Eight rehabilitation science PhD students, who worked with various department faculty, presented research during the American College of Sport Medicine’s (ACSM) annual meeting in Boston. The ACSM represents 70 occupations within sports medicine and brings together students, physicians, academicians, and researchers in sports medicine, exercise science, health, and fitness.
Jared Gollie’s research explored the effects of locomotor training on prolonged oxygen uptake transitions (VO2 on-kinetics) in people with incomplete spinal cord injury. He found that completing the locomotor training program contributed to improvement in VO2 on-kinetics in people with incomplete spinal cord injury during treadmill walking.
Peter Jo presented research on gait adaptation after task-specific locomotor training in people with incomplete spinal cord injury. Measuring gait adaptation by examining center of pressure and ground reaction force could be an indicator of improved walking ability in this population. He determined that the participants had increased symmetry of force, which is an indicator of gait adaptation and demonstrates motor learning.
Donal Murray’s abstract examined the relationship between fatigability and functional aerobic impairment in people with advanced lung disease (ALD). While the study found that people with ALD had increased fatigability and significant functional aerobic impairment, a person’s level of functional aerobic impairment did not predict their level of fatigability.
Gino Panza’s research focused on the effects of task-specific locomotor training on the ventilator drive in men with incomplete spinal cord injury. The study concluded that participants who had 15 weeks of locomotor training reduced the variability in their expired minute ventilation and improved their exercise hyperpnea transitions, which is the increased depth of breathing needed during activities such as exercise.
Jillian Price presented research that explored resting oxygen consumption in patients with chronic liver disease and either hepatitis C or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The research concluded that patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease had lower resting oxygen consumption, which suggests that resting oxygen consumption may be a variable in examining symptoms in people with chronic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Shipra Puri presented research on the relationship between sleep disorders and physical functioning in U.S. adults in a secondary analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006. The analysis showed that sleep disorders had a significant association with physical functioning limitations and suggested that sleep optimization strategies are needed to address physical function limitations in adults.
Amanda Rounds’ abstract examined self-efficacy and ambulation ability in people with incomplete spinal cord injury. Her research sought to determine if there was a relationship between a person’s confidence in their functional abilities and their actual performance. The results showed that participants’ confidence adjusted as their physical abilities changed and suggested that they may be motivated by gaps in perceived vs. actual performance abilities.
Zoe Williams’ abstract examined changes in cardiorespiratory work economy after patients with pulmonary hypertension completed 10 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise training. The study found that people with pulmonary hypertension who participated in vigorous aerobic exercise had better exercise economy, which enables them to accomplish more at various levels of oxygen consumption.