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 643 OF 704 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPOther2026Quantifying Pharyngeal Residue during Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies (VFSS/MBS): Validation of Percentage-Based Visual-Perceptual Residue Ratings.Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP)Percentage-based visual ratings of pharyngeal residue on VFSS still images matched pixel-based ground truth with moderate-to-substantial agreement and excellent reliability. Accuracy was higher for clinicians using frame-by-frame analysis and standardized tools, but lower with more years of experience.
• SLPRCT2025Interactive Book Reading to Accelerate Word Learning by Kindergarten Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Incorporating Retrieval-Based Practice Into Training.Language, speech, and hearing services in schoolsAdding more retrieval practice to interactive book reading did not significantly improve word learning or long-term retention for children with developmental language disorder. The intervention was effective overall, but varying the testing proportion made no statistical difference.
• OTQualitative2025Caregiving for Adults With Down Syndrome: Caregiver Experiences and Support Needs.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDCaregivers of adults with Down syndrome described constant responsibility, future planning worries, and transportation gaps. They also described routines and supports they said eased daily life.
• SLPPilot2025Daily-Life Fatigue Among Adolescents Who Are Hard of Hearing: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.Ear and hearingAdolescents who are hard of hearing did not report more daily fatigue than peers with typical hearing. Fatigue levels changed based on whether it was school or summer, but the groups did not differ in how tired they felt.
• SLPCohort2025Effectiveness of Enhanced Developmental Screening at 18 Months to Identify Developmental Delays.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPEnhanced 18-month screening led to slightly more developmental delays being identified in the first six months. However, this advantage disappeared after six months, with no difference in detection rates between enhanced and routine visits in the long term.
• SLPOther2025The Insufficiency of Norm-Referenced Writing Assessment for Identifying Writing Weaknesses in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.Language, speech, and hearing services in schoolsA widely used norm-referenced writing test scores most deaf and hard of hearing children as average, but a grade-level rubric rates over half as not proficient. Do not rely on standard scores alone for eligibility; use criterion-referenced measures aligned with curriculum standards.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Uncovering Phenotypes in Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review of Unsupervised Machine Learning Approaches.Ear and hearingUnsupervised machine learning can group hearing loss patterns, but the current research is too weak to guide care. Most studies were low quality, lacked validation, and failed to link clusters to patient outcomes, so these subtypes remain exploratory.
• SLPOther2025Convergent Validity of the Cross-Linguistic Lexical Task.International journal of language & communication disordersScores on the Slovak vocabulary naming task were related to parent reports, made-up word repetition and narrative words about feelings, thoughts and states, but parent checklists and child naming often disagreed on individual words. Parents tended to overestimate whether children said less common words.
• PTOTSLPCase Report2025Case Report: Intensive multidisciplinary motor-cognitive rehabilitation treatment in Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesOne woman with Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome completed four weeks of intensive motor-cognitive rehabilitation. Her walking, balance, hand dexterity, speech clarity and swallowing safety all improved during admission, though she still needed her walker and caregiver support.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2025Contextual factors influencing neuro-affirming practice: Identifying what helps or hinders implementation in health and social care.Autism : the international journal of research and practicePractitioners identified rigid eligibility thresholds and single-condition pathways as key barriers to neuro-affirming care. Transdiagnostic approaches and stable, locally funded multidisciplinary teams were seen as essential enablers. Staff with lived experience improved confidence, but recruitment shortages and short-term third-sector funding hindered consistent support delivery.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Occurrence and overlap of physical and mental health conditions in autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults reported significantly more mental and physical health conditions than non-autistic adults, with mood disorders affecting 44% of the autistic group. Physical health quality of life was lower. The study found no single bridge condition; instead, multiple connections existed between mental and physical health clusters.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Mapping 74 years in acoustic analysis of voice disorders: A bibliometric review and future research directions.Journal of communication disordersA bibliometric analysis of 1,253 studies shows acoustic voice assessment research has grown rapidly, driven by remote monitoring and machine learning. While Parkinson's disease is heavily studied, voice changes in dementia, ALS, and depression remain under-researched despite their clinical relevance.
• SLPOther2025Making Research Accessible to the Developmental Language Disorder Community: A Mixed Methods Study Using the Nominal Group Technique.International journal of language & communication disordersParents and a speech therapist preferred research shared in short, simple formats: plain language summaries with links, flyers, infographics, posters, and videos. They wanted varied formats and people with DLD involved.
