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Manual for Functional Training
877
Measurement In Neurological Rehabllltatlon by h i c k T Wade. Oxford University Press, 1992 (ISBN 0 19 261954 3). 388 pages. f25.
This book is aimed at professionals involved in the assessment and treatment of patients with neurological conditions. Although essential reading for this p u p , many professionals in other specialties would find the information very useful. The material provided is valuable to clinicians, as it not only gives a resume of methods of measurement and assessment, but also presents evidence for use of validated assessment techniques and stresses those which should be treated with due caution. The author has brought together many commonly used measures and indices which can help therapists to find the appropriate one for their application. In addition, any work referring to the reliability or validity of each test is reported, which can give an indication of how confident users may be in the data obtained from each method. Appropriate references are provided. The first section contains two chapters which deal with the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) into which framework the author attempts to slot the assessment techniques. However, some may consider this framework to be superfluous to the main theme of the book.
Manual for Functional Training by M Lynn Palmer PhD PT and Janice E Toms MEd PI: F A Davis Co, Philadelphia (3rd edn) 1992, UK distributor Williams and Wilkins, London (ISBN 0 8036 6759 0). Illus. 351 pages. 520.
This is an easy book to read, consisting of 12 chapters and a bibliography. There are some clear photographs and good illustrations demonstrating stepby-step activities. The last chapter consists of various assessment forms, covering personal independence, ADL, prosthetic evaluations and levels of cognitive awareness. They are detailed and obviously have a North American bias but nevertheless will be interesting to therapists working in these particular fields of rehabilitation.
The first section also addresses the issues which should be considered when choosing a test or measure, including a basic description of the type of data that a test will yield, and the concepts (reliability and sensitivity, for example) which are important in the user’s choice. The second section looks at methods of assessing pathology, impairment, disability and handicap. Section three deals with measurement in practice and the final section gives detailed information on commonly used measures including measures of cognitive impairment, functional indices, dynamometry, etc. Unfortunately, due to the diversity of the subjects covered in the book, certain topics, like the assessment of muscle tone, receive only a brief mention. The author also makes the poignant comment: ‘Assessment of tone is central to almost all physiotherapeutic assessment, and it is therefore disappointing how little effort has been given to the development of reliable measures or establishing reliability of current clinical practice.’ The arguments appear to be well supported and from the point of view of research and the increasing popularity of medical audit, with its implicit need for reliable outcome measures, this book will be extremely useful to anyone considering assessing patient response to treatment.
Michele Harms MSc MCSP
The introduction states tha t this manual should be used for all levels of health science students and as a reference book for practising clinicians. It generally achieves these objectives in that it describes in detail exercise and h c t i o n a l activities to reach a basic and reasonable function level. These activities are linked to the needs of people with spinal cord injuries and with brain injuries and to amputees. The chapters describing these conditions will be of little value to the qualified therapist being both brief and with limited detail. The chapters on prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs are interesting and again naturally have a North American bias. Some of the prostheses and orthoses described
r
Multiple Muscle S tems: Biomechanics an movement organisation edited by Jack M Winters and Savio L-Y Woo. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1990 (ISBN 3 540 97307 9). Illus. 801 pages. DM 148.
This comprehensive book attempts to synthesise current biomechanical and neurophysiological knowledge regarding the role of muscles in human movement. It is organised into five parts. Parts 1 and 2 take a modelling approach to muscle and neuro-musculoskeletal systems respectively, whereas the remaining three sections focus on the interplay between biomechanics and organisational strategies for movement. Part 3 considers a wide variety of upper limb tasks and this is continued in Part 4 where t h e relationship between intentional movement and posture is clearly exposed. It is encouraging to read a book which does more than pay lip service to the fact that the neuromotor system’s control of human movement is constrained by mechanical laws. Although rather too detailed for undergraduate study, the book is clear, well-presented and logically argued. As such it is most likely to benefit the postgraduate physiologist or biomechanist who wishes to use his discipline in an integrated fashion to achieve a more coherent understanding of human movement. F Turner MPhii MCSP
would be considered quite old-fashioned by British students. The most useful and interesting chapters describe functional activities and demonstrate exercises to achieve independence. The illustrations give clear step-by-step movements. The variety of ideas and methods are useful and will be especially valuable for students, and also for clinicians who are not working in specialised centres. This book has a mix of information and in that respect has a mixture of values and usefulness. It will, however, be useful in any physiotherapy department library. As a manual it will be useful to pick off the shelf for immediate help.
Catherine Van de Ven MCSP
a
Getting down to and up from fZoor with braces and crutches: (a) Therapist stoops to assist patient on to feet; @) helping patient to lifl hips higher than shoulders and weight on to feet; (c) ifpatient uses firearm crutches therapist assists by stabilising hips using both hands; and (d) patient using full-length underarm crutches is helped to erect position by therapist placing one hand on crutches and other on safety belt. Line drawings from ‘Manual for Functional Training’
Physiotherapy, November 1992, vol78, no 11
Measurement In Neurological Rehabllltatlon by h i c k T Wade. Oxford University Press, 1992 (ISBN 0 19 261954 3). 388 pages. f25.
