| This section contains news related to the therapy industry and Planetrehab.
Payment Reduction Policy for 'Efficiencies' Could Limit Patient Access to Care, Says APTA—Governmental Affairs
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is urging against the adoption of payment policies outlined in a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Monday that recommends the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reduce Medicare payments for physical therapists and other health care providers who perform multiple procedures on the same patient on the same day. Under this proposal, providers would likely be reimbursed for these services at a rate that is below the cost of providing the services to their patients. Such payment rates would severely hinder the ability for some providers to keep their practices open. If practices do close, there is a strong likelihood that patients will have limited access to physical therapy services and other necessary procedures, says APTA.
Stroke May Be Striking at a Younger Age—Occupational Therapy
Stroke could be affecting Americans earlier in life than ever before, a new study suggests.
"Stroke is no longer an affliction of old age," said lead researcher Timothy J. Wolf, an instructor of occupational therapy and neurology and investigator for the Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Group at Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis. "People in the working ages of life are having strokes with greater regularity than ever before."
Those Blinded By Brain Injury May Still 'See', New Study Shows—Occupational Therapy
Except in clumsy moments, we rarely knock over the box of cereal or glass of orange juice as we reach for our morning cup of coffee. New research at The University of Western Ontario has helped unlock the mystery of how our brain allows us to avoid these undesired objects.
The study, led by Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience Mel Goodale, lead author Chris Striemer and colleagues in Western's Department of Psychology, has been published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Guideline Finds Kids with Microcephaly Risk Neurologic Problems, Need Screening—Pediatric Therapy
A new guideline from the AAN finds children with microcephaly are at risk of neurologic and cognitive problems and should be screened for these problems. The guideline, developed in full collaboration with the Child Neurology Society, was published in the September 15, 2009, issue of Neurology®.
Kids’ Headaches, Migraines Increase as New School Year Begins—Pediatric Therapy
As children and teens begin school again, they are more susceptible to the pain and discomfort of headaches and migraines. The change in schedule, new teachers, new friends and schoolwork can increase stress and consequently, increase headaches. Doctors at Nationwide Children’s Hospital say there are some steps parents can take to help prevent the onset of their headaches during this hectic time of year.
More than a third of children suffer from recurrent headaches – headaches that occur more than once a month. Most are tension headaches, which are less severe and do not occur with nausea or vomiting. Migraines, which account for approximately 25 percent of headaches, are much more disruptive and frequently occur within families due to a genetic component. Migraine pain is usually characterized as throbbing or pounding and made worse by physical activity. Pediatricians typically see an increase in migraine patients as the more severe pain and nausea can cause students to miss school and other daily activities.
MSU Researchers Use Newborn Blood Data to Study Cerebral Palsy—Pediatric Therapy
A statewide team of researchers led by a Michigan State University epidemiologist are hoping Michigan’s archive of newborn blood spots will help them uncover the causes of cerebral palsy, the most common disabling motor disorder in children with annual health costs of $12 billion.
Pediatric Strokes More Than Twice As Common As Previously Reported—Pediatric Therapy
Imaging studies along with diagnostic codes on medical charts show that the rate of strokes in infants and children is two to four times higher than commonly thought, researchers report in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
"Traditional methods using diagnostic codes work fairly well to identify stroke in studies on adults, but they miss a large proportion of cases when applied to infants and children," said Heather J. Fullerton, M.D., senior author of the study and associate professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF).
Research Consortium Advances Understanding of Cervical Spine Injuries in Children Involved in Motor Vehicle Crashes—Pediatric Therapy
New research published this month in the journal Injury finds that while fatal cervical spine injuries to children in motor vehicle crashes are rare, they are more commonly seen in girls, in children who were restrained in passenger restraints, and in children who also suffered traumatic brain injury due to the crash.
Athletes With Smaller ACLs May Be More Susceptible to Injury—Physical Therapy
A study comparing images of the knees in people who did and didn’t have previous injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament suggests that people who tore their ACLs are more likely to have a smaller ligament than do similarly sized people who have never injured a knee.
An Easy Fix for Tennis Elbow?—Physical Therapy
In a medical advance inspired by recessionary thinking, researchers from the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City announced last month that they’ve developed an effective and supremely cheap treatment for chronic tennis elbow. Huddling a while back to brainstorm about inexpensive methods for combating the injury, the scientists glanced around their offices and noticed a homely, low-tech rubber bar, about 8 inches long, which, at the time, was being used for general physical therapy programs. The researchers wondered whether the ribbed, pliable bars, available for less than $20, might be re-purposed to treat tennis elbow. The answer, it soon become clear, was a resounding yes.
Cheap, Quick Bedside 'Eye Movement' Exam Outperforms MRI For Diagnosing Stroke In Patients
—Physical Therapy
In a small "proof of principle" study, stroke researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Illinois have found that a simple, one-minute eye movement exam performed at the bedside worked better than an MRI to distinguish new strokes from other less serious disorders in patients complaining of dizziness, nausea and spinning sensations.