• SLPSurvey2025Work-Related Quality of Life and Well-Being of Speech and Language Therapists in Ireland.International journal of language & communication disordersIrish speech and language therapists reported poor work-life quality and low well-being. High organisational constraints and workload predicted these negative outcomes. Seventy percent had considered resigning, linking poor work-life quality to turnover intentions.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025Supporting Communication Access of People With Communication Disabilities and Communication Differences in UNCRPD-Ratified Countries: An Integrative Review.International journal of language & communication disordersCommunication access lacks a shared definition across 11 projects, which stalls implementation. Training and exposure to Deaf or disabled groups build staff confidence more than policy alone. Pen and paper are insufficient adjustments for Deaf people. Clear records of patient communication needs are essential.
• SLPCohort2025The Relationship Between Linguistic Input and Communication Outcomes in Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss: The Impact of Device Fitting.Ear and hearingConversational turn-taking with caregivers predicted better language and listening skills in children with unilateral hearing loss. Hearing aid or implant fitting did not change this relationship, nor did how consistently the device was worn.
• SLPCohort2025Prediction of Speech Impairment in Patients Treated for Oral or Oropharyngeal Cancer Using Automatic Speech Analysis.International journal of language & communication disordersAutomatic analysis of spontaneous speech predicted patient-reported communication impairment in 25 patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer. Two phonemic rates and self-reported psychosocial factors explained most variance. The sample was small and the tool is not yet ready for routine clinical use.
• Other2025Low back pain in adults with cerebral palsy: Toward comprehensive, lifelong, and equitable care.Developmental medicine and child neurologyThis paper is an opinion piece arguing that low back pain in adults with cerebral palsy is under-researched. It discusses potential biological causes like gait and spasticity but presents no new data or treatment results.
• Cohort2025Feasibility of Measuring Hair Glucocorticoids as a Potential Biomarker for Chronic Stress in Older Adults With Intellectual Disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRMeasuring hair stress hormones in older adults with intellectual disabilities worked for only 32% of the group. Feasibility was much lower in males and those with severe disabilities, mostly because hair was too short or thin to analyse. This method is not currently practical for all patients.
• PTOTQualitative2026Design Recommendations for Virtual Reality-Based Upper Limb Exercises From People With Tetraplegia and Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Specialists: Focus Group Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesPeople with tetraplegia and therapists identified key barriers to VR use in acute rehab: headsets are heavy and unsafe for high-level injuries, and nausea or reminders of disability cause disengagement. They recommended flexible, accessible designs over consumer-grade systems.
• PTOther2026Cluster-based muscle synergy analysis scheme for assessing crawling motor function in children with cerebral palsy.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationChildren with cerebral palsy showed significantly lower similarity in muscle coordination patterns during crawling compared to typical peers, despite matching their timing. This suggests the deficit lies in how muscles are grouped spatially, not when they fire.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2026Efficacy of botulinum toxin for poststroke lower limb: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical rehabilitationBotulinum toxin injections significantly reduced lower limb spasticity in stroke survivors but did not improve walking speed or balance. Tone reduction alone did not translate into functional gains, suggesting that injections must be paired with active rehabilitation to change how a patient moves.
• Other2026Urgent need for services to support children with and at risk of developmental disabilities in low- and middle-income countries.Developmental medicine and child neurologyThis commentary argues that children with developmental disabilities in low- and middle-income countries urgently need better access to neonatal care and early intervention. It highlights service gaps but reports no original data or outcomes.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2026Pelvic Floor Dysfunction and Rehabilitation in Neurological Disorders: Bridging Pathophysiology With Multidisciplinary Approaches-A Focused Mini-Review.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairConservative rehabilitation, particularly pelvic floor muscle training, is recommended as first-line therapy for neurogenic urinary dysfunction in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. Evidence supports its use alone or combined with biofeedback, electrical stimulation, or nerve stimulation to improve continence and quality of life.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Clinical Predictors of Dysphagia in Acute and Subacute Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: A Retrospective Observational Study.DysphagiaPatients with a tracheostomy after cervical spinal cord injury were far more likely to have food or liquid enter their airway. Those aged 65 or older were more likely to have food left in the throat after swallowing. These factors help identify who needs a swallowing test before eating.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Perceptions of People With Intellectual Disabilities on Autonomy and Decision-Making in Daily Life: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Studies.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRPeople with intellectual disabilities described being excluded from everyday decisions by family and staff who assumed they knew best. They valued support that listened and guided rather than restricted, but felt their own preferences were often ignored in favour of service rules.