This book is aimed at professionals involved in the assessment and treatment of patients with neurological conditions. Although essential reading for this p u p , many professionals in other specialties would find the information very useful. The material provided is valuable to clinicians, as it not only gives a resume of methods of measurement and assessment, but also presents evidence for use of validated assessment techniques and stresses those which should be treated with due caution. The author has brought together many commonly used measures and indices which can help therapists to find the appropriate one for their application. In addition, any work referring to the reliability or validity of each test is reported, which can give an indication of how confident users may be in the data obtained from each method. Appropriate references are provided. The first section contains two chapters which deal with the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) into which framework the author attempts to slot the assessment techniques. However, some may consider this framework to be superfluous to the main theme of the book.
Manual for Functional Training by M Lynn Palmer PhD PT and Janice E Toms MEd PI: F A Davis Co, Philadelphia (3rd edn) 1992, UK distributor Williams and Wilkins, London (ISBN 0 8036 6759 0). Illus. 351 pages. 520.
This is an easy book to read, consisting of 12 chapters and a bibliography. There are some clear photographs and good illustrations demonstrating stepby-step activities. The last chapter consists of various assessment forms, covering personal independence, ADL, prosthetic evaluations and levels of cognitive awareness. They are detailed and obviously have a North American bias but nevertheless will be interesting to therapists working in these particular fields of rehabilitation.
The first section also addresses the issues which should be considered when choosing a test or measure, including a basic description of the type of data that a test will yield, and the concepts (reliability and sensitivity, for example) which are important in the user’s choice. The second section looks at methods of assessing pathology, impairment, disability and handicap. Section three deals with measurement in practice and the final section gives detailed information on commonly used measures including measures of cognitive impairment, functional indices, dynamometry, etc. Unfortunately, due to the diversity of the subjects covered in the book, certain topics, like the assessment of muscle tone, receive only a brief mention. The author also makes the poignant comment: ‘Assessment of tone is central to almost all physiotherapeutic assessment, and it is therefore disappointing how little effort has been given to the development of reliable measures or establishing reliability of current clinical practice.’ The arguments appear to be well supported and from the point of view of research and the increasing popularity of medical audit, with its implicit need for reliable outcome measures, this book will be extremely useful to anyone considering assessing patient response to treatment.
Michele Harms MSc MCSP
The introduction states tha t this manual should be used for all levels of health science students and as a reference book for practising clinicians. It generally achieves these objectives in that it describes in detail exercise and h c t i o n a l activities to reach a basic and reasonable function level. These activities are linked to the needs of people with spinal cord injuries and with brain injuries and to amputees. The chapters describing these conditions will be of little value to the qualified therapist being both brief and with limited detail. The chapters on prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs are interesting and again naturally have a North American bias. Some of the prostheses and orthoses described
r
Multiple Muscle S tems: Biomechanics an movement organisation edited by Jack M Winters and Savio L-Y Woo. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1990 (ISBN 3 540 97307 9). Illus. 801 pages. DM 148.
This comprehensive book attempts to synthesise current biomechanical and neurophysiological knowledge regarding the role of muscles in human movement. It is organised into five parts. Parts 1 and 2 take a modelling approach to muscle and neuro-musculoskeletal systems respectively, whereas the remaining three sections focus on the interplay between biomechanics and organisational strategies for movement. Part 3 considers a wide variety of upper limb tasks and this is continued in Part 4 where t h e relationship between intentional movement and posture is clearly exposed. It is encouraging to read a book which does more than pay lip service to the fact that the neuromotor system’s control of human movement is constrained by mechanical laws. Although rather too detailed for undergraduate study, the book is clear, well-presented and logically argued. As such it is most likely to benefit the postgraduate physiologist or biomechanist who wishes to use his discipline in an integrated fashion to achieve a more coherent understanding of human movement. F Turner MPhii MCSP
would be considered quite old-fashioned by British students. The most useful and interesting chapters describe functional activities and demonstrate exercises to achieve independence. The illustrations give clear step-by-step movements. The variety of ideas and methods are useful and will be especially valuable for students, and also for clinicians who are not working in specialised centres. This book has a mix of information and in that respect has a mixture of values and usefulness. It will, however, be useful in any physiotherapy department library. As a manual it will be useful to pick off the shelf for immediate help.
Catherine Van de Ven MCSP
a
Getting down to and up from fZoor with braces and crutches: (a) Therapist stoops to assist patient on to feet; @) helping patient to lifl hips higher than shoulders and weight on to feet; (c) ifpatient uses firearm crutches therapist assists by stabilising hips using both hands; and (d) patient using full-length underarm crutches is helped to erect position by therapist placing one hand on crutches and other on safety belt. Line drawings from ‘Manual for Functional Training’
Physiotherapy, November 1992, vol78, no 11