Glossary.

A

Activities of daily living (ADL) The self-care, communication, and mobility skills (eg, bathing, bed mobility, dressing, eating, grooming, toileting, and transfers) required for independence in everyday living.

Adaptive devices A variety of implements or equipment used to aid patients/clients in performing actions, tasks, activities, or movements. Adaptive devices include environmental controls, raised toilet seats, and seating systems.

Aerobic conditioning The performance of therapeutic exercise and activities to increase endurance.

Aerobic capacity/endurance The ability to perform work or participate in activities over time using the body's oxygen uptake, delivery, and energy release mechanisms.

Airway clearance techniques A group of therapeutic activities intended to manage or prevent the consequences of impaired mucociliary transport or the inability to protect the airway (eg, impaired cough).

Anthropometric characteristics Those traits that describe body dimensions, such as height, weight, girth, and body fat composition.

Anticipated goals see Goals.

Arousal A state of responsiveness to stimulation or action or of physiological readiness for activity.

Arthrakinematic The accessory or joint play movements of a joint that cannot be performed voluntarily and that are defined by the structure and shape of the joint surfaces, without regard to the forces producing motion or resulting from motion.

Assessment The measurement or quantification of a variable or the placement of a value on something. Assessment should not be confused with examination or evaluation.

Assistive devices A variety of implements or equipment used to aid patients/clients in performing actions, activities, movements or tasks. Assistive devices include canes, crutches, long-handled reachers, power devices, static and dynamic splints, walkers, and wheelchairs.

Associated skin Skin that is not disrupted, including skin either contiguous to a wound or skin at risk of injury or breakdown.

Attention Selective awareness of the environment or selective responsiveness to stimuli.

Auscultation The act of listening to internal body sounds (eg, heart, lungs).

Autogenic drainage Airway clearance through the patient's/ client's own efforts (eg, coughing).

B

Back school A structured educational program about back problems, usually offered to a group of patients/clients.

Balance The ability to maintain the body in equilibrium with gravity both statically (ie, while stationary) and dynamically (ie, while moving).

Barriers See Environmental, home, and work (job/school/ play) barriers.

Biofeedback A training technique that enables an individual to gain some element of voluntary control over muscular or autonomic nervous system functions using a device that produces auditory or visual stimuli.

Body mechanics The interrelationships of the muscles and joints as they maintain or adjust posture in response to forces placed on or generated by the body.

C

Cardiovascular pump Structures responsible for maintaining cardiac output, including the cardiac muscle, valves, arterial smooth muscle, and venous smooth muscle.

Cardiovascular pump dysfunction Abnormalities of the cardiac muscles, valves, conduction, or circulation that interrupt or interfere with cardiac output or circulation.

Caregivers Individuals who are responsible for the patient's/ client's care, including home health aides, day-care providers, teachers, or educational aides.

Cicatrix Scar; the fibrous tissue replacing the normal tissues destroyed by injury or disease.

Circulation The movement of blood through organs and tissues to deliver oxygen and to remove carbon dioxide and the passive movement (drainage) of lymph through channels, organs, and tissues for removal of cellular byproducts and inflammatory wastes.

Clients Individuals who engage the services of a physical therapist and who can benefit from the physical therapist's consultation, interventions, professional advice, health promotion, fitness, wellness, or prevention services. Clients also are businesses, school systems, and others to whom physical therapists provide services.

Cognition The act or process of knowing, including both awareness and judgment.

Communication The exchange of information.

Community integration or reintegration The process of assuming or resuming roles and functions in the community, such as gaining access to transportation (eg, driving a car, boarding a bus, negotiating a neighborhood), to community businesses anti services (eg, banks, shops, parks), and to public facilities (eg, attending theaters, town hall meetings, parks, places of worship).

Complementary exercise approaches A broad range of nonconventional exercise systems used in combination with conventional therapeutic exercise to enhance control of the body and sense of well-being.

