Effect of Starting Posture on Three-Dimensional Jaw and Head Movement.

Objectives: The effect of body posture on movement of the jaw and head has not yet been clearly established. The relationship between jaw and head movement has implications for conditions such as temporomandibular joint disorders which can be associated with neck pain. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the effect of starting posture on three-dimensional movement of the jaw and head, and to examine the relationship between head and jaw movement during mouth opening.

Movement System Diagnoses for Balance Dysfunction: Recommendations From the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy's Movement System Task Force.

Unlabelled: The movement system was identified as the focus of our expertise as physical therapists in the revised vision statement for the profession adopted by the American Physical Therapy Association in 2013. Attaining success with the profession's vision requires the development of movement system diagnoses that will be useful in clinical practice, research, and education. To date, only a few movement system diagnoses have been identified and described, and none of these specifically address balance dysfunction.

Physical Therapy Evaluation and Treatment After Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Over the last decade, numerous concussion evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), consensus statements, and clinical guidance documents have been published. These documents have typically focused on the diagnosis of concussion and medical management of individuals post concussion, but provide little specific guidance for physical therapy management of concussion and its associated impairments. Further, many of these guidance documents have targeted specific populations in specific care contexts.

A Treatment-Based Profiling Model for Physical Therapy Management of Patients Following a Concussive Event.

Concussions are a public health concern that affects individuals across the life span. The multifaceted effects of concussion warrant an interdisciplinary management strategy that may include physical therapy. However, physical therapists may feel underprepared for clinical decision making following a concussive event.

Measuring Community Mobility in Survivors of Stroke Using Global Positioning System Technology: A Prospective Observational Study.

Background And Purpose: Returning to community mobility is important for people recovering from a stroke, yet few studies have directly measured this construct following inpatient rehabilitation. Using global positioning system (GPS) technology, we examined community mobility of survivors of stroke (SS) over the first year after discharge and compared them to an age-matched comparison group without neurological impairment.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study that included SS (n = 14) and age- and location-matched comparison subjects (CS; n = 6).

Readiness for Clinical Practice Promoting Safe Student Performance in Physical Therapy Education.

Background: Physical therapy educators have a responsibility to graduate entry-level PTs who can provide safe high-quality care. The main purpose of this retrospective study was to determine if students who were not safe on campus have different midterm Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) safety scores on clinical education experiences (CEEs) than students who were safe on campus.

Methods: Forty-six DPT students were categorized into two safety groups: (1) students who were not safe on campus and had successful safety remediation (n=17) and (2) students who were safe on campus (n=29).

Age-Related Differences in Postural and Goal-Directed Movements During Medial-Lateral Rhythmic Stepping.

Lateral stability and weight transfer are important for successful stepping and are associated with falls in older adults (OAs). This study assessed the influence of step pacing frequency during medial-lateral stepping in place on body center of mass and lower limb movement in young adults, middle-aged adults, and OAs. Medial-lateral center of mass and stepping limb motion and lower limb loading data were collected.

Community mobility after stroke: a systematic review.

Unlabelled: Background Stroke is the leading cause of severe disability and many survivors report long-term physical or cognitive impairments that may impact their ability to achieve community mobility (CM).

Purpose: To determine the extent to which people with chronic stroke achieve CM compared to age-matched norms or non-neurologically impaired controls. Methods The StrokEDGE outcome measures were searched to identify validated tools that included >25% of items addressing CM.

Predictors of functional outcomes in adults with traumatic spinal cord injury following inpatient rehabilitation: A systematic review.

Context: Despite functional improvements during rehabilitation, variable functional outcomes were reported when patients with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) return to society. Higher functioning individuals at discharge can experience a decrease in independent mobility (i.e.

Management of falls in community-dwelling older adults: clinical guidance statement from the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Background: Falls in older adults are a major public health concern due to high prevalence, impact on health outcomes and quality of life, and treatment costs. Physical therapists can play a major role in reducing fall risk for older adults; however, existing clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) related to fall prevention and management are not targeted to physical therapists.

Objective: The purpose of this clinical guidance statement (CGS) is to provide recommendations to physical therapists to help improve outcomes in the identification and management of fall risk in community-dwelling older adults.

Monitoring community mobility with global positioning system technology after a stroke: a case study.

Background: Stroke survivors often experience difficulty returning to activities and places they deem important to their social, leisure, and occupational aspirations. The extent to which stroke survivors return to community mobility and their ability to navigate and access locations they deem meaningful have not been objectively measured.

Purpose: We used global positioning system technology (GPSt) to measure the community mobility of a person poststroke, and assess the relationship between GPSt measures and clinical measures of mobility.

Lateral rhythmic unipedal stepping in younger, middle-aged, and older adults.

Purpose: Voluntary and protective stepping performance changes with age. This has implications for the problem of falls in older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of metronome paced stepping practice on self-selected preferred rhythmic unipedal stepping performance in the medial-lateral direction among younger, middle-aged and older adults.

Base of support feedback in gait rehabilitation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of feedback information about base of support in gait rehabilitation. Sixteen individuals with hemiparesis resulting in narrow base of support, were randomly placed into two equal groups, experimental and control. The experimental group was provided with a portable device that provided extrinsic auditory feedback information about base of support incorporated in the functional context of conventional gait therapy, whereas the control group received a conventional gait therapy only.