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 316 OF 704 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPSurvey2019Healthcare access and services use among US children with autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practice29.0% of U.S. children with ASD had trouble getting healthcare, often delays. These problems were associated with fewer well-child visits and more emergency visits, but not flu shots.
• SLPCohort2019Repetitive Saliva Swallowing Test: Norms, Clinical Relevance and the Impact of Saliva Secretion.DysphagiaSaliva-swallow counts varied by age and gender, not dry mouth or medicines. In stroke patients, the test flagged 69% of SSA-S risk cases, so a normal score cannot rule out swallowing problems.
• SLPCohort2019Time From Hearing Aid Candidacy to Hearing Aid Adoption: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.Ear and hearingAdults with hearing loss waited about 8.9 years after becoming hearing-aid candidates before adopting hearing aids. Delays were shorter when hearing loss or self-reported social hearing handicap was worse, and longer for non-white participants.
• PTOther2019Effects of exercise intervention on arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older females: evaluation by measuring brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and cardio-ankle vascular index.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter 12 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise, 20 older women had lower blood pressure and lower pulse-wave stiffness, but their blood-pressure-independent stiffness index did not change. Exercise may have improved a measure tied to blood pressure, not a separate stiffness index.
• OTOther2019Fixed muscle synergies and their potential to improve the intuitive control of myoelectric assistive technology for upper extremities.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn 11 able-bodied people, 3-5 muscle patterns explained finger and rod movements, but patterns changed with rod length. A pooled set of 6-8 helped across lengths. The paper proposes this for device control, but it was not tested in patients.
• SLPQualitative2019'People like me don't get support': Autistic adults' experiences of support and treatment for mental health difficulties, self-injury and suicidality.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults said mental health support was often hard to get and rarely adapted to them. They felt dismissed as coping, faced long waits, and met professionals with little autism knowledge. Tailored, consistent support was described as helpful for well-being and safety.
• PTCase Series2019Stimulation of paralysed quadriceps muscles with sequentially and spatially distributed electrodes during dynamic knee extension.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationDistributed sequential electrical stimulation produced higher quadriceps power than single-electrode stimulation in four participants with complete spinal cord injury. Fatigue resistance improved in three participants but not all, and power remained too low for functional cycling.
• OTCohort2019Use of a multilayer perceptron to create a prediction model for dressing independence in a small sample at a single facility.Journal of physical therapy scienceA neural-network model predicted which stroke patients would dress independently at discharge better than conventional models in 82 patients, but it was tested only at a single facility and not externally.
• PTOTSystematic Review2019Minimal clinically important difference for grip strength: a systematic review.Journal of physical therapy scienceNo clear grip-strength change threshold was identified. Only four studies met criteria, and thresholds ranged from 0.04 to 6.9 kg. A rough estimate of 5.0 to 6.5 kg may help.
• PTOther2019Adjustable sockets may improve residual limb fluid volume retention in transtibial prosthesis users.Prosthetics and orthotics internationalReleasing the socket and pin lock for 10 minutes then returning to the same size helped short-term fluid retention but not long-term. Returning to a slightly larger socket helped both short-term and long-term retention.
• PTOTSLPOther2019Effect of forward head posture on thoracic shape and respiratory function.Journal of physical therapy scienceAssuming a forward head posture immediately reduced lung capacity and flow rates in 15 young men. The lower chest became less mobile and shifted inward, restricting breathing. This is a short-term mechanical effect in healthy volunteers, not a diagnosis or treatment outcome.
• PTCohort2019Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Rehospitalization in Older Men With Testosterone Deficiency in a Postacute Care Setting.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitationAmong older men with testosterone deficiency discharged from post-acute care, testosterone replacement therapy was not associated with lower 30-day rehospitalization.
• PTOTCohort2019Different improvement trends in gait function and quadriceps strength early after total knee arthroplasty.Journal of physical therapy scienceEarly after knee replacement, strength in the operated leg barely predicts walking speed, but strength in the opposite leg does. Pain also drives gait limits. Therapists should not assume operated-leg quad strength is the main bottleneck for early recovery.
