Clinical trial registration involves placing the protocol for a clinical trial on a free, publicly available, and electronically searchable register. Registration is considered to be prospective if the protocol is registered before the trial commences (ie, before the first participant is enrolled). Prospective registration has several potential advantages. It could help avoid trials being duplicated unnecessarily and it could allow people with health problems to identify trials in which they might participate. Perhaps more importantly, however, it tackles 2 big problems in clinical research: selective reporting and publication bias. Prospective clinical trial registration is of great potential value to the clinicians, consumers, and researchers who rely on clinical trial data, and that is why the International Society of Physiotherapy Journal Editors (ISPJE) is recommending that members enact a policy for prospective trial registration.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2012;42(12):978-981. doi:10.2519/jospt.2012.0111

KEY WORDS: ISPJE, prospective registration, publication bias, selective reporting

Since musculoskeletal impairment increases with age, it is important to determine if exercise changes age-related muscle weakness. This study compared the training effects of electrical stimulation and voluntary isometric contraction, the traditional exercise, on the quadriceps femoris in males 65 years and older. Eighteen informed, nondisabled males, 72 ± 4 years of age, participated in 12 training sessions over 4 weeks. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque was measured with a Cybex II dynamometer prior to and following training. An interclass correlation coefficient (3,1) of 0.982 demonstrated repeated reliable torque measurement. The electrical stimulation group trained at an average of 36% of pretest MVIC; the traditional exercise group trained at an average of 42% MVIC. Average (F = 14.06, p = 0.004) and peak (F = 14.32, p = 0.004) torque values were increased with both modes of training. Both methods of training using a low training load were effective in increasing torque in this older male sample. Electrical stimulation has the same potential as traditional exercise to provide improved strength for aged males. Future research should examine electrical stimulation in older persons with compromised ability to exercise using traditional methods.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 1994;20(1):22-28.

Key Words: electrical stimulation, geriatric, training