Inertial Sensors Used to Learn Manipulation

EFFECT OF REAL-TIME FEEDBACK THROUGH INERTIAL SENSORS IN LEARNING POSTEROANTERIOR THORACIC MANIPULATION

• Background Context: no studies have been identified to analyse the effect of real time feedback (using inertial sensors) on physiotherapy students learning the art of posterior-anterior thoracic manipulation (PATM).
• Purpose: to study the effect caused by real-time feedback on the learning process for PATM, comparing two undergraduate physiotherapy student groups. Hypothesis: significant differences will exist in the execution parameters of manipulation among students receiving real-time feedback versus those who do not.
• Study Design/Setting: longitudinal, pre-post intervention.
• Patient Sample: Sixty-one undergraduate physiotherapy students were divided randomly into two groups, G1 (n = 31) (group without feedback in real time) and G2 (n = 30) (group with real-time feedback).
• Outcome Measures: time, displacement and velocity and improvement (only between groups) to reach maximum peak, to reach minimum peak from maximum peak, total manipulation time.
• Methods: two groups of physiotherapy students learned PATM, one using a traditional method and the other using real-time feedback (inertial sensor). Measures were obtained pre- and post-intervention. Intragroup pre- and post-intervention and intergroup post-intervention scores were calculated. An analysis of the measures' stability was developed through an ICC (1,2).
• Results: the values of ICC ranged from 0.881 to 0.997. Statistically significant differences were found in all variables analysed (intra- and inter-group) in favour of G2.
• Conclusions: the learning process for posterior-anterior thoracic manipulation is facilitated when the student receives real-time feedback.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants did not have any training in manual therapy techniques, especially those involving a high velocity, low amplitude execution.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Refusal to participate in the study