Disparities Exist in Physical Therapy Utilization and Time to Utilization Between Black and White Patients With Musculoskeletal Pain.

Objective: Black patients are less likely than White patients to receive physical therapy for musculoskeletal pain conditions. Current evidence, however, is limited to self-reported conditions and health services use. The purpose of this study was to use a large electronic health record database to determine whether a race disparity existed in use of physical therapy within 90 days of a new musculoskeletal diagnosis.

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome in Active Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Risk Factors.

Context: Medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) is a common condition in active individuals and presents as diffuse pain along the posteromedial border of the tibia.

Objective: To use cross-sectional, case-control, and cohort studies to identify significant MTSS risk factors.

Data Sources: Bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, PEDRo), grey literature, electronic search of full text of journals, manual review of reference lists, and automatically executed PubMed MTSS searches were utilized.

The Quality of Reporting of Abstracts in Physical Therapy Literature is Suboptimal: Cross-Sectional, Bibliographic Analysis.

Objective: The quality of abstract reporting in physical therapy literature is unknown. The purpose of this study was to provide baseline data for judging the future impact of the 2010 Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement specifically referencing the 2008 Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement for reporting of abstracts of randomized controlled trials across and between a broad sample and a core sample of physical therapy literature.

Design: A cross-sectional, bibliographic analysis was conducted.

Introduction to the GRADE approach for guideline development: considerations for physical therapist practice.

Background: Practice guidelines (guidelines) have an increasing role in health care delivery and are being published more frequently. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) is an approach for guideline development. The GRADE approach has been adopted by multiple national and international organizations producing guidelines related to physical therapist care.

Using MeSH (medical subject headings) to enhance PubMed search strategies for evidence-based practice in physical therapy.

Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an important paradigm in health care. Physical therapists report lack of knowledge and time constraints as barriers to EBP.

Objective: The purpose of this technical report is to illustrate how Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), a controlled vocabulary thesaurus of indexing terms, is used to efficiently search MEDLINE, the largest component of PubMed.

A guide to understanding meta-analysis.

With the focus on evidence-based practice in healthcare, a well-conducted systematic review that includes a meta-analysis where indicated represents a high level of evidence for treatment effectiveness. The purpose of this commentary is to assist clinicians in understanding meta-analysis as a statistical tool using both published articles and explanations of components of the technique. We describe what meta-analysis is, what heterogeneity is, and how it affects meta-analysis, effect size, the modeling techniques of meta-analysis, and strengths and weaknesses of meta-analysis.

Foot orthoses in lower limb overuse conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis--critical appraisal and commentary.

Reference/citation: Collins N, Bisset L, McPoil T, Vicenzino B. Foot orthoses in lower limb overuse conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Foot Ankle Int.

Using a partnership between academic faculty and a physical therapist liaison to develop a framework for an evidence-based journal club: a discussion.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) in rehabilitation is increasingly recognized as important. Despite the importance of EBP, physical therapists' knowledge of EBP varies. Journal clubs have been used to educate clinicians about EBP.

An exploratory analysis of PubMed's free full-text limit on citation retrieval for clinical questions.

Objective: The research sought to determine (1) how use of the PubMed free full-text (FFT) limit affects citation retrieval and (2) how use of the FFT limit impacts the types of articles and levels of evidence retrieved.

Methods: Four clinical questions based on a research agenda for physical therapy were searched in PubMed both with and without the use of the FFT limit. Retrieved citations were examined for relevancy to each question.

A primer on web surveys.

With the advancement of computers and access to the Internet, surveys using the web are becoming increasingly popular. Such surveys save money by eliminating postage costs and save time by providing immediate access to returned surveys and improved data processing. This primer describes some considerations and suggestions related to the use of web surveys.

Journal publication productivity in academic physical therapy programs in the United States and Puerto Rico from 1998 to 2002.

Background And Purpose: The peer-reviewed journal article is the basic unit by which scholarship is defined. Few studies have examined peer-reviewed publication productivity in academic physical therapy programs. In this study, the publication productivity in academic physical therapy programs in the United States and Puerto Rico from 1998 to 2002 was documented, and publication productivity was examined in the context of selected program characteristics.

Attitudes of physical therapist students toward physical therapist assistants before and after full-time clinical internships.

Development of attitudes of physical therapists (PTs) toward physical therapist assistants (PTAs) begins during their professional education, and attitudes are influenced further by clinical experiences. The purpose of this study was to understand attitudes of student PTs toward PTAs. We surveyed 66 clinical intern students enrolled in an entry-level master of physical therapy program.

Model for development of outcome assessment surveys for allied health educational programs.

This article describes a model for survey development used by the Department of Physical Therapy at Saint Louis University to assess the extent to which the program prepares students for a career as physical therapists. From a review of departmental documents including mission and philosophy statements and curriculum goals, eight performance outcomes (e.g.

Self-reported measurement of heart rate and blood pressure in patients by physical therapy clinical instructors.

Background And Purpose: The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice (Guide) recommends that heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) measurement be included in the examination of new patients. The purpose of this study was to survey physical therapy clinical instructors to determine the frequency of HR and BP measurement in new patients and in patients already on the physical therapists' caseload. The use of information obtained from HR and BP measures in decision making for patient care and the effects of practice setting and academic preparation on the measurement and use of HR and BP also were examined.