Results of the study of 101 patients, who were already at higher than normal risk of stroke because of factors including high blood pressure or high cholesterol, were published online ahead of print on Sept. 17 in Stroke. The patients were all seen at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill.
Injuries from Technology More Common than Most People Realize—Physical Therapy
While technologies such as Blackberries, Wii and Laptops have added convenience and entertainment to many people's lives, they are also creating an influx of overuse injuries in many adults and children. Many physical therapy clinics, like Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness in Villanova, PA, have seen an increase in patients with overuse injuries as a result of technology.
"People are addicted to their handheld devices, and both adults and children are seeking medical treatment for their pain," Says Valerie Brill, PT, OCS, clinic manager of Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness. "Daily use of computers, phones, PDAs and video games can cause pain, swelling and repetitive strain to the musculoskeletal system, because the body was not designed for this type of activity."
Other symptoms of technology addiction can include carpal tunnel syndrome, tingling of the hands and fingers, neck pain, back pain and eyesight strain.
Managing Pain: A New Understanding Of How Chronic Pain Differs From Acute Is Paving The Way For Alternative Therapies—Physical Therapy
When Karen Brannen moved to Central Oregon four years ago, she was just about ready to throw in the towel. A series of car accidents over 25 years left her with severe, debilitating pain. She had been on disability for at least six weeks three times in the previous six years.
“I was considering going on permanent disability and just giving up,” the 54-year-old La Pine woman said. “My strategy with pain was always to ignore it until it got to the point that I couldn't get out of bed. I just didn't know what else to do.”
Mild Exercise While In The ICU Reduces Bad Effects Of Prolonged Bed Rest—Physical Therapy
Critical care experts at Johns Hopkins are reporting initial success in boosting recovery and combating muscle wasting among critically ill, mostly bed-bound patients using any one of a trio of mild physical therapy exercises during their stays in the intensive care unit (ICU).
"ICU-related muscle weakness is the number one factor in prolonging a patient's recovery and delaying their return to a normal life, including work and recreational activities," says critical care specialist Dale Needham, M.D., Ph.D., the senior researcher involved in producing the report, to be published in the journal Critical Care Medicine online Sept. 21.
People With Type 2 Diabetes Improved Muscular Strength—Physical Therapy
Physical therapist-directed exercise counseling combined with fitness center-based exercise training can improve muscular strength and exercise capacity in people with type 2 diabetes, with outcomes similar to those of supervised exercise, according to a randomized clinical trial published in the September issue of Physical Therapy, the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
Type 2 diabetes is associated with numerous health complications, including a decline in muscular strength and exercise capacity. Studies show that a decline in muscular strength increases the risk of loss of physical function and that a decline in exercise capacity increases the risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. "Improving muscular strength and exercise capacity in people with type 2 diabetes is crucial to preventing loss of physical function and decreasing comorbidity and mortality in these patients," said lead researcher J. David Taylor, PT, PhD, CSCS, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Central Arkansas.
Quadriceps Strength in Either Sex Does Not Predict OA found on X-Rays—Physical Therapy
A new study by researchers at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics found that thigh muscle strength does not predict the occurrence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) uncovered in x-rays, but does predict incidence of painful or stiff knee OA. Women with the strongest quadriceps muscles appeared to be protected against the development of knee OA symptoms. Details of this study appear in the September issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.
URI Researcher Trips Amputees In Effort To Develop Improved Prosthetic Legs—Physical Therapy
Again and again, 71-year-old Marjorie Brasier walked on the treadmill using an instrumented prosthetic leg, and again and again she tripped or slipped. Sometimes she recovered on her own and kept walking, while at other times the harness she wore was all that kept her from tumbling to the floor.
Brasier’s trips and slips occurred by design as part of a University of Rhode Island research study that seeks to improve the safety of prosthetic legs by developing a reliable and responsive stumble detection system.
Youngsters With Continuous Pain To Look As Old As Those Two Decades Older—Physical Therapy
Younger people with pain look similar in terms of their disability to people who are two to three decades older without pain, according to a study published in this month's issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. The results of the study uncovered that people with pain develop the functional limitations classically associated with aging at much earlier ages.
Gene Associated With Language, Speech And Reading Disorders Identified—Speech Therapy
A new candidate gene for Specific Language Impairment has been identified by a research team directed by Mabel Rice at the University of Kansas, in collaboration with Shelley Smith, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Javier Gayán of Neocodex, Seville, Spain.
The finding, reported in the current issue of the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, was discovered by examining genes previously identified as candidate genes for reading impairments or speech sound disorders.
Southeastern Researchers Explore Approach To Improve Deaf Education—Speech Therapy
In a unique approach to deaf education, two members of Southeastern’s education faculty are using technology common in logistics and supply chain management to improve instruction in sign language for young deaf children.
With a $390,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, assistant professors Robert Hancock and Becky Sue Parton are looking to build on their earlier research that combines radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with common objects in a goal to help deaf children learn American Sign Language (ASL) more efficiently.
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