THE INDEX

Every paper we have read

Each one summarised from the full article, not its abstract, and kept only if it speaks to physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology or nursing. Newest first.

35,183 PAPERS · PAGE 282 OF 704 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPOther2017What Type of Food Can Older Adults Masticate?: Evaluation of Mastication Performance Using Color-Changeable Chewing Gum.DysphagiaGum color after chewing tracked whether older adults made food ready to swallow for boiled rice, ginger-fried pork loin, boiled fish-paste, and rice cracker; sliced white bread did not follow this pattern.
• OTSLPOther2018Adaptive behavior in autism: Minimal clinically important differences on the Vineland-II.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchA change of 2.44 to 3.76 points on the Vineland-II Adaptive Behavior Composite score may be clinically meaningful for autistic people, but the needed change depends on age and IQ. This is a benchmark, not proof a treatment works.
• PTOther2018Biofeedback-Based, Videogame Balance Training in Autism.Journal of autism and developmental disordersYouth with autism held balance poses longer during in-lab biofeedback and Wii Fit training, and in-lab gains were linked to standing sway measured afterward. There was no control group, so training alone was not proven.
• SLPCohort2018Language Underperformance in Young Children Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing: Are the Expectations Too Low?Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPAmong 149 young children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, 61 (41.5%) had receptive language below 85% of nonverbal IQ. Higher nonverbal IQ was associated with greater odds of language underperformance, so average scores may hide a gap.
• SLPOther2018Utility of Laryngeal High-speed Videoendoscopy in Clinical Voice Assessment.Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice FoundationAdding high-speed videoendoscopy changed vocal fold vibration ratings, most often mucosal wave (74%) and amplitude of vibration (53%), and changed the initial diagnosis in 11 patients (7%), mostly in moderate to severe dysphonia.
• SLPCohort2018Planum temporale asymmetry in people who stutter.Journal of fluency disordersBrain scans of 130 people showed no difference in the size or left-right asymmetry of a speech-processing brain region between those who stutter and those who do not. This finding does not support the theory that atypical brain structure causes stuttering.
• PTOther2018Hip Symptoms, Physical Performance, and Health Status in Older Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Preliminary Investigation.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationOlder adults with chronic low back pain were more likely to have hip symptoms: 53.7% versus 13% without pain. Those with both hip symptoms and low back pain moved more slowly and reported worse social and emotional health.
• OTSLPCase-Control2018Association Between Air Pollution Exposure, Cognitive and Adaptive Function, and ASD Severity Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersHigher nitrogen dioxide exposure during pregnancy and the first year was linked to lower cognitive and adaptive scores in children with autism. It was not linked to autism severity. It is not proof pollution caused the deficits.
• SLPSurvey2018Autism Spectrum Disorder and School Bullying: Who is the Victim? Who is the Perpetrator?Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with autism spectrum disorder were more often bullied as victims, even after accounting for other behavioral problems. They were not more often perpetrators once hyperactivity, attention problems, aggression, and conduct problems were considered.
• OTSLPSurvey2018Latent Class Analysis of ADHD Neurodevelopmental and Mental Health Comorbidities.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPAmong 2,495 children with current parent-reported ADHD, 61.3% had another diagnosed condition. Four groups emerged: low comorbidity, internalizing disorders, developmental disorders, and high comorbidity, with different school-service patterns.
• RCT2018Parenting to Reduce Child Screen Time: A Feasibility Pilot Study.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPDiary screen time did not change, but parents in the workshop group reported larger changes in screen-time controls and appraised screen time than waitlist parents. This was a feasibility pilot, so it did not test whether the workshop worked.
• PTOther2018Net ankle quasi-stiffness is influenced by walking speed but not age for older adult women.Gait & postureIn healthy older women, ankle resistance during walking depended on walking speed, not age. Slower walking meant less resistance. This suggests orthosis stiffness may need to be matched to speed, not age.
• PTOther2018Anxiety and Insomnia in Young and Middle-Aged Adult Hip Pain Patients With and Without Femoroacetabular Impingement and Developmental Hip Dysplasia.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitationYoung and middle-aged adults with hip pain had more insomnia and anxiety than matched controls: 74% versus 14% had sleep disturbance. Deformity type did not change this. Ask about sleep and pain-related anxiety.
