Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is one of the most common and disabling childhood genetic diseases. The course of DMD involves progressive muscular degeneration and weakness, leading to functional decline. The Performance of the Upper Limb scale (PUL) is a specific instrument designed to assess the upper limb function of patients with DMD. OBJECTIVE: To adapt the PUL cross-culturally to Brazilian Portuguese (PUL-Br) and assess the convergent validity, structural validity, inter-rater reliability, and internal consistency for Brazilian patients with DMD METHODS: The cross-cultural adaptation involved six steps: translation to Brazilian Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese translation synthesis, back-translation to English, back-translation synthesis, an expert committee review, and a pre-final version test (n = 12)...

BACKGROUND: Muscle mechanical properties (MMPs) are relevant in the pathophysiology of lumbopelvic disorders. However, they have not been described in the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) and lumbar paravertebral muscles (LPM) of women with urge urinary incontinence (UUI). OBJECTIVE: To identify differences between MMPs of PFM and LPM in patients with UUI and healthy controls. Secondarily also aimed to observe the relationship between sociodemographic and clinical variables with the PFM and LPM MMPs...

BACKGROUND: The modified Fresno test is a questionnaire developed to evaluate Evidence-Based Practice among physical therapists. A previous study has indicated that a shorter version with 9 items would be more appropriate for Brazilian physical therapists. OBJECTIVES: To test the measurement properties of the modified Fresno test - Brazilian-Portuguese short version. METHODS: To analyze the reliability of the modified Fresno test - Brazilian-Portuguese short version by two raters (intra and inter-rater) in a sample of 133 physical therapists...

BACKGROUND: Identifying a weak/strong pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction in pregnant women may help prevent and treat dysfunctions during late pregnancy and postpartum. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Peritron™ manometer can accurately differentiate a weak from a strong PFM contraction and the respective cut-offs for its variables in pregnant women. METHODS: This is a diagnostic accuracy study. Forty-four women in the third trimester of pregnancy participated (mean±SD age: 29±5 years)...

BACKGROUND: A mixed methods study which aimed to evaluate the influence of Good Life with osteoArthritis Denmark (GLA:D®) on physical activity participation, including perceived capability, barriers, and facilitators in people with knee osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE: Quantify changes in physical activity participation at 3- and 12-months for people with knee osteoarthritis who participated in an education and exercise-therapy program (GLA:D®). METHODS: A mixed-methods study involving 44 participants with knee osteoarthritis who completed GLA:D®...

BACKGROUND: Risk stratification is an approach which has been recommended across a number of international guidelines for the management of back pain. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the use of risk stratification with a matched treatment pathway improves clinical outcomes, when compared with usual care or other interventions, in adults with acute back pain. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted of the databases Medline, Embase, PEDro, CINAHL and Cochrane Library in November 2022...

BACKGROUND: Physical activity in natural environments, such as trail running, is a way to nurture physical and mental health. However, running has an inherent risk of musculoskeletal injuries. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of running-related injuries (RRI) and cramps, and to describe the personal and training characteristics of Brazilian trail runners. METHODS: A total of 1068 trail runners were included in this observational cross-sectional study...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Handgrip strength (HGS) testing is a highly recommended method for screening for sarcopenia in older adults. However, there is no consensus on the optimal protocol and number of trials for screening sarcopenia in older adults with cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the use of the first trial (FT), the mean of three trials (MT), and the highest value (HT) from three trials of the HGS test to screen for sarcopenia in older adults with cognitive impairment...

BACKGROUND: Bladder training (BT), the maintenance of a scheduled voiding regime at gradually adjusted intervals, is a common treatment for overactive bladder (OAB). OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of isolated BT and/or in combination with other therapies on OAB symptoms. METHODS: A systematic review of eight databases was conducted. After screening titles and abstracts, full texts were retrieved. Cochrane RoB 2 and the GRADE approach were used...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Participation of children with disabilities is an indicator of social inclusion, health, and well-being, and its evaluation needs to be included in the clinical practice of rehabilitation professionals. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the measurement properties of the Participation and Environment Measure - Children and Youth Brazilian version (PEM-CY Brazil). METHODS: We used the PEM-CY to evaluate participation and environment of children with and without disabilities in the home, school, and community settings...

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health (SRH) is the perception of an individual regarding their health and an indicator of health status. Identifying predictors of SRH allows the selection of evidence-based interventions that mitigate factors leading to poor SRH and the identification of individuals at risk of worse SRH. OBJECTIVE: To determine the acute predictors of general and time-comparative SRH of individuals with stroke at 3 and 12 months after hospital discharge, considering personal, physical, and mental functions...

BACKGROUND: The relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and its possible determinants in post-COVID-19 survivors has not been systematically assessed. OBJECTIVES: To identify and summarize studies comparing cardiorespiratory fitness measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing in COVID-19 survivors versus non-COVID-19 controls, as well as to determine the influence of potential moderating factors. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and SciELO since their inceptions until June 2022...

BACKGROUND: The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) is one of the most frequently employed instruments for assessing maladaptive beliefs about pain, injury, and movement in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. However, the measurement properties of this tool have so far not been tested for individuals with migraine. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the structural, construct, and criterion validity, and the internal consistency for three versions (TSK-11, TSK-13, and TSK-17) of the TSK for patients with migraine...

BACKGROUND: Moderately vigorous physical activity (PA) may be beneficial for people with sub-acute low back pain (LBP), but may initially be painful for patients and challenging for physical therapists to facilitate. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated motivational interviewing (MI) delivered by physical therapists and a smartphone app for increasing PA in people with LBP. METHODS: A mixed methods cluster randomised controlled trial involving 46 adults with LBP in Melbourne, Australia...

BACKGROUND: Functional capacity impairment is a crucial consequence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although it can be identified with simple tests, such as the sit-to-stand tests, its prevalence, relation with disease severity, and the characteristics of people presenting this impairment remain unknown. OBJECTIVE: To explore the functional capacity of people with COPD. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with people with COPD and age-/sex-matched healthy controls was conducted...

BACKGROUND: Patients are key stakeholders of clinical research, and their perspectives are relevant for researchers when planning and conducting clinical trials. Numerous aspects of trial process can influence participants' experiences. Their experiences within a trial can impact retention rates. Poor treatment adherence may bias treatment effect estimates. One way to improve recruitment and adherence is to design trials that are aligned with patients' needs and preferences. This study reports a process evaluation of the Otago MASTER feasibility trial...

BACKGROUND: Migraine may be accompanied by several cervical musculoskeletal dysfunctions, for example an altered performance on the Craniocervical Flexion Test (CCFT). However, CCFT measurement properties are still unclear in patients with migraine. OBJECTIVES: To determine intra- and inter-examiner reliability, construct validity, standard measurement error (SEM), and minimal detectable change (MDC) of the CCFT in patients with migraine. METHODS: Women diagnosed with migraine were considered eligible for this study...

BACKGROUND: The physical therapy profession has made efforts to increase the use of confidence intervals due to the valuable information they provide for clinical decision-making. Confidence intervals indicate the precision of the results and describe the strength and direction of a treatment effect measure. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of reporting of confidence intervals, achievement of intended sample size, and adjustment for multiple primary outcomes in randomised trials of physical therapy interventions...