Effects of lower extremity passive stretching: pilot study of children and youth with severe limitations in self-mobility.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate changes in passive range of motion (PROM) of children with severe limitations in self-mobility during periods of physical therapy intervention and naturally occurring periods of no intervention (school vacations).

Methods: A multiple-case time-series design was used to monitor hip and knee PROM over a seven-month period for seven students aged four to 18 years receiving physical therapy in a school setting. PROM measurements were graphed and the Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to evaluate the PROM changes during intervention and nonintervention phases for each individual student and for the students as a group.

Impairment, disability, and satisfaction outcomes after lower-extremity botulinum toxin a injections for children with cerebral palsy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to document impairment, disability, and parent satisfaction outcomes for children with cerebral palsy who received botulinum toxin A (BtA) injections.

Methods: Seven children, three to 11 years old, participated in this multiple single-subject AB design study. Impairment, disability, and satisfaction outcomes were documented using passive range of motion measurements, Modified Ashworth Scale scores, and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure.

Functional changes during inpatient rehabilitation for children with musculoskeletal diagnoses.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe functional self-care and mobility changes of children with musculoskeletal diagnoses during inpatient rehabilitation.

Methods: A retrospective record review was completed for 50 children and youth aged three to 20 years admitted to inpatient rehabilitation after a traumatic musculoskeletal injury or after orthopedic surgery because of a preexisting musculoskeletal or neuromuscular disorder. Admission to discharge changes in summary scaled scores on the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory's (PEDI) Functional Skills and Caregiver Assistance Self-Care and Mobility scales for the total group and two diagnostic subgroups were examined using paired t tests and effect-size coefficients.

Expert consensus on physical therapist intervention after botulinum toxin a injection for children with cerebral palsy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gather expert consensus on physical therapist (PT) intervention after lower extremity botulinum toxin A (BtA) injection(s) for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and lower extremity spasticity. This study also examined differences in expert opinion on intervention for two groups of children with CP and differing levels of functional ability.

Methods: The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice was used to develop a questionnaire.

Recovery of ambulation during inpatient rehabilitation: physical therapist prognosis for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury.

Background And Purpose: Evidence to guide physical therapist prognosis for recovery of the ability to ambulate in children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is limited. The aim of this study was to delineate a predictive model and determine the value of key demographic and clinical variables in establishing a prognosis for ambulation without the assistance of a device or person over 15.24 m on a flat, level surface following inpatient rehabilitation.

Strategies to promote activity and participation in children and youths with acquired brain injuries.

Strategies used by hospital and community-based rehabilitation and educational professionals and parents for promoting activity performance and participation of children and youths with acquired brain injuries (ABI) in the hospital, at home, at school and in the community are described in this article. Semi-structured interviews with interdisciplinary staff from a pediatric rehabilitation hospital in the Northeast USA and focus groups comprised of hospital and community-based educational and rehabilitation professionals and parents were conducted. Interviews and focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and qualitatively analyzed.

Oxygen and ventilator weaning during inpatient pediatric pulmonary rehabilitation.

Rates of oxygen and ventilator weaning, and factors related to successful weaning in inpatient pediatric pulmonary programs for infants and young children, have not been frequently reported in the literature. A retrospective review was conducted of 34 infants and toddlers with either a diagnostic condition of prematurity (PM) or congenital anomalies/neuromuscular disease (CA/NM) discharged from an inpatient pulmonary program. These cases represent 67 hospital admission-discharge episodes over a 6-year period.

Lower extremity spasticity as an early marker of ambulatory recovery following traumatic brain injury.

Methods: A consecutive series of 107 children and young persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to a hospital-based inpatient rehabilitation program was assessed to determine whether lower extremity spasticity could be utilized as an early clinical marker for recovery of ambulation. Presence of spasticity was determined by clinical examination at admission, and the ability to ambulate safely indoors (15.24 m) was evaluated at discharge.

Motor skill and mobility recovery outcomes of children and youth with traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability in children. Along with other neurological clinical sequelae, children often exhibit motor skill impairment and limitations in functional mobility following TBI. The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to: (1) familiarize therapists with the literature available regarding motor skill and mobility recovery outcomes for children and adolescents with TBI; (2) assist therapists in the selection of motor skill and mobility outcome assessments for use in clinical practice; and (3) provide therapists with comparisons of outcomes for external benchmarking.

Functional recovery in pediatric traumatic brain injury during inpatient rehabilitation.

Objective: To examine changes in functional status of children with traumatic brain injury by identifying the pattern and amount of change between and within the domains of self-care, mobility, and social function during inpatient rehabilitation and to examine the relationships of age and injury severity to functional recovery.

Design: Retrospective descriptive study. Seventy-nine children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury were assessed at inpatient rehabilitation hospital admission and discharge by using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory's (PEDI) functional skills and caregiver assistance domains of self-care, mobility, and social function.

Social function changes in children and adolescents with acquired brain injury during inpatient rehabilitation.

Objective: To examine changes in social function capabilities between and within groups of children with six subtypes of acquired brain injury during inpatient rehabilitation.

Measure: The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) Social Functional Skills Scale was administered to 139 children with acquired brain injury (mean age=9.28 years; SD = 5.

Self-care recovery of children with brain injury: descriptive analysis using the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) functional classification levels.

The purpose of this study was to describe self-care recovery of children and adolescents with acquired brain injury using six newly derived self-care functional classification levels, to examine the responsiveness of the levels, and to compare level changes with scaled score changes. Upon admission and discharge to inpatient rehabilitation, the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) Functional Skills Self-Care domain was administered by occupational therapy staff to 152 children and adolescents with brain injury (mean age = 9.3 years; SD = +/- 5.

Clinical findings and resource use of infants and toddlers dependent on oxygen and ventilators.

Medical records were reviewed to describe characteristics, report clinical and resource measures, and determine if differences exist between the diagnostic groups of prematurity and multiple congenital anomalies/neurologic conditions for initial admissions of 37 infants and toddlers to an inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program. More than 75% of the children had a tracheostomy at admission and discharge. Forty-six percent of the sample was admitted requiring only oxygen, whereas 51% were discharged requiring only oxygen and not mechanical ventilation.

Classifying mobility recovery in children and youth with brain injury during hospital-based rehabilitation.

Primary Objective: This article describes mobility recovery for children and youth with traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury during hospital-based rehabilitation.

Research Design: A retrospective, descriptive pre-test/post-test design was used.

Methods And Procedures: One hundred and fifty-seven individuals with brain injury who were admitted for rehabilitation over a 5-year period were enrolled in this study.

Short-term durability and improvement of function in traumatic brain injury: a pilot study using the Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) classification levels.

Primary Objective: To describe the short-term durability and improvement of functional outcomes for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI) up to 6 months after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation.

Research Design: Retrospective, descriptive.

Methods And Procedures: Twenty-five (28.

Aquatic therapy in pediatrics: annotated bibliography.

"Aquatic therapy" refers to therapeutic intervention taking place in water. The purpose of this review is to summarize the published articles in the rehabilitation literature from 1979 through 1999 that relate to the use of aquatic therapy as an intervention for children and adolescents with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal diagnoses. Despite the trend toward evidence-based practice, a paucity of literature exists related to aquatic therapy for children.

A clinical ladder for milieu counselors. An opportunity to contribute to self-esteem.

1. Self-esteem affects motivation, achievement, and job satisfaction. 2.