• PTOther2017The effect of balance exercises and computerized cognitive training on psychomotor performance in elderly.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 29 elderly women, balance training, computerized cognitive training, and their combination each improved accuracy and reaction time on two computer tests. The combined group showed the largest changes, but the study was small and randomisation was not reported.
• Narrative Review2017Genetic epidemiology of neural tube defects.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineFamily history raises risk of spina bifida and anencephaly, and folic acid fortification reduces births with these defects, but few causative genes have been identified. Large modern genetic studies are still lacking.
• Qualitative2017Community General Pediatricians' Perspectives on Providing Autism Diagnoses in Ontario, Canada: A Qualitative Study.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPPediatricians described deciding whether to diagnose autism as shaped by the child, their own comfort, and system barriers like low pay and long wait times. Communicating the diagnosis felt emotionally heavy, and managing next steps often depended on service navigation.
• SLPOther2017Age-Related Differences in the Processing of Temporal Envelope and Spectral Cues in a Speech Segment.Ear and hearingOlder adults with normal hearing needed longer silent gaps to tell Dish and Ditch apart than younger adults. Simulating cochlear implant processing made the contrast harder, especially when timing cues were reduced. Actual implant users were not tested.
• PTOther2017Effect of various wheelchair handle grip directions on muscle activities of upper body of assistant during movement on ascending and descending ramps.Journal of physical therapy scienceWhen a healthy assistant pushed a weighted wheelchair up a ramp, the common general grip made the biceps, forearm, and wrist flexor work hardest. Grip direction changed muscle loading, but the study did not test caregivers or injury.
• SLPOther2017Difference in tongue strength using visual feedback in healthy adults.Journal of physical therapy scienceHealthy adults pressed their tongue harder against a pressure sensor when they could see the force in real time. Scores were 45.5 kPa with visual feedback versus 41.1 kPa without. This shows feedback boosts effort in healthy people, not that it improves swallowing function.
• OTRCT2017Restoration of motor control and proprioceptive and cutaneous sensation in humans with prior upper-limb amputation via multiple Utah Slanted Electrode Arrays (USEAs) implanted in residual peripheral arm nerves.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationNerve-electrode implants with surgery, antibiotics, dexamethasone, phantom movement practice, and gabapentin in S3 produced up to five formal virtual-hand movements, up to twelve informal movements, and up to 131 sensations in two upper-limb amputees. Arrays were unstable.
• PTOther2017Muscle force distribution of the lower limbs during walking in diabetic individuals with and without polyneuropathy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationDiabetic adults without neuropathy showed lower soleus force during push-off, while neuropathic adults showed higher hamstring and ankle evertor forces. Walking speed was similar across groups. These are modeled muscle force patterns, not tested treatment effects.
• SLPOther2017The Effect of Hearing Loss on Novel Word Learning in Infant- and Adult-Directed Speech.Ear and hearingChildren with hearing loss learned new word-object pairs in both infant-directed and adult-directed speech, but less reliably than age-matched normal-hearing children. Looking patterns suggest infant-directed speech may still support their learning.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2017Evaluation of spina bifida transitional care practices in the United States.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineSpina bifida clinics vary widely in transition care. Most discuss transition with patients, but few have written protocols or confirm adult provider visits. Readiness assessments are rare, and communication between pediatric and adult teams is inconsistent.
• PTOther2017The effectiveness of raising the heel height of shoes to reduce heel pain in patients with calcaneal spurs.Journal of physical therapy scienceRaising the heel by 2 cm shifted standing load away from the center of the heel. After 8 weeks wearing custom shoes, pain decreased in 10, 3, and 3 participants, but there was no control group.
• PTRCT2017Upper extremity resistance exercise with elastic bands for respiratory function in children with cerebral palsy.Journal of physical therapy scienceAdding elastic band arm exercises to standard therapy did not significantly improve breathing capacity in children with cerebral palsy. However, it did significantly increase grip strength and showed a trend toward better expiratory muscle strength, though the study was too small to confirm benefits.
