Physical therapy
-
The importance of assessing proprioceptive function for rehabilitation after neurological or orthopedic injury has long been recognized. Yet, neither the validity nor the accuracy of the available tests is firmly established. Testing typically involves repeated matching of a given joint position with the same or opposite limb where the difference between the 2 positions indicates proprioceptive acuity. ⋯ Threshold testing and joint position matching methods examine different physiological aspects of proprioceptive function. Because threshold testing is based on passive motion, it most closely reflects afferent sensory feedback processing (ie, proprioception). Matching methods require active motion and are consequently influenced by additional sensorimotor processes. Factors such as working memory and transmission between brain hemispheres also influence joint matching task outcomes.
-
Clinical trial registration has become an important part of editorial policies of various biomedical journals, including a few physical therapy journals. However, the extent to which editorial boards enforce the need for trial registration varies across journals. ⋯ Editorial policies on trial registration of physical therapy journals and a rising trend toward reporting of trial registration details indicate a positive momentum toward trial registration. Physical therapy journal editors need to show greater commitment to prospective trial registration to make it a rule rather than an option.
-
Skeletal muscle wasting and weakness are common in patients with sepsis in the intensive care unit, although less is known about deficits in diaphragm and limb muscles when mechanical ventilation also is required. ⋯ When measured at bedside, survivors of sepsis and a period of mechanical ventilation may have respiratory muscle weakness without remarkable diaphragm wasting. Furthermore, deficits in peripheral muscle strength and size may exceed those in the diaphragm.
-
Pain is a serious adverse complication after stroke. The combination of a vertical numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and a faces pain scale (FPS) has been advocated to measure pain after stroke. ⋯ These findings suggest that the NPRS-FPS is a reliable measure of pain in people with stroke, with good relative and absolute reliability.