The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has named Janet R. Bezner, PT, PhD, the senior vice president of education. Bezner resigned her elected position as APTA vice president to accept this new position; she replaces Joseph P. H. Black, PhD.
As senior vice president of education, Bezner’s responsibilities entail working to maintain the highest levels of quality in all aspects of physical therapy education. Her focus will be to move the APTA closer to the realization of Vision 2020—physical therapy as a doctoring profession. As the path toward the doctoring profession is forged, Bezner will ensure that all the elements important to the attainment of Vision 2020 are in place.
“Joining staff in the division of education is a great opportunity to contribute to the realization of Vision 2020,” says Bezner. “I look forward to the challenge.”
According to Bezner, two pressing issues specific to education that will require attention are clinical education and continued competence. One of the activities that the education division will take on later this year is to develop a strategic plan for education that will reflect on the association’s initiatives for these two issues.
Prior to joining the APTA, Bezner was senior vice president of PeakCare Inc, San Diego, where she helped develop work-site wellness software. She is also a professor and a graduate program director of the Health Promotion and Wellness Doctor of Sciences Degree Program at the School of Rehabilitation Services at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah. Bezner authored numerous published articles on geriatric physical therapy and wellness, and has presented nearly 60 scholarly and business presentations. She has also served as senior vice president of the Foundation for Physical Therapy and on-site evaluator for the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.
A group of pediatric physical therapy clinic owners have formed an association, the American Association of Intensive Pediatric Physical Therapy (AAIPPT), to unite more than 40 clinics that provide intensive physical therapy to children with neuromuscular disorders; and to provide information to parents on research, products, and solutions to make a difference in their childrens’ lives.
AAIPPT began in January 2005 in Keego Harbor, Mich. It was spear-headed by Laura and Lane Joslin, owners of Ability Plus Therapy in Melbourne, Fla. They were joined by Mary Ann and Wayne Hauck, owners of Movement Discoveries in Burlingame, Calif, and Richard and Izabela Koscielny, owners of TheraSuit LLC, in Keego Harbor, Mich. All the clinic owners are parents of children with cerebral palsy.
“AAIPPT is days old at this moment, and members are joining on a daily basis,” says Laura Joslin. “At this time, there are 18 clinics joined, with others contacting us to join. Our goal as the AAIPPT is to bring awareness to the multiple clinics around the country that parents can access without the burden of so much travel. The clinics that we represent are looking out for the best interest of the patient. They provide top-quality intensive physical therapy and will be providing research to further the cause of the rehabilitation of children with neuromuscular disorders.”
According to Joslin, one imminent goal is to increase awareness in the health care community of the effectiveness of the intensive physical therapy treatment, the TheraSuit Method™, for children with neuromuscular disorders.
The number of clinics that incorporate the TheraSuit Method is increasing. “AAIPPT will be looking into combining these clinics to do research on intensive therapy,” says Joslin. “We will be placing information of the top doctors in the field of cerebral palsy, and their research and treatment methods, on the Web site, www.aaippt.org. This will also be a place where physicians, therapists, and other medical professionals can access information about the world of cerebral palsy and related neuromuscular disorders.”
Study: Football and Soccer Players More Prone to Injury
According to recent research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, football and soccer players are more likely to have injuries than other athletes, including swimmers, tennis players, and gymnasts.
The study, which looked into injuries of people with long-term sports involvement, also found that more soccer players (63.3%) sustained sports injuries than others, and swimmers had relatively few injuries (28.1%).
Researchers in the United Kingdom conducted the initial Training of a Young Athletes Study (TOYA) between 1987 and 1992 on 453 participants between the ages of 8 and 16 years. The study showed a low prevalence of sports injuries over a 3-year period. However, the authors of the study decided to revisit the group 10 years later to track any changes.
Of the 453 original participants, 203 people (both male and female) responded to a questionnaire regarding the musculoskeletal problems that had reduced or interrupted their sports activity. Between 1990 and 2000, almost two thirds (63.6%) of the soccer players had sustained an injury, compared to just 28.1% of swimmers.
The study also found that 87.5% of the injuries happened to those competing at the international level, compared to 64% to those who competed at the regional/county level.
According to the study’s authors, young sports performers who continue to train are at a greater risk of musculoskeletal injury than those who don’t. They added that the injuries sustained, although not serious, may interfere with the young athlete’s sporting career.