• PTOTCase Report2026On the road to Cybathlon 2024: lessons learned from the Polimi FES-bike team.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationA pilot with a spinal cord injury used a custom FES-bike to cover the required distance in the 2024 Cybathlon. Personalizing stimulation angles nearly doubled his time to fatigue compared to standard settings, allowing him to secure third place.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Real-world benefits and tolerability of trofinetide for the treatment of Rett syndrome: The LOTUS study.Developmental medicine and child neurologyCaregivers reported improvements in communication, alertness, and social connection for 71% to 90% of patients after 12 months of trofinetide. Diarrhea was common but often manageable, with serious adverse events occurring in 4.4% of patients.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Communication about sexuality for adolescents with cerebral palsy and complex communication needs: A scoping review with framework synthesis.Developmental medicine and child neurologyAdolescents with cerebral palsy who speak discuss sexuality with parents and peers, but those with complex communication needs are rarely asked directly. Support staff and parents report conversations focus on abuse prevention and personal care, missing broader topics like dating or consent.
• SLPOther2026Second-Language Acquisition and First-Language Attrition of Speech: The Production of Arabic and English Short Vowels.Language and speechBilingual speakers did not simply lose native vowels as they acquired second-language vowels. Some vowels were produced like monolingual speech, some were not, and a sound-discrimination test did not predict accuracy.
• PTOther2026Impact and feasibility of a group-based therapeutic exercise program on strength and endurance in hospitalized patients with spinal cord injury: a quasi-experimental study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationHospitalized patients with spinal cord injury who added group exercise to their usual therapy reported high satisfaction and no safety issues. Strength and walking distance scores rose, but without a control group it is impossible to say if the exercise itself caused these changes.
• SLPRCT2025Imperfect Captions Paired to Audiovisual Stimuli Improve Speech Recognition but Do Not Reduce Listening-Related Fatigue.American journal of audiologyImperfect captions improved speech recognition but increased subjective fatigue and slowed response times in young adults with normal hearing. The benefit to understanding came at a cost to effort. Clinicians should warn patients that automated captions may make listening more tiring, not less.
• SLPCohort2025Machine-Learning Models With Multiple Imputation With Sequential Nearest Neighbors Imputation for Predicting the Prognosis of Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss Patients.Ear and hearingA machine-learning model predicted full recovery correctly in 82.98% of cases during testing. Key clues were DPOAE response, affected-ear threshold, age, time to treatment, and ABR V-ILD.
• SLPCohort2025Psychological Distress Trajectories of Parents of Children With Developmental Disabilities Participating in a Parenting Intervention.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRMost parents reported lower distress over 12 months, but three distinct groups emerged: no change, slow improvement, and rapid improvement. Only the rapid group showed a strong link between receiving the most intensive intervention level and reduced distress. No control group was used.
• PTOther2025Psychometric properties of the Community Balance and Mobility Scale for people with stroke.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineThe CB&M is a reliable balance test for chronic stroke patients. A score of 62 or below indicates impaired balance compared to healthy adults. Changes of at least 5.35 points reflect real improvement, not just measurement error.
• PTCohort2025Baseline functional oxygen uptake gain as a prognostic factor of center-based exercise responding in well-functioning older adults.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineIn 151 older adults doing one year of center-based supervised plus home exercise, lower baseline oxygen gain per workload was linked to a meaningful aerobic fitness gain. A low baseline marker may help set expectations, not prove exercise works.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2025Mapping the Instruments Used to Measure Well-Being on Children With Disabilities: A Scoping Review.Child: care, health and developmentTen self-report instruments for well-being in children with disabilities were identified. Most focus on emotional and psychological aspects, leaving social well-being under-represented. Only a few scales are explicitly adapted for this population, often lacking comprehensive coverage of the dual continua model.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2025The Relationship Between Health Care Professionals' Intersecting Disability and Race Implicit Attitudes and Their Beliefs About People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDHealth care professionals who more strongly preferred nondisabled white people were more likely to see people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as difficult, behaviourally challenging, and lower in quality of life; no link appeared for equal treatment.
