Festival of Student Achievement - April 21, 2016
**Two groups of DPT students presented this year at FOSA
Traditional CRATE Lift vs. XRTS Lever Arm Lift: Subject Perception
Arrupe Hall 116 at 4:30 p.m.
Brian Becker, SPT Garrett Greaves, SPT, CSCS Megan Reardon, SPT Justin Reinhard, SPT, CSCS Faculty Mentors: Marcie Swift, PT, PhD, FAAOMPT and Janice Loudon, PT, PhD, SCS, ATC, CSCS **This group of students has been selected as the Graduate 2016 Rockhurst Outstanding Research Seminar Speakers (RORS). |
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Purpose: Within a functional capacity evaluation (FCE), an individual’s sincere maximal effort must be determined. Objective tools or methods such as the traditional crate lift are used to assess sincerity of effort, which gives the FCE evaluator further ability to protect patients who are sincerely participating in the FCE, while identifying those who are not. The XRTS Lever Arm replicates the biomechanics of the crate lift. The purpose of this research study is to 1) compare the maximum lifting capacities on the XRTS Lever Arm with the traditional crate lift and 2) determine the relationship of perceived exertion between the XRTS Lever Arm and the traditional crate lift. Subjects: For this pilot project, a total of 41 subjects between ages 20-40 with no upper or lower extremity injuries within the past 12 months were recruited to participate in this study. Subjects who were able to lift more than 110 pounds in the crate lift were excluded. Materials/Methods: On the first day of testing, investigators established 1RM for each subject performing a lift from 20 inches off the ground to their navel using a traditional crate. Subjects were then randomly assigned 5 weights ranging from 10-100% of their determined 1RM and asked to give a rating of their perceived exertion (RPEs) after each lift. The subjects repeated the same procedure used for the crate lift 2-5 days later using the XRTS Lever Arm. Percent difference between the traditional crate lift and the XRTS Lever Arm were calculated and the results of the lifting modes were classified as “equivocal consistency” of effort if the average variation between all lifts were < 25%. Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationship of perceived exertion between the XRTS Lever Arm and the traditional crate lift. Results: The % difference between the traditional crate lift and the XRTS Lever Arm was 10.5% +/- 6.4%. Additionally, the results of this study show a positive correlation between the RPE on the traditional crate lift and the XRTS Lever Arm (p=0.87). Conclusions: It is challenging to determine an individual’s sincerity of effort based on visual observation alone during an FCE. Patients whose efforts are not sincere during physical evaluation may overuse treatment, have prolonged recovery, or increased cost of care. Ongoing research using the XRTS Lever Arm for making decisions regarding a patient’s ability to return to work after injury is needed to determine if this tool is a valid measure in determining a subject's sincere effort during a lifting assessment. These preliminary results are promising with regards to validating the XRTS lever arm lift to the gold standard, crate lift.
Four Rockhurst University Doctor of Physical Therapy students went beyond program expectations and passed the exam to become Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists. These second year students and a physical therapy faculty member then developed and implemented a program in the fall of 2015 to provide strength and conditioning training services to the Rockhurst University athletes. These CSCS Physical Therapy students provide services to the Men's and Women's Basketball teams, Women's Cross-Country, Women's Volleyball, and Men's Baseball team. Programs are developed and implemented for each sport individually to meet the demands placed on the athlete during the course of the specific athletic event. Athletes have seen various amounts of gains including increases in strength and power. The goal of the physical therapy student CSCS is to continue to increase the athletes' strength and power while trying to prevent injury, both in the weight room and on the field. The data gathered in the few months since it's inception has shown a direct impact on the performance of both individual athletes, as well as team performance