• SLPCohort2019Parents' Use of Internal State Language with Toddlers at High and Low Genetic Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersParents of toddlers later diagnosed with autism used similar amounts of emotion words when reading, but tried less often to get the child to talk about feelings. These toddlers lagged behind peers in using internal state words by 28 months.
• Other2019Control of cortical oscillatory frequency by a closed-loop system.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn isolated brain tissue, a new device automatically adjusted electrical current to steer slow brain waves to specific frequencies. It successfully held the target frequency in most cases, though it struggled to reach the very slowest target within the allowed time.
• SLPOther2019Effect of electrical stimulation on aspiration in children with cerebral palsy and dysphagia.Journal of physical therapy scienceLower penetration-aspiration scores were reported after four weeks of submental electrical stimulation in five children with cerebral palsy and dysphagia. The study had no control group, so the score change cannot be treated as proof the stimulation caused it.
• PTRCT2019Effects of task-oriented training on upper extremity functional performance in patients with sub-acute stroke: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn subacute stroke, 20 hours of task-oriented arm training improved arm task speed, movement quality, grip strength, motor recovery, and hand function more than conventional exercise; effects appeared after 10 hours. Weight lifting did not differ.
• PTSurvey2019Changes in the department of physical therapy students' awareness after an international student exchange program.Journal of physical therapy scienceAfter a one-week visit by Singapore students, 15 physical therapy students self-reported more confidence talking with foreign people, more desire to study abroad, and more desire for opportunities to study with overseas medical students. Other awareness items did not show the same change.
• SLPOther2019Speech Auditory Brainstem Responses: Effects of Background, Stimulus Duration, Consonant-Vowel, and Number of Epochs.Ear and hearingBackground noise slowed and weakened brainstem responses to speech sounds in 12 normal-hearing adults. Short 50-millisecond sounds gave similar timing to 170-millisecond sounds, but the repetitions needed varied widely. This is test development, not a clinical tool.
• OTSLPCase-Control2018Aberrant functional connectivity of neural circuits associated with social and sensorimotor deficits in young children with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchBrain scans under sedation showed weaker links in social/language networks and stronger links in sensorimotor/visual networks in 29 children with autism and 29 matched controls. These patterns tracked social and repetitive behavior scores, but did not test therapy.
• SLPPilot2018A pilot dose finding study of pioglitazone in autistic children.Molecular autismIn 28 autistic children, pioglitazone at 0.75 mg/kg was tolerated without serious adverse events; parent and clinician ratings improved on several behavior scales, but without a control group this cannot show the drug worked.
• SLPCohort2018Coordination is key: Joint attention and vocalisation in infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.International journal of language & communication disordersHigh-risk infants later diagnosed with ASD showed less advanced joint attention, such as showing and pointing, no age-related change in vocal development, and rarely paired sounds with these behaviours. Low-level request behaviours did not differ.
• Narrative Review2018Auditory-visual misalignment: A theoretical perspective on vocabulary delays in children with ASD.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchVisual attention differences in children with autism spectrum disorder may make words heard mismatch what is seen, a theoretical commentary proposes. It reports no new patients or outcomes, so there is no finding to act on.
• Other2018Intranasal administration of exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells ameliorates autistic-like behaviors of BTBR mice.Molecular autismIn an autism-like mouse strain, intranasal mesenchymal stem cell exosomes improved social interaction, communication calls, repetitive behavior, and maternal pup retrieval. This is a mouse model finding, not evidence that the treatment works in people with autism.
• SLPOther2019Verb production by individuals with Down syndrome during narration.Research in developmental disabilitiesDuring narration, participants with Down syndrome used verbs in fewer utterances than younger typically developing children selected to be close on nonverbal ability, not fewer than participants with other intellectual disability. Verb variety was similar.
• SLPOther2019Air- and Bone-Conducted Sources of Feedback With an Active Middle Ear Implant.Ear and hearingIn cadaver ears, the implant's mounting bracket increased ear-canal sound by 5 to 10 dB and bone-conducted vibration at higher frequencies. The study did not test whether damping reduces feedback in patients.
