functional or dysfunctional.

Methods: In this secondary analysis of data from a study that estimated clinically important RMQ change scores, participants were adults with LBP attending one of three physical therapy clinics. Diagnostic test methodology and a reference standard of goals met were applied to estimate a threshold RMQ value that best distinguished between participants with a functional status and those whose status was dysfunctional.

The Group Experience: Remodelling Outpatient Physiotherapy after Knee Replacement Surgery.

Unlabelled: Purpose : To estimate responses to short-duration (4-6 weeks) group-based physiotherapy after knee replacement in terms of pain, function, and satisfaction.

Method: The study used a prospective, observational design. A total of 169 participants (111 women, 58 men) were consecutively recruited to attend a twice-weekly post-operative knee replacement class focused on mobility, strength, balance, and functional retraining.

GT3X+ accelerometer placement affects the reliability of step-counts measured during running and pedal-revolution counts measured during bicycling.

Unlabelled: Accelerometers provide a measure of step-count. Reliability and validity of step-count and pedal-revolution count measurements by the GT3X+ accelerometer, placed at different anatomical locations, is absent in the literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of step and pedal-revolution counts produced by the GT3X+ placed at different anatomical locations during running and bicycling.

Do Knee Moments Normalized to Measures of Knee Cartilage Area Better Classify the Severity of Knee Osteoarthritis?

Investigations of joint loading in knee osteoarthritis (OA) typically normalize the knee adduction moment to global measures of body size (eg, body mass, height) to allow comparison between individuals. However, such measurements may not reflect knee size. This study used a morphometric measurement of the cartilage surface area on the medial tibial plateau, which better represents medial knee size.