New Robotic Arm Improves Functional Abilities
Stroke survivors may soon have a new assistive tool to perform basic tasks such as grasping objects and feeding themselves.The device, called Rupert I for Robotic Upper Extremity Repetitive Therapy, is being developed by biomedical engineer Jiping He, PhD and his colleagues at Arizona State University and Kinetic Muscles Inc, Tempe, Ariz, a start-up biotech company. Rupert I is powered by four pneumatic muscles and is movable at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. The design was based on a kinematics model of the arm, which showed where to locate the pneumatic muscles and how much force was needed for normal reaching and feeding movements. The arm is adjustable to accommodate different arm lengths and body sizes, and can be worn at home.
The first prototype of Rupert I was tested on able-bodied individuals and stroke survivors ranging from 5-foot females to more than 6-foot males at Banner Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix. In addition, two stroke survivors completed a 3-week course of therapy using Rupert I.
A second generation prototype, Rupert II, is under development using the results of the fitting evaluations and therapy testing at the medical center.
Meniscus Tears Higher Among Overweight Population
Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, have found that the likelihood of tearing the meniscus increases with the rise in body mass index (BMI), the measure of body fat based on height and weight.
“Since 57.4% of the people of the US adult population is either overweight or obese, this relationship has potentially large implications for meniscal surgeries,” said Kurt T. Hegmann, MD, MPH, research associate professor of family and preventive medicine, who led the study.
Hegmann and his colleagues studied 515 patients who underwent meniscal surgery between 1996 to 2000 at LDS hospital in Salt Lake City and at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah. The patients were grouped into 10 BMI categories, ranging from 20 to greater than 40 (people with a BMI greater than 25 are considered overweight, and those with a BMI over 30 are considered obese). The participants were also grouped into three age categories: 50–59, 60–69, and 70–79. The patients were compared to a control group of 9,944 other patients enrolled in the National Cancer Institute’s prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial during the same years.
Researchers calculated the Mantel-Haenszel ratio (an age-adjusted odds ratio) for the likelihood of meniscal surgery and found that men with a BMI of 27.5 and higher and women with a BMI of 25 or higher were three times more likely to tear their meniscus. Furthermore, men whose BMI exceeded 40 were found to be 15 times more likely to tear their meniscus, and women in that BMI category were 25 times more likely to tear their meniscus.
According to Hegmann and his colleagues, a population-based weight-management program could decrease the future burden on orthopedic and medical-care systems due to meniscal surgeries and treatment of other obesity-related conditions.
Social Background Influences Skeletal Problems
A study conducted by the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility in Manchester, United Kingdom, has found that children from more privileged backgrounds are taller and leaner than children from poorer backgrounds, making them more susceptible to skeletal problems.
“Interestingly, although we found no overall relationship between social background and bone mass, there was a marked connection with bone shape, which may have important implications in terms of the risk of developing osteoporotic fractures in later life,” said Emma Clark, MD, lead researcher of the study.”
The 6-month study, which looked at more than 6,700 children, found that by age 10, children whose mothers were educated were on average 1.5-cm taller than children whose mothers had no formal qualifications. The study also found that children who lived in city-owned property were on an average 1.5-cm shorter than children who lived in privately-owned housing. Children from a higher social position were more likely to have longer, slender bones, increasing their vulnerability to breaks and medical complications.
Physical Therapy Technique May Improve Back Pain
A study has found that Souchard’s global postural re-education (GPR), a new physical therapy technique, is successful in treating people with severe pain due to disk disease.
GPR consists of a series of static stretching postures aimed at lengthening dominant and retracted muscles without allowing postural compensations elsewhere in the body. The process improves symptoms by correcting the patient’s posture and decompressing the spinal canal. As muscular tension and stiffness decrease, the beneficial effects of treatment include a decrease in pain, an increase in elasticity, and a feeling of relaxation.
The study involved 102 people who were experiencing severe pain for about 7 months due to disc diseases. They all received different combinations of treatments for more than 6 months, including physical therapy, rest, oral and anti-inflammatory medications, acupuncture, and epidural injections.
The treatment included two physical therapy sessions during the first week, followed by one session, once a week, for an average of 5 months. Patients were also trained in breathing techniques and were given a home exercise program.
Of the 102 people, 92 had significant improvement in their pain and were able to fully continue their daily activities. Four people had significant improvement, but still experienced slight discomfort with strenuous exercise, and six people had no improvement.
Research results were presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 57th Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Fla, in April.
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has named Janet R. Bezner, PT, PhD, the senior vice president of education. Bezner resigned her elected position as APTA vice president to accept this new position; she replaces Joseph P. H. Black, PhD.
According to recent research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, football and soccer players are more likely to have injuries than other athletes, including swimmers, tennis players, and gymnasts.
A study has found that Souchard’s global postural re-education (GPR), a new physical therapy technique, is successful in treating people with severe pain due to disk disease.
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