• Other2025Autism ableism seen through research abstract contents: A mixed-methods analysis of language in NIH-funded genetic and genomic autism research.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMost NIH-funded genetic autism research abstracts use language that frames autism as a deficit or disease. Nearly all projects contained at least one ableist term, such as "risk," "treatment," or "pathology," suggesting the field defaults to a medical model rather than a neurodiversity one.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Instruments in Spanish to Assess the Mental Health of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities. A Systematic Review.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDValidated Spanish tools for mental health in adults with intellectual disabilities are scarce. Most are unvalidated translations, rely on caregivers rather than self-report, and lack rigorous testing. Clinicians should treat these scores as low-confidence and seek direct input where possible.
• SLPCohort2025Characterizing the Relationship Between the Intelligibility in Context Scale and Transcription Intelligibility in Typically Developing English-Speaking Children Between Ages 2;6 and 9;11.American journal of speech-language pathologyParent ratings of how well a child is understood do not match objective tests of speech clarity in typical children. The two measures capture different things, so a parent's high rating should not be read as proof the child's speech is clearly understood by strangers.
• PTOTMeta-Analysis2025Efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy for post-stroke spasticity and dose-response analysis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineExtracorporeal shock wave therapy significantly reduced post-stroke spasticity in the short and long term, with a dose-response relationship showing higher total pulses yielded greater muscle tone reduction. Benefits were clearer for the upper limb, and the treatment was well tolerated.
• PTSLPPilot2025Expiratory Muscle Strength Training to Improve Voice and Respiratory Outcomes After Laryngectomy: A Feasibility Study.International journal of language & communication disordersTen people who had a laryngectomy completed expiratory muscle strength training using a hand-held device at their stoma. All finished the five-week programme, but most needed simple equipment tweaks to stop air leaks. Lung pressure and voice loudness improved, yet clinicians saw no change in voice quality.
• OTSLPCohort2025Differences in the Social Experiences of Autistic and Non-Autistic Adolescents by Gender.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic boys reported feeling less socially supported than their non-autistic peers, while autistic girls reported feeling more socially alienated than everyone else. Both autistic groups had fewer close friends and spent less time with them, but their subjective experiences of friendship differed by gender.
• SLPOther2026Perceptual Style-Shifting Across Singing and Speech: Music Activates Pop Song English for NZ Listeners.Language and speechNew Zealand listeners expect an American-influenced accent when hearing singing. They identify ambiguous vowels as sung rather than spoken, and process American voices faster than local voices when music is present.
• PTOTRCT2026Dual‑task exergaming to enhance motor and cognitive function in chronic stroke: a prospective, assessor-blinded, parallel group randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationIn chronic stroke survivors, four weeks of dual-task exergaming improved dynamic gait and executive function more than conventional balance training alone. Both groups also received standard therapy, so the specific benefit of the game versus extra practice time is unclear.
• PTOTSystematic Review2026Effects of different exercise interventions on lipid profiles in patients with stable coronary artery disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicineExercise effects on cholesterol depend on the type. Combined aerobic and resistance training lowered total cholesterol and triglycerides best. Mind-body exercise raised good cholesterol most. No exercise modality lowered bad cholesterol, which remains a medication target.
• SLPOther2026Preliminary Validation of Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity (DIGESTV2) for Characterizing Swallow Safety and Efficiency in Post-Stroke Populations.DysphagiaThe DIGEST V2 swallowing tool tracks pharyngeal residue and aspiration well in post-stroke patients. However, it fails to capture oral-phase deficits and shows poor reliability for grading efficiency. Use it to monitor pharyngeal safety, but do not rely on it to assess oral function.
• SLPOther2026Applying Principles of Trauma-Informed Caregiver Coaching in Early Language Intervention.Language, speech, and hearing services in schoolsThis tutorial maps trauma-informed principles onto early language intervention but reports no outcomes. It offers a framework for thinking about caregiver coaching, not evidence that the approach works.
• PTOTOther2026Motor, Cognitive, Psychological, and Neural Predictors of Concern About Falling in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairConcern about falling in 43 people with mild relapsing-remitting MS was linked to disease severity, activity avoidance, physical fatigue, and slower backward walking. MRI brain volumes did not explain concern after disease severity was considered.