A/Prof Dr. Mark Elkins' academic visit to the physiotherapy post-graduation program from the Faculty of Science and Technology at São Paulo State University

• Grant number: 16/17567-1
• Support type: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Duration: November 07, 2016 - November 13, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal researcher: Rafael Zambelli de Almeida Pinto
• Grantee: Rafael Zambelli de Almeida Pinto
• Visiting researcher: Mark Russell Elkins
• Visiting researcher institution: University of Sydney, Australia
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/14077-8 - Investigating the role of physical activity domains in the prognosis of non-specific low back pain, AP.JP

Abstract

The A/Prof Mark Elkins is a collaborator of 3 projects. Due to the word limit, I have included below the abstract related to 2 projects only.Abstract Project 1: Interventions which include physical activity promotion as the core component for the treatment of patients with chronic low back pain have shown to be effective in reducing pain and disability in these patients. Nevertheless, recent evidences shows that a large proportion of patients with low back pain do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity. Given that comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, are highly prevalent in those patients with chronic low back pain, interventions that reduce pain and disability and, at the same time, can increase physical activity levels in this population have important clinical implications for primary care settings. Therefore, the present study is a randomized clinical trial aiming to investigate the short and long-term effect of a physical activity intervention which include health coaching, physical activity monitors and general therapeutic exercises on physical activity levels (measured objectively with accelerometers) of patients with chronic low back pain compared with usual care program based on general therapeutic exercise. The secondary outcomes are pain, disability, depression and quality of life. A total of 148 adults with chronic low back pain will be randomly allocated into two groups. Patients allocated to the intervention group will receive a physical activity intervention including healthy coaching, the monitoring/feedback of activity with the activity monitor FitBit for 3 months, while the usual care group will receive only general exercises. Blind assessors will evaluate outcomes measures at 3 and 6 months post-randomization. The results of this study will be used to clarify whether a physical activity intervention can reduce pain and disability and, at the same time, is capable of increasing physical activity levels of patients with chronic low back pain.Abstract Project 2: Consumers of healthcare are increasingly searching online for evidence about interventions in physical therapy. However, the internet contains evidence of highly variable quality, which can increase the demand for treatments with poor or no evidence at all. It is necessary, then, that scientific reports have summaries written for the lay public, with plain language about clinical results. The website Physiotherapy Choices was designed to help the search for articles in the field of physical therapy for it has a lay interface of the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). There are many formulas to evaluate the readability, that is, how easy to read the text is. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), different from other score systems, translates its results to the United States grade level, making it easier to interpret and compare the results. The website Readability score is an online tool widely used and recommended that calculates these scores, including the FKGL, from texts written in English, in addition to words and syllabus counting. The main objective of the study is to investigate whether the lay summaries are published at a readable level for lay consumers. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARVALHO, FLAVIA A.; ELKINS, MARK R.; FRANCO, MARCIA R.; PINTO, RAFAEL Z. Are plain-language summaries included in published reports of evidence about physiotherapy interventions? Analysis of 4421 randomised trials, systematic reviews and guidelines on the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). PHYSIOTHERAPY, v. 105, n. 3, p. 354-361, SEP 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.