Normative Values for the Head Shake Sensory Organization Test in an Active Duty Military Cohort.

Introduction: The Head Shake Sensory Organization Test (HS-SOT) assesses postural stability while the head is moving and may also identify deficits in attention associated with the dual task conditions of moving the head at a specified speed while maintaining balance. Normative values for the HS-SOT have not been established in a healthy military population or other highly trained populations such as athletes. Establishing normative values in a military population will enable clinicians to compare the scores of patients with medical conditions that affect postural stability and sensory integration such as concussion or traumatic brain injury, vestibular dysfunction, or migraine to those of a healthy population to determine a need for intervention and for return to duty considerations.

Normative values for the Sensory Organization Test in an active duty military cohort.

Background: Computerized dynamic posturography is commonly used to assess balance in service members, but normative values for the military population have not been established.

Research Question: What are the normative values for the Motor Control Test (MCT), Sensory Organization Test (SOT) and the enhanced SOT (eSOT) within the military population and at which point do they differ?

Methods: Cross-sectional study. 237 active duty service members (78 % male) completed the MCT, SOT and the eSOT with the sway manipulated at a gain of 1.

Ride 2 Recovery's Project HERO: using cycling as part of rehabilitation.

Ride 2 Recovery was founded in 2008 by a former world-class cycling competitor and coach to enhance the physical and psychological recovery of our nation's wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans through the sport of cycling. Ride 2 Recovery's most notable endeavor is Project HERO (Healing Exercise Rehabilitation Opportunity) which uses staff members and volunteers to promote cycling as an integral part of rehabilitation at select military facilities to enhance physical, psychological, spiritual and social recovery. Project HERO is directed by a retired military physical therapist that spent the last decade caring for service men and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Predictors of functional shoulder recovery at 1 and 12 months after breast cancer surgery.

The objective of this study are (1) to determine if upper extremity function, as represented by shoulder ROM, self-reported symptoms and upper extremity functional limitations in activities of daily living could be predictively related to demographic and cancer characteristics post-surgery for breast cancer. And (2) to examine if variables related to early onset impairment contribute to late onset impairments in women after breast cancer surgery. Subjects were assessed preoperatively and 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12+ months post breast cancer surgery for impairments and symptoms and at 12+ months for shoulder functional limitations using a physical therapy surveillance model.

Factors predicting clinically significant fatigue in women following treatment for primary breast cancer.

Cancer-related fatigue is common, complex, and distressing. It affects 70-100% of patients receiving chemotherapy and a significant number who have completed their treatments. We assessed a number of variables in women newly diagnosed with primary breast cancer (BrCa) to determine whether biological and/or functional measures are likely to be associated with the development of clinically significant fatigue (CSF).

Pre-operative assessment enables early diagnosis and recovery of shoulder function in patients with breast cancer.

In order to determine the extent and time course of upper limb impairment and dysfunction in women being treated for breast cancer (BC), and followed prospectively, a novel physical therapy surveillance model post-treatment was used. Subjects included adult women with newly diagnosed, untreated, unilateral, Stage I to III BC, and normal physiological and biomechanical shoulder function. Subjects were excluded if they had a previous history of BC, or prior injury or surgery of the affected upper limb.

Acetabular labral tears: diagnostic accuracy of clinical examination by a physical therapist, orthopaedic surgeon, and orthopaedic residents.

Background: Previous studies have shown military physical therapists (PT) to have comparable clinical diagnostic accuracy (CDA) and interobserver agreement to orthopaedic surgeons (OS). However, no studies have examined hip pathology or used intraoperative findings as the reference standard for diagnosis.

Objective: To compare the CDA of physical examination findings among a PT, an OS, and two surgical orthopaedic residents (ORs) for hip labral tears.

Characterization of lateral abdominal muscle thickness in persons with lower extremity amputations.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Objectives: To describe bilateral thickness of the lateral abdominal muscles at baseline and during an abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) in individuals with unilateral transtibial (TTA) or transfemoral (TFA) amputations.

Background: Although side-to-side symmetry of lateral abdominal muscle thickness has been established in healthy individuals, the degree of symmetry in those with unilateral lower extremity amputations remains unknown.

Normative values for the unipedal stance test with eyes open and closed.

Purpose: Limited normative data are available for the unipedal stance test (UPST), making it difficult for clinicians to use it confidently to detect subtle balance impairments. The purpose of this study was to generate normative values for repeated trials of the UPST with eyes opened and eyes closed across age groups and gender.

Methods: This prospective, mixed-model design was set in a tertiary care medical center.

Relationships among lateral abdominal muscles, gender, body mass index, and hand dominance.

Study Design: Exploratory.

Objectives: To explore whether hand dominance, gender, and body mass index (BMI) influence the thickness of the lateral abdominal muscles as measured by ultrasound imaging. To document the extent of improvement in response stability when an average of multiple measures was utilized.

Process of care for battle casualties at Walter Reed Army Medical Center: Part II. Physical therapy service.

Physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, and physical therapy technicians provide care to soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. We describe the inpatient and outpatient services provided, the problems and solutions encountered, and the lessons learned at the beginning of the war.