• SLPCohort2019Tongue shapes for rhotics in school-age children with and without residual speech errors.Clinical linguistics & phoneticsChildren with residual speech errors produced rhotics with simpler tongue shapes than typical speakers. After seven hours of ultrasound biofeedback therapy, their tongue complexity increased and listeners rated their rhotics as more accurate. Complexity scores correlated with perceived accuracy.
• SLPOther2019Cognitive Abilities Contribute to Spectro-Temporal Discrimination in Children Who Are Hard of Hearing.Ear and hearingIn 24 children with hearing aids, a test of distinguishing rippled sounds was tied to visual working memory and non-verbal intelligence, not aided audibility, verbal memory, or executive function.
• SLPPilot2019Machine Learning Models for the Hearing Impairment Prediction in Workers Exposed to Complex Industrial Noise: A Pilot Study.Ear and hearingModels tested in 1,113 workers could sort workers as hearing impaired or not, and one model could predict average noise-induced hearing loss in all but three factories. This pilot is not ready for patient care.
• SLPOther2019Nonlinguistic Cognitive Factors Predict Treatment-Induced Recovery in Chronic Poststroke Aphasia.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitationIn chronic poststroke aphasia, pre-treatment nonlinguistic cognitive scores predicted language therapy gains. Higher executive function and visual short-term memory were linked to greater naming gains, including gains seen after treatment ended.
• PTOTSLPMeta-Analysis2019Childhood neurodevelopment after prescription of maintenance methadone for opioid dependency in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Developmental medicine and child neurologyAt 6 months, mental and motor score differences were small and uncertain. By age 2, exposed children scored lower on those tests, and some had abnormal visual tests. This cannot prove methadone caused it; other drug exposure and other differences were common.
• Other2019Manual fabrication of a specialized transparent facial pressure mask: A technical note.Prosthetics and orthotics internationalThis technical note describes how to manually fabricate a transparent facial pressure mask for treating hypertrophic scars. It details the molding and fitting process but reports no patient outcomes or evidence of effectiveness.
• PTOther2019Relationship between transversus abdominis muscle thickness and urinary incontinence in females at 2 months postpartum.Journal of physical therapy sciencePostpartum women with urinary leakage had thinner deep abdominal (TrA) muscle when contracting, but not at rest. Only 4 women had leakage, so this is a small association, not proof that TrA exercises improve incontinence.
• PTOTSLPCase Series2019Effectiveness of active soft tissue release and trigger point block for the diagnosis and treatment of low back and leg pain of predominantly gluteus medius origin: a report of 115 cases.Journal of physical therapy scienceMost patients with low back or leg pain had myofascial trigger points, often in the gluteus medius. Active soft tissue release alone or with injection improved symptoms in nearly all cases, but this uncontrolled report cannot prove the treatments caused the relief.
• PTOTOther2019Comparison of range of motion during movement from supine to sitting position in healthy young and elderly participants.Journal of physical therapy scienceHealthy elderly participants had larger shoulder extension and elbow flexion angles and reached the measured joint angles earlier when getting up from lying, compared with healthy young participants.
• PTCase Report2019Intensive physiotherapy with subsequent community-based rehabilitation: two cases of cerebral malaria in rural areas of Malawi.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 2 children with cerebral malaria, case 1 did not improve after 2 weeks of intensive physiotherapy and educational guidance, while case 2 gained slightly. Later, while mothers and community volunteers continued, some standing and crawling scores rose, but walking changed little.
• OTOther2019A modified standardized nine hole peg test for valid and reliable kinematic assessment of dexterity post-stroke.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationStroke participants showed slower, less smooth hand movements on a standardized nine-hole peg test than controls. The movement analysis required motion capture and was tested only in mild to moderate impairment.
