Browsing by Author "Schneider, Geoff"

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    A clinical test to assess isometric cervical strength in chronic whiplash associated disorder (WAD): a reliability study
    (2022-08-01) Habberfield, Jeff; Schneider, Geoff; Schneider, Kathryn; Katuli, Sozina; Olson, Lee
    Abstract Background Cervical spine muscle weakness is well demonstrated in individuals with chronic neck pain. There is a lack of literature evaluating clinically applicable means of assessing isometric cervical strength in chronic whiplash associated disorder (WAD). This study assessed the reliability of self-resisted isometric cervical strength testing using a handheld dynamometer. The relationship between strength and neck pain-related disability and kinesiophobia was also investigated. Methods Twenty subjects with chronic WAD performed maximum-effort isometric cervical flexion, extension, side flexion, and rotation against a hand held dynamometer. The dynamometer was held by the subject, who provided self-resistance. Subjects completed two sessions of testing on one day with two different examiners, and one session on a subsequent day with one of the original examiners. Subjects completed the Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) prior to the first testing session. Results Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for directional strength measures were fair to high (0.71–0.88 for intra-rater and 0.79–0.91 for inter-rater). Total strength (sum of all directional strengths) ICCs were high for both intra-rater (ICC = 0.91) and inter-rater (ICC = 0.94) measures. All statistical tests for ICCs demonstrated significance (α < 0.05). Agreement was assessed using Bland Altman (BA) analysis with 95% limits of agreement. BA analysis demonstrated difference scores between the two testing sessions that ranged from 3.0—17.3% and 4.5—28.5% of the mean score for intra and inter-rater measures, respectively. Most measures did not meet the a priori standard for agreement. A moderate to good inverse relationship was demonstrated between kinesiophobia (TSK score) and six out of seven strength measures (α < .05). No significant correlation was found between neck disability (NDI) and cervical strength in any direction. Conclusion This study demonstrated fair to high reliability of self resisted isometric cervical strength testing in the chronic WAD population. All directional strength measures except flexion demonstrated a significant inverse relationship with kinesiophobia. No cervical strength measures were correlated with neck disability. These results support testing cervical strength in this manner to reliably assess change over time within individual patients. The value of such measurement requires further consideration given the lack of correlation between cervical strength and disability. Further research is required to establish normative values and enhance clinical utility.
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    Prevalence and Factors Associated with Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome Among Youth Ice Hockey and Ringette Players
    (2024-04-29) Martin, Maitland; Emery, Carolyn; Schneider, Geoff; Bullock, Garrett S.; Mohtadi, Nicholas; Dijkstra, Paul
    High impact sports lead to intense stress and wear on weight bearing joints such as the knee, hip, or ankle, potentially resulting in trauma to the joints. Ice hockey is one such sport and has been shown to be a risk factor for hip and groin problems in athletes, in particular, femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome. In this thesis, a systematic review of the literature is used to examine prevalence of FAI syndrome and methods of clinical and radiological assessment in adolescent athletes (aged 10-19) compared to young adult athletes (aged 20-35) in all sports. A screening protocol for suspected FAI syndrome was developed to examine the prevalence of signs and symptoms associated with FAI syndrome and was examined for intra -and inter-rater reliability. A cross-sectional study design was utilized to examine the presence of signs and symptoms associated with FAI syndrome in ice hockey and ringette athletes aged 14-24. In addition to completion of the hip screening protocol, participants completed a focused hip history questionnaire, the International Hip Outcome (iHOT-33) Tool, and preseason baseline questionnaires (PBQs). Data were collected for 270 participants (166 males, 104 females), and findings indicated a high prevalence of suspected FAI syndrome (signs and symptoms) in this sample. Finally, 28 males and 30 females from the larger sample underwent bilateral hip radiographs (x-rays) for examination of morphologies associated with FAI syndrome and subsequent diagnosis. Findings across all studies demonstrated a high prevalence of signs and symptoms of FAI syndrome and subsequent FAI syndrome diagnosis. Future research should investigate incidence of FAI syndrome in this population and measures for early detection, such as implementation of a screening protocol (secondary prevention), and subsequent development of primary prevention strategies.