Compression therapy Treatment using devices or techniques that decrease the density of a part of the body through the application of pressure.

Conditioning Improvement of physical and mental capacity with a program of exercises or a course of training.

Consultation The rendering of professional or expert opinion or advice by a physical therapist. The consulting physical therapist applies highly specialized knowledge and skills to identify problems, recommend solutions, or produce a specified outcome or product in a given amount of time on behalf of a patient/client.

Continuous passive motion (CPM) The use of a device that allows a joint (eg, the knee) to be exercised without the involvement of the patient/client, often in the early postoperative period.

Contrast bath The immersion of an extremity in alternating hot and cold water.

Coordination The working together of all parties involved with the patient/client.

Cosmesis A concern in rehabilitation, especially regarding surgical operations or burns, for the appearance of the patient/client.

Cranial nerve integrity The intactness of the twelve pairs of nerves connected with the brain, including their somatic, visceral, and afferent and efferent components.

Cryotherapy Therapeutic application of cold (eg, ice).

D

Debridement Non-selective debridement is the removal of nonspecific areas of devitalized tissue with prior tissue preparation. Non-selective debridement may include the use of enzymatic debridement, wet dressings, wet-to-dry dressings, and wet-to-moist dressings. Selective debridement is the removal of specific areas of devitalized tissue without prior tissue preparation. Selective debridement may include use of autolytic or enzymatic agents or sharp instruments. Selective sharp debridement, which often occurs at the line of demarcation between viable and non-viable tissue, is the use of sharp instruments for tissue removal.

Deconditioning The physiologic changes in systemic function following prolonged periods of rest or inactivity.

Deficit A lack or deficiency. Developmental deficit: The difference between the expected level of performance and the actual (lower) level of performance in an aspect of development (eg, motor, communication, social).

Developmental delay The failure to reach expected age-specific performance in one or more areas of development (eg, motor, sensory-perceptual).

Diagnosis Diagnosis is both a process and a label. The diagnostic process includes integrating and evaluating the data that are obtained during the examination to describe the patient/client condition in terms that will guide the prognosis, the plan of care, and intervention strategies. Physical therapists use diagnostic labels that identify the impact of a condition on function at the level of the system (especially the movement system) and at the level of the whole person.

Disability The inability to perform or a limitation in the performance of actions, tasks, and activities usually expected in specific social roles that are customary for the individual or expected for the person's status or role in a specific sociocultural context and physical environment. In the Guide, the categories of required roles are self-care, home management, work (job/school/play), and community/leisure.

Discharge The process of ending physical therapy services that have been provided during a single episode of care, when the anticipated goals and expected outcomes have been achieved. Discharge does not occur with a transfer (that is, when the patient is moved from one site to another site within the same setting or across setting during a single episode of care).

Discontinuation The process of ending physical therapy services that have been provided during a single episode of care when: (1) the patient/client, caregiver, or legal guardian declines to continue intervention, (2) the patient/client is unable to continue to progress toward anticipated goals and expected outcomes because of medical or psychosocial complications or because financial/insurance resources have been expended, or (3) the physical therapist determines that the patient/client will no longer benefit from physical therapy.

Disease A pathological condition or abnormal entity with a characteristic group of signs and symptoms affecting the body and with known or unknown etiology.

Disorder Derangement or abnormality of function (anatomic or physiologic); pathology.

Documentation Any entry into the patient/client record--such as consultation reports, initial examination reports, progress notes, flow sheets, checklists, reexamination reports, or summations of care--that identifies the care or service provided.

Dynamometry Measurement of the degree of muscle power.

Dysfunction Disturbance, impairment, or abnormality of function of an organ.

E

Electrical potential The amount of electrical energy residing in specific tissues.

Electrical stimulation An intervention using electricity to produce a therapeutic effect.

Electrophysiologic testing The process of examining and recording the electrical responses of the body.