• Survey2017Crowdsourcing utility estimation for spina bifida in the general population.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineAn online survey of 503 adults rated the quality of life for a child with spina bifida at 0.85, matching traditional interview estimates. This suggests crowdsourcing is a viable, faster method for gathering patient preference data.
• SLPCase Report2018Pharyngeal Dystonia Mimicking Spasmodic Dysphonia.Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice FoundationVoice breaks that looked like spasmodic dysphonia came from pharyngeal muscle spasms on laryngoscopy. In four patients, voice improvement was reported after injections that included pharyngeal folds, while laryngeal injections had not helped in some cases. This case series cannot prove treatment works.
• PTOTRCT2018Reducing barriers to healthy weight: Planned and responsive adaptations to a lifestyle intervention to serve people with impaired mobility.Disability and health journalPeople with mobility impairments received an adapted group weight-loss program with phone sessions, arm-based activity tracking, adaptive cooking, caregiver support, problem-solving, and other changes. The paper describes the adaptation, not tested effectiveness.
• SLPOther2018Responsiveness of the Electrically Stimulated Cochlear Nerve in Children With Cochlear Nerve Deficiency.Ear and hearingIn children with cochlear nerve deficiency, implant-evoked nerve responses were often absent, especially toward the cochlea's apex, and were weaker than in children with normal nerves. This may guide expectations about variability in implant outcomes, but speech outcomes were not tested.
• SLPRCT2018Distance delivery of a spoken language intervention for school-aged and adolescent boys with fragile X syndrome.Developmental neurorehabilitationAfter 12 weeks, boys in the treatment group stayed engaged longer than comparison boys and used more different words than before with their mothers at home. Mothers used story prompts more. No gains appeared in grammar or with an unfamiliar examiner.
• SLPOther2018Supra-Segmental Changes in Speech Production as a Result of Spectral Feedback Degradation: Comparison with Lombard Speech.Language and speechNormal-hearing speakers slowed down, raised pitch and loudness, then became quieter and lower-pitched when hearing simulated cochlear implant feedback. Listeners preferred their baseline speech and recognized feedback-altered speech more slowly.
• SLPOther2018Temporal Segmentation for Laryngeal High-Speed Videoendoscopy in Connected Speech.Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice FoundationAn automated method matched a trained rater's manual segmentation of voicing and epiglottic obstruction in one healthy speaker's high-speed laryngeal video during connected speech. It is a technical validation, not evidence of improved patient care.
• PTOTRCT2017Effects of concentric contraction of the wrists and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation cycle on pain and muscle strength in lateralepicondylitis patients.Journal of physical therapy scienceBoth groups reduced pain. Doing wrist exercises at the same time as TENS improved grip strength more than doing exercises after TENS. The study was small and short, so this difference is tentative.
• PTOTOther2017Effects of virtual reality intervention on upper limb motor function and activity of daily living in patients with lesions in different regions of the brain.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter 4 weeks of VR games, upper-limb and daily-living scores were higher in 14 people with hemiplegic stroke. With no control group, these gains cannot be proven to be from VR.
• SLPOther2017Trends in Research Literature Describing Dysphagia in Motor Neuron Diseases (MND): A Scoping Review.DysphagiaMost research on swallowing in motor neuron disease focuses on aspiration, ignoring post-swallow residue which causes malnutrition. Few studies test treatments directly; most recommendations rely on secondary sources or clinical observation. Instrumental assessment is needed to guide management effectively.
• PTCohort2017Variation in surgical management of neurogenic bowel among centers participating in National Spina Bifida Patient Registry.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineBowel surgery for patients with spina bifida varied widely by clinic, from 3% to 38%, even after accounting for clinical and demographic factors. The study reports patterns, not whether surgery helps.
• OTCohort2017Do Children Who Sustain Traumatic Brain Injury in Early Childhood Need and Receive Academic Services 7 Years After Injury?Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPYears after preschool TBI, many children with potential need for school services were not receiving them. Severe TBI had the highest need, but moderate TBI showed high unmet need, and behavior or executive concerns were less likely to trigger services than IQ or achievement scores.