• PTOther2019Measurement of anterior translation of the mandibular condyle using sonography.Journal of physical therapy scienceIn 28 adults without jaw dysfunction, ultrasound reliably tracked how far the jaw joint slides forward during mouth opening. The slide distance rose with mouth opening, but the study did not test people with jaw problems.
• PTOther2019Balance in chronic traumatic brain injury: correlations between clinical measures and a self-report measure.Brain injuryIn 59 adults with chronic TBI, higher self-reported balance confidence went with higher measured balance scores. Ask about confidence, but still test balance directly.
• SLPOther2019Hearing Protector Attenuation and Noise Exposure Among Metal Manufacturing Workers.Ear and hearingNoise exposure and measured hearing-protection attenuation did not track together overall. In two metal plants, 84% of estimated noise levels under hearing protection were below 70 dBA.
• SLPPilot2019Brief Report: Evaluating the Utility of Varied Technological Agents to Elicit Social Attention from Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with ASD looked less than peers after simple 'Hey!' bids from robots, an avatar, or a human. Within ASD, the simple robot and screen avatar drew more looks than the human or the human-like robot.
• PTOTRCT2019Effect of a leucine-enriched essential amino acids mixture on muscle recovery.Journal of physical therapy scienceLeucine-enriched amino acids lowered a blood marker of muscle damage but did not improve strength or reduce pain. The effect on damage markers was significant, while functional outcomes showed no difference between the supplement and placebo.
• PTOTSLPOther2019Outcome measures in post-stroke arm rehabilitation trials: do existing measures capture outcomes that are important to stroke survivors, carers, and clinicians?Clinical rehabilitationStroke survivors prioritized independence and freedom, but the most common trial measures for arm rehabilitation failed to capture these outcomes. Clinicians focused on everyday tasks and pain. Current research tools often miss what matters most to patients.
• SLPOther2019The Effects of Dynamic-range Automatic Gain Control on Sentence Intelligibility With a Speech Masker in Simulated Cochlear Implant Listening.Ear and hearingLinked automatic gain control improved sentence intelligibility in noise in simulated bilateral cochlear implant listening. Multi-band processing helped when gain control was active but not when it was rarely active. Normal-hearing listeners were tested, not implant users.
• OTSLPPilot2019User activity recognition system to improve the performance of environmental control interfaces: a pilot study with patients.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn eight patients with neurological or spinal cord conditions, a prediction-assisted environment control interface let them complete more daily tasks in ten minutes than manual scanning. Users did not report lower workload.
• SLPCohort2018Depressive symptoms and emotion regulation strategies in children with and without developmental language disorder: a longitudinal study.International journal of language & communication disordersChildren with DLD had more depressive symptoms over 18 months. In both groups, trying to solve problems and less worry or outbursts were linked to fewer symptoms. Word-meaning problems related to symptoms through worry and outbursts.
• SLPNarrative Review2018What Are Predictors for Persistence in Childhood Stuttering?Seminars in speech and languageAt age 4 to 5, boys with family history, poor nonword repetition, a weighted disfluency score of 10 or more, and negative speech attitudes are more likely to keep stuttering. No single factor decides risk.
• Other2018Brain hyperserotonemia causes autism-relevant social deficits in mice.Molecular autismIn mice with reduced serotonin transporter function, a tryptophan-free diet lowered striatal serotonin and increased social interaction. This is animal evidence, not a human autism treatment.
• OTSurvey2018Assessing subtypes of restricted and repetitive behaviour using the Adult Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire-2 in autistic adults.Molecular autismIn autistic adults, the RBQ-2A questionnaire sorted repetitive behaviours into two clusters: insistence on sameness and repetitive sensory/motor behaviours. Repetitive sensory/motor behaviours were lower in adults aged 50 to 66, while gender did not differ.
• OTOther2019Development of the Leiden Independence Questionnaire for Support Staff: a measure of staff behaviour regarding promoting independence of people with intellectual disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRSupport staff self-report behaviours that promote independence in adults with intellectual disability grouped into three areas: coordinating goals and communication, encouraging and tailoring support, and letting clients solve tasks themselves. It measures staff behaviour, not client outcomes.