Outcome measures and psychomotor skills related to shoulder conditions for clinical orthopedic training.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to assess the ability of physical therapy (PT) students to utilize selected outcome measures such as range of motion (ROM), pain and a number of psychomotor skills and to determine the efficacy of treatment they carried out during orthopedic clinical training.


METHODS
The clinical education booklets in orthopedics of all PT students over a 6-year period were reviewed. Students' application of psychomotor skills such as peripheral joint mobilizations (PJM), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques, therapeutic exercise techniques as well as utilization of basic outcome measures such as ROM and pain were analyzed with descriptive statistics and paired t test.


RESULTS
A majority of students used PJM techniques (78.6%) and PNF techniques (58.6%). The paired t test indicated that treatment interventions used by the students were associated with improved shoulder joint ROM and decreased pain levels (p < 0.001). At the same time, therapeutic exercises were employed by the students after PJM and PNF. The most common 'comparable joint sign' was limitation in shoulder abduction ROM, which occurred in 44% of patients seen by the students.


CONCLUSIONS
PT students' application of PJM, PNF, and therapeutic exercise improved ROM and decreased pain in patients with shoulder pathologies.
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Health Science Centre, Kuwait University, Kuwait. surreya@hsc.edu.kw
Surreya
S
Mahomed
Saud
S
Al-Obaidi
Baker
B
Al-Zoabi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052580:Muscle Stretching Exercises; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult