Research & Education
$1 MILLION NIH GRANT TARGETS SHOULDER PAIN IN PATIENTS WITH SPINAL INJURIES
Sara Mulroy, director of the Pathokinesiology Laboratory at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, has been awarded a five-year, $1.04 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research to study the risk factors for shoulder pain in patients with spinal cord injury. Mulroy said the most common diagnoses for people with spinal cord injury who have shoulder pain are inflammation and tears in the the rotator cuff tendons of the shoulder. This pathology has been attributed to increased weight bearing on the arms during wheelchair propulsion, transfers in and out of the wheelchair and raising body weight on the arms to relieve pressure on the skin. Pilot studies by Mulroy and colleagues at Rancho Los Amigos suggest that the movement pattern an individual uses to propel a wheelchair can impact the risk of developing shoulder pain.
In the NIH-funded study, Mulroy and her colleagues will follow 320 subjects with paraplegia from spinal cord injury for a period of three years to determine the factors associated with shoulder pain. At the end of three years they compare the patterns of wheelchair propulsion, muscle strength and wheelchair activity levels in subjects who develop shoulder pain with those who remain pain-free.
The overall goal of the study is to develop recommendations to reduce the strain and joint deterioration that may occur with long-term weight bearing on the arms to prevent further loss of functional independence after spinal cord injury.
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH RESOURCES & PUBLICATIONS
The Los Amigos Research and Education Institute
Visit the LAREI Web Site for more information or contact them at: P.O. Box 3500, Downey, CA 90242, telephone: (562) 401-8111, fax: (562) 803-5569, e-mail: larei@rancho.org.
United States National Library of Medicine
View a multitude of biomedical journal literature authored by staff at Rancho. In the 'Search MEDLINE/PubMed' field type in, "Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center"
The Rancho Levels of Cognitive Functioning
One of the most widely used rehabilitation tools to come out of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center research is the one that bears the name The Rancho Levels of Cognitive Functioning. This evaluation tool identifies patterns of recovery for people with closed-head injury. It is most appropriate for use with traumatic brain injury patients with cognitive and memory deficits who are less than one-year post onset. The scale describes behavioral characteristics and cognitive deficits associated with brain injury to help the team understand and focus on the person's abilities in designing an appropriate treatment program.
- The Family Guide to The Rancho Levels of Cognitive Functioning
- Guí a Familiar sobre los Niveles de Función Cognoscitiva De Rancho Los Amigos
- Bibliography
- Video Tape Order Form
- Description of why staff at Rancho continue to use the original 8 level version instead of the revised 10 level version
- The Rancho Levels of Cognitive Functioning (Revised) by Chris Hagen, PhD. 3rd Ed. 1998
Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine and Science
The Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine and Science (volume 3, 2001/2002) was published by Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center to provide information about research activities at the world-renowned medical rehabilitation center.
CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center is proud to present the following professional development opportunities:
June 12, 2007 - Evaluation of Clients with Visual-Perceptual Dysfunction for Occupational Therapy Practitioners - more information about this program is forthcoming.