PM & R : the Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation

Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) is a specialty of medicine that focuses on function and the care of people with disabilities. Many medical schools offer PM&R content by means of PM&R clerkships for career development purposes with varying curricula and assessments; however, there is limited information regarding the optimal way to teach clinical skills relating to the field of PM&R. This narrative review study was performed to evaluate PM&R specific clinical curricular interventions...

BACKGROUND: Nordic walking (NW) has been reported to be beneficial in various chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether NW improves function in patients with heart failure (HF) with low left ventricular ejection fraction more than conventional cardiac rehabilitation or usual care. METHODS: Systematic literature searches in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science were conducted. According to patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) principles, a stepwise selection process was completed to identify eligible studies...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) and its effect on mobility in patients who were prescribed a lower limb prosthesis (LLP) after an incident dysvascular transtibial (TT) or transfemoral (TF) lower extremity amputation (LEA). We also sought to determine if the effect of PN on mobility was modified by amputation level or depression. DESIGN: Participants were identified retrospectively through the Veterans Affairs (VA) Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) from March 1, 2018, to November 30, 2020, then were contacted prospectively to obtain their self-reported mobility...

BACKGROUND: Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries that are often undiagnosed due to difficulties in identifying symptoms. To minimize the negative sequelae associated with undiagnosed concussion, efforts have targeted improving concussion reporting. However, knowing more about concussions does not indicate how likely an athlete is to report their concussion. Alternatively, the attitudes and beliefs of athletes and surrounding stakeholders have shown to be a better indication of whether an athlete intends to report their concussion...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of disability and the frequency with which people with disabilities encounter the health care system, physicians report inadequate knowledge regarding caring for their patients with disabilities. OBJECTIVE: To determine the number and type of disability-related competencies in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's Milestones 2.0. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of publicly available data to identify, via key word search, the presence of disability-related competencies using disability-related terms derived from the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health...

BACKGROUND: Impairments in cognition significantly affect patient functioning and rehabilitation outcomes. Assessment is essential to identifying at-risk individuals and guiding care plans. OBJECTIVE: A cognitive assessment protocol was implemented in occupational therapy (OT) and speech-language pathology (SLP) outpatient practice. Using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), this study (1) measured the reach and adoption of the cognitive assessment protocol and (2) explored determinants and strategies that may affect adoption...

BACKGROUND: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare immune-mediated peripheral nerve disease often preceded by infections. Respiratory muscle weakness is a common complication in this population, leading to decreased vital capacity, weakened coughing ability, atelectasis, and pulmonary infections. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) has been widely used to enhance inspiratory muscle strength and pulmonary function in various diseases; however, its application in GBS is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of an IMT protocol-InspireGBs-in people with GBS...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Safe and efficient locomotion is a frequently stated goal of lower limb prosthesis users, for which hip strength may play a central yet poorly understood role. Additional research to identify associations between hip strength, balance, and mobility among transtibial and transfemoral prosthesis users is required. OBJECTIVE: To test whether residual and/or intact limb isometric hip strength was associated with lower limb prosthesis users' walking speed, endurance, and balance...

BACKGROUND: Rehabilitation is important for patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the timing of early rehabilitation initiation is ambiguous, and its safety and effectiveness are unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness and safety of early rehabilitation in patients with moderate-to-severe TBI using propensity score analysis and a large database. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A large medical database (JMDC database) of tertiary care facilities was used to compare outcomes of early and delayed rehabilitation...

BACKGROUND: Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) individuals have higher rates of amputation and increased risk of a transfemoral amputation due to dysvascular disease than non-Hispanic White (NHW) individuals. However, it is unclear if NHB individuals have differences in prosthesis use or functional outcomes following an amputation. OBJECTIVE: To determine if there are racial disparities in prosthesis abandonment and mobility outcomes in veterans who have undergone their first major unilateral lower extremity amputation (LEA) due to diabetes and/or peripheral artery disease...

OBJECTIVE: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a common musculoskeletal injury associated with static balance deficits. The Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) is commonly used to assess static balance in individuals with CAI. However, the sensitivity of BESS in detecting balance deficits in CAI is unknown. This study compared BESS performance between people with CAI and controls and investigated which stances most effectively identified balance deficits in individuals with CAI. LITERATURE SURVEY: Seven electronic databases (Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Cochrane Library) were searched from July 13, 2023, to September 10, 2023, using the ankle instability and balance related terms as keywords to search original studies and perform a systematic review...

INTRODUCTION: Patients with low back pain may play an active role in the prescription of excessive spine imaging. OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of patients with low back pain who have beliefs not aligned with current evidence regarding the use of imaging and to identify factors associated with these beliefs. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of baseline data of a previously published randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Outpatient physical therapy clinic in a middle-income country...

Intraarticular knee injuries and subsequent posttraumatic arthritis (PTOA) are common in athletes. Unfortunately, PTOA may significantly affect performance and overall function, but this condition remains difficult to characterize. In this review, we provide an overview of imaging modalities used to evaluate PTOA among athletes and physically active individuals following knee injury, with the goal to discuss the strengths and limitations of their application in this population. A literature search was performed to identify clinical studies focusing of knee injuries in athletes and athletic persons, specifically using imaging for diagnosis or monitoring disease progression...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the efficacy of mirror neuron system-based therapy for managing pain and improving motor and upper limb function in patients with upper limb orthopedic conditions. LITERATURE SURVEY: Systematic bibliographical searches of the PubMed, SCOPUS, and CENTRAL registries and databases up to September 2023 were conducted to find randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy of mirror neuron system-based therapy for rehabilitation of upper limb orthopedic conditions...

BACKGROUND: Postmenopausal bone loss and decreased physical performance are commonly presented issues. This study aimed through systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the benefits of adding exercise to medicine/supplements in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted of four electronic databases for articles published from inception to December 2023. Clinical controlled trials comparing the effect of additional exercise and medicine/supplements alone in postmenopausal women were included...

BACKGROUND: Residency choice is often influenced by experiences in medical school. It is unclear what potential factors contribute to medical schools producing higher numbers of physical medicine & rehabilitation (PM&R) residents. OBJECTIVE: To identify the medical schools producing the most PM&R residents from 2017 to 2021 and potential influencing factors toward this production. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited PM&R programs; allopathic/osteopathic/international medical schools...

BACKGROUND: The recruitment of high-quality applicants is critical to the vitality of the sports medicine physician workforce. OBJECTIVE: To analyze changes in the total number of available training positions, applicants, and unfilled training positions in the Sports Medicine Match from 2012 to 2022. DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of sports medicine fellowship applicants. SETTING: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited sports medicine fellowship training programs...

Climate change has deleterious effects on stroke recovery, disproportionately affecting populations with increased stroke incidence. These effects start prior to the acute care hospitalization, precipitated by environmental etiologies and are sustained throughout the life course of stroke survivors. Health care practitioners play a critical role in identifying these concerns and mitigating their impact through effective strategies at the patient level, interventions at the community level, and advocacy at the state and federal level...