Study Design: Descriptive study.

Objectives: To develop a performance-based physical functional measure for people using a manual wheelchair, and to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of the administration of the new procedure.

Background: Most performance-based measures of physical function focus on balance and ambulation impairments. Recent developments of performance measures fail to produce a valid and reliable performance-based measure to quantify physical function in people who must rely on upper-body function to mobilize.

Methods:Eighteen adults (ages 18 to 67 years) who used a nonmotorized wheelchair participated in this study. Volunteers performed selected tasks from the Continuous Scale Physical Functional Performance (CS–PFP) test, modified for persons using a wheelchair. Outcome measures included scores on the Wheelchair Physical Functional Performance (WC–PFP) test and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) questionnaire.

Results: Participants had substantial disability (mean total SIP > 20). Total and domain scores of the WC–PFP had no ceiling or floor effects and were reproducible with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.87 to 0.96. Poorer self-rated health was correlated with poorer performance in the upper-body domain of the WC–PFP (r = -0.45). Those reporting disability in bathing and dressing using the SIP had significantly lower WC–PFP scores, indicating that the WC–PFP had construct validity. A significant correlation was not found between WC–PFP and the ambulation and mobility domains of the SIP.

Conclusion: The WC–PFP provides a reliable and quantifiable measure of mobility in persons who use a manual wheelchair.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2002; 32(3):104–113.

Key Words: disability, functional limitation, mobility impairments, physical function, wheelchair

Each year, the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy publishes abstracts of the research platform and poster presentations sponsored by the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy Sections of the American Physical Therapy Association at APTA’s Combined Sections Meeting (CSM). This year, CSM was held from February 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts. The poster abstracts in this issue of the JOSPT were not ready to be included in the January 2002 issue with the other research presentations made at CSM in February.

Included in this section of the March 2002 JOSPT are:

§ Orthopaedic Section Research Abstracts – Poster Presentations (Abstracts 156, 157,159, 173, 181, and 184)

§ Sports Physical Therapy Section Research Abstracts – Poster Presentations (Abstracts 60 and 75)

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2002; 32(3):A-55-A-58.

Study Design: Case study. Objectives: To describe the use of conventional physical therapy interventions together with Mobilization With Movement (MWM) techniques in the treatment of an individual with a complicated scenario of de Quervain’s tenosynovitis. Background: The patient was a 61-year-old woman who presented with signs and symptoms consistent with de Quervain’s tenosynovitis of the right hand. Range limitations in all motions of the right wrist and first carpometacarpal joint complicated her presentation. Methods and Measures: Physical therapy included conventional intervention with superficial heat, ice, iontophoresis, and transverse friction massage directed to the first dorsal tunnel. Conventional joint mobilization techniques addressed the motion limitations of the first carpometacarpal, radiocarpal, and midcarpal joints. In addition, MWM techniques were utilized to promote pain-free wrist and thumb mobility. The specific MWM techniques used with this patient involved active movements of the thumb and wrist superimposed on a passive radial glide of the proximal row of carpal bones. Results: The described treatment regime, which involved conventional physical therapy interventions, along with MWM, aided in the complete resolution of this patient’s impairments and functional limitations. Conclusion: The combination of conventional physical agents, exercise, and manual therapy, and the less conventional MWM techniques, proved successful with this patient. MWM involving the correction of minute joint malalignments, coupled with active motion of the wrist and first carpometacarpal joints, was an effective and efficient adjunct physical therapy intervention. Because subtle changes in joint alignment may contribute to painful syndromes in the tendon complexes that cross a malaligned joint, use of MWM as a treatment technique warrants continued research.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2002; 32(3):86–97.

Key Words: joint alignment, manual therapy, tendinitis