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PURPOSE: To evaluate research on the effectiveness of intra-articular corticosteroids injections compared with resistance exercise on pain, stiffness, and function among patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Using the PRISMA guidelines, the authors performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in PubMed and EBSCOhost published between January 2012 and October 2022. The authors used keywords to identify studies. After screening the abstracts, reviewers used two screening tools to evaluate for validity and strength of each RCT. Full text of selected articles was critically appraised and narrative analysis was performed. The outcome used to determine effectiveness of the interventions was the Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). RESULTS: Of the 69,056 articles identified during the preliminary search, 8 met the inclusion criteria for use in the study. Three studies involved resistance exercise, and 5 studies involved corticosteroids. Of the 3 resistance studies, 2 had significant changes in WOMAC scores. Of the 5 studies on corticosteroid injections, 4 had significant changes in WOMAC scores. CONCLUSION: Evidence from this review suggests that there is a significant improvement in WOMAC scores for both intervention groups. Although an analysis of research evidence suggests that there is no superior treatment for knee osteoarthritis between corticosteroid injections and resistance exercise, it is important to consider contextual and environmental factors before recommending either treatment.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, academic institutions have changed their modus operandi, particularly in adopting distance learning in lieu of face-to-face instruction. This has sometimes produced unanticipated effects on students. The purpose of this study was to determine COVID-19 pandemic stressors and coping mechanisms utilized as relief measures by students, faculty, and staff in the College of Health Sciences at a historically Black institution. Cross-sectional study. Sampling: A convenience sample of 209 students, 34 faculty, and 9 staff from the College of Health Sciences at a historically Black institution participated in this study. Instrument: A 32-item Qualtrics survey was utilized to gather demographic data, COVID-19-related stressors, and coping mechanisms. Analysis: Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test for categorical variables, and Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel tests for ordinal variables were used. Female students, African American students (AAS), and undergraduates perceived stress related to the risk of contagion during the pandemic higher than the male students (P-value = 0.0096), other races (P-value = 0.0249) and graduate students (P-value = 0.0141) respectively. Female students perceived more stress related to relationships with relatives (P-value = 0.0128). Caucasian students compared to others (P-value = 0.0240) and graduate students compared to undergraduate students (P-value = 0.0011) reported less perceived stress related to the relationships with other colleagues. Top coping strategies of students and staff included interaction with family and friends, social media, hand hygiene, and meditation/spiritualty. Except for “avoidance of public spaces/transportation”, all other mechanisms were the same for faculty.

Because many students enrolled in Allied Health programs are on track to becoming health practitioners or clinicians and frontline workers who would become critical sources of information for patients it is critical to understand their perspectives about mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Results: COVID-19 Risk Perception. A significant majority of the respondents had high or strongly high-risk perception of COVID-19, 82(56.6%) strongly agreed and 29(20%) agreed with the statement, COVID-19 is a public health issue (P-value < 0.0001), Comparing by demographic characteristics: African American/Black compared with other races (P-Value = 0.0462), Master of Public Health program, compared with all other graduate programs (P-Value = 0.0140) and fully vaccinated and fully vaccinated and boosted compared with incomplete or not-vaccinated for COVID-19 (P-value = 0.0059) had higher COVID-19 risk perceptions. strongly high-risk perception of COVID-19, 82(56.6%) strongly agreed and 29(20%) agreed with the statement, COVID-19 is a public health issue (P-value < 0.0001), Comparing by demographic characteristics: African American/Black compared with other races (P-Value = 0.0462), Master of Public Health program, compared with all other graduate programs (P-Value = 0.0140) and fully vaccinated and fully vaccinated and boosted compared with incomplete or not-vaccinated for COVID-19 (P-value = 0.0059) had higher COVID-19 risk perceptions.