• PTOTCohort2017Less-Affected Hand Function in Children With Hemiparetic Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Comparison Study With Typically Developing Peers.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairChildren with hemiparetic cerebral palsy took 21.4 seconds longer on hand function tests with their less-affected hand compared to typical peers. This subtle deficit suggests therapists should assess and treat the less-affected hand, not just the weaker one.
• PTPilot2017Immediate effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on six-minute walking test, Borg scale questionnaire and hemodynamic responses in patients with chronic heart failure.Journal of physical therapy scienceApplying TENS to the quadriceps immediately before walking allowed patients with chronic heart failure to walk significantly further and report less fatigue than when they received placebo or no stimulation.
• SLPOther2017The Effect of Aging and Priming on Same/Different Judgments Between Text and Partially Masked Speech.Ear and hearingReading the sentence before hearing it made it easier to tell whether a printed sentence matched heard speech. The benefit was smaller in older adults when background talkers were present, but not when background noise was used.
• PTOTCohort2017Hypervigilance to pain affects activities of daily living: an examination using the Japanese version of the pain vigilance awareness questionnaire.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 50 elderly patients with chronic pain, hypervigilance and pain intensity were the only factors significantly linked to disability. Anxiety, depression, fear of movement, and catastrophizing did not independently predict daily living limitations.
• Other2017Testing the excitation/inhibition imbalance hypothesis in a mouse model of the autism spectrum disorder: in vivo neurospectroscopy and molecular evidence for regional phenotypes.Molecular autismIn mice modelling NF1, brain imbalance differed by region: prefrontal and striatal circuits showed more inhibitory GABA relative to glutamate, while hippocampus showed more GABA receptors despite lower GABA. This was not a therapy test.
• PTRCT2017The effect of ball exercise on the balance ability of young adults.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn healthy young adults, both medicine-ball and Swiss-ball exercise groups improved static balance and functional reach. Medicine-ball also improved timed up and go. Swiss-ball did not.
• OTCohort2017Bowel management and continence in adults with spina bifida: Results from the National Spina Bifida Patient Registry 2009-15.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineBowel continence was reported by 58.3% of adults with spina bifida in a national registry, with higher rates in less severe non-MMC forms. Employment was the only factor still linked to continence after other factors were considered.
• PTOTOther2017A composite robotic-based measure of upper limb proprioception.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA robotic test identifies proprioceptive impairment in over 60% of stroke patients, detecting more cases than standard clinical exams. This composite score offers a precise, objective measure for tracking recovery and evaluating rehabilitation treatments.
• PTOther2017Difference between tablet methods and paper questionnaire methods of conducting a survey with community-dwelling elderly.Journal of physical therapy scienceOlder adults answered survey questions in similar time on a tablet or paper, but more tablet users had questions. Entering the data took 426 seconds for the tablet group and 1,268 seconds for the paper group.
• SLPOther2017Auditory Brainstem Implant Array Position Varies Widely Among Adult and Pediatric Patients and Is Associated With Perception.Ear and hearingABI electrode position varied widely among 11 patients. Specific orientations were associated with lower hearing thresholds and fewer side effects. Arrays tilted medially or laterally often caused non-auditory sensations like facial twitching or gagging.
• Other2017Rehabilitative Success After Brain Trauma by Augmenting a Subtherapeutic Dose of Environmental Enrichment With Galantamine.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairIn rats with moderate brain injury, 2 or 4 hours daily of enriched housing plus galantamine matched continuous enrichment on beam walking and maze learning. It does not show this works in people.
• Other2017The National Spina Bifida Patient Registry: Past, present, and future.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineA spina bifida registry overview describes data collection and projects. It gives no study result a therapist can use to change care.
• Qualitative2017Pebbles, rocks, and boulders: The implementation of a school-based social engagement intervention for children with autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceSchool staff found time, staffing gaps, and lack of training blocked autism social interventions during recess. Success depended on principals identifying willing staff and providing direct support, not just permission.