This qualitative study describes the process of and factors associated with losses connected to permanent long-term care (LTC) placement of the elderly. Five subjects were recruited on a voluntary basis upon consultation with a staff member of a small rural long-term care facility in Northeast Arkansas. Researchers conducted 1 to 2, hour to hour-and-a-half interview sessions with each participant. In order for subjects to be included in the study, participants met the following criteria: placement within the past 12 months, absence of acute disease, and cognitive ability to respond to and communicate during interview sessions. The interviews were taped with the patients' consent, and then transcribed word for word. The transcriptions were analyzed for emergent themes using the grounded theory approach. Qualitative analysis revealed several themes related to losses associated with LTC placement. These include: cohort losses, defined as losses that participants identified with as a cohort through lived experiences; antecedent losses, defined as losses that have contributed greatly to long-term care placement; and consequent losses, defined as losses that have been experienced as a consequence of placement. The cumulative nature of losses that eventually results in LTC placement is an important consideration in geriatric physical therapy practice. The study highlights the physical therapist's role in prolonging function, preserving quality of life, and preventing for as long as possible LTC placement. Losses identified as leading to LTC were found to be in alignment with current research. Transitioning to LTC may interfere with the need to attend to end-of-life role expectations, resulting in the experience of additional loss. Gender-related differences appear to be significant as well, with males expressing a marked sense of loss of meaningful activity.

This systematic review examines research interventions that focus on the quality of life (QOL) of community dwelling older adults as it relates to their participation in Tai Chi. With an increase in age, individuals will experience a variety of conditions that will lead to a decline in their health and overall function, which generally has a direct correlation with quality of life. A new, popular method of maintaining and/or improving function and health is Tai Chi. Tai Chi is an eastern martial art that focuses on slow controlled movements in order to increase one's awareness of their body functionally and physiologically. Current research suggests that Tai Chi may be beneficial for improving the quality of life in older adults experiencing a variety of physiological and mental disorders. To measure QOL, researchers used well known, standardized assessments including the Medical Outcomes Study 36 Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA (WOMAC), and the Taiwanese version of the World Health Organization's WHOQOL-BREF. Following a Tai Chi intervention program, research results showed improvements in QOL among individuals with physiological and mental conditions such as, geriatric depression, fear of falling, knee osteoarthritis, diabetes, cerebral vascular accident, postmenopausal women with osteopenia as well as women with breast, ovarian, uterine, thyroid or bladder cancer. Although current research suggests significant improvements in quality of life following a Tai Chi intervention program, good quality studies suggest that further research should be completed to determine if Tai Chi has positive long-term effects on the QOL in older adults. Keywords: Tai Chi, \"Quality of Life\"

This action research project addresses the issue of continuing competence from the viewpoint of allied health faculty members at a community college in Illinois. With input by and feedback from the faculty, the researcher describes how full-time allied health faculty members maintain their clinical competence, determines if efforts toward continuing competence are linked with academic responsibilities, and ascertains the role of the academic institution, the educational programs and the faculty members in ensuring continuing competence. Results of the study indicate that faculty members maintain their competence by attending continuing education courses, reading professional literature, and engaging in clinical work. There appears to be a disconnect, however, between these activities and the academic responsibilities of the faculty members. An analysis of perceptions reveals that the responsibility for ensuring continuing competence increases from the institutional level to the level of the faculty members, whereas accountability is shouldered by the faculty members and the educational programs.

As part of the normal aging process, older adults experience a decline in muscle function due to an increase in fat mass and a decrease in muscle mass and strength, a condition known as sarcopenia. Emerging research evidence seems to suggest that whole body vibration (WBV) may attenuate the effects of sarcopenia by improving muscle mass, strength, and power through low amplitude, low frequency vibrations throughout the body. This research study evaluated the strength and quality of research evidence on the effectiveness of WBV on muscle mass and muscle strength of adults 55 years of age and older. By employing a search strategy with specified parameters, the authors were able to retrieve and review twelve articles meeting the inclusion criteria for the study. The articles were reviewed based on the 2011 ranking system of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford (CEBM), the criteria of Jewel and the criteria and scoring system of the Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM). Results indicated that the research articles were primarily Level II and III studies with moderate to weak quality. Although current research evidence suggests the potential for significant improvements in muscle characteristics with WBV in older adults, the limited number of stronger, high quality research studies underscores the need for more robust research evidence. Keywords: whole body vibration, muscle strength and mass, research evidence