Electromyography (EMG) The examining and recording of the electrical activity of a muscle.

Electrotherapeutic modalities A broad group of agents that use electricity and are intended to assist functional training; assist muscle force generation and contraction; decrease unwanted muscular activity; increase the rate of healing of open wounds and soft tissue; maintain strength after injury or surgery; modulate or decrease pain; or reduce or eliminate soft tissue swelling, inflammation, or restriction.

Endurance See Aerobic capacity; see Muscle endurance.

Environmental, home, and work (job/school/play) barriers The physical impediments that keep patients/clients from functioning optimally in their surroundings, including safety hazards (eg, throw rugs, slippery surfaces), access problems (eg, narrow doors, thresholds, high steps, absence of power doors or elevators), and home or office design barriers (eg, excessive distances to negotiate, multistory environments, sinks, bathrooms, counters, placement of controls or switches).

Episode of physical therapy care All physical therapy services that are (1) provided by a physical therapist, (2) provided in an unbroken sequence, and (3) related to the physical therapy interventions for a given condition or problem or related to a request from the patient/client, family, or other health care provider. A defined number or identified range of number of visits will be established for an episode of care. The episode of care may include transfers between sites within or across settings or reclassification of the patient/client from one preferred practice pattern to another.

Episode of physical therapy maintenance A series of occasional clinical, educational, and administrative services related to maintenance of current function. Programs for maintenance of function are a vital part of the practice of physical therapy. No defined number or range of number of visits is established for this type of episode.

Episode of physical therapy prevention A series of occasional clinical, educational, and administrative services related to prevention, to the promotion of health, wellness, and fitness, and to the preservation of optimal function. Prevention services and programs that promote health, wellness, and fitness are a vital part of the practice of physical therapy. No defined number or range of number of visits is established for this type of episode.

Ergonomics The relationship among the worker; the work that is done; the actions, tasks, or activities inherent in that work (job/school/play); and the environment in which the work (job/school/play) is performed. Ergonomics uses scientific and engineering principles to improve safety, efficiency, and quality of movement involved in work (job/school/play).

Evaluation A dynamic process in which the physical therapist makes clinical judgments based on data gathered during the examination.

Examination A comprehensive screening and specific testing process leading to diagnostic classification or, as appropriate, to a referral to another practitioner. The examination has three components: the patient/client history, the systems review, and tests and measures.

Expected outcomes The intended results of patient/client management, which the changes in impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities and the changes in health, wellness, and fitness needs that are expected as the result of implementing the plan of care. The expected outcomes in the plan should be measurable and time limited.

F

Fitness A dynamic physical state--comprising cardiovascular/ pulmonary endurance; muscle strength, power, endurance, and flexibility; relaxation; and body composition--that allows optimal and efficient performance of daily and leisure activities.

Flexibility The pliability of a portion of the body that is determined by joint integrity, soft tissue extensibility, and muscle length.

Force plate An embedded plate used to measure the force that a person exerts when walking.

Function Those activities identified by an individual as essential to support physical, social, and psychological wellbeing and to create a personal sense of meaningful living.

Functional assessment The measurement or quantification of those activities identified by an individual as essential to support physical, social, and psychological well-being and to create a personal sense of meaningful living.

Functional limitation The restriction of the ability to perform, at the level of the whole person, a physical action, task, or activity in an efficient, typically expected, or competent manner.

Functional muscle testing Performance-based muscle assessment in particular positions simulating functional tasks and activities and usually under specific test conditions.

Functional training The education and training of patients/ clients in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) that are intended to improve the ability to perform physical actions, tasks, or activities in an efficient, typically expected, or competent manner.

G

Gait The manner in which a person walks, characterized by rhythm, cadence, step, stride, and speed.

Goniometry Measurement of the angle of a joint or a series of joints.

Goals The intended results of patient/client management. Goals indicate changes in impairment, functional limitations, and disabilities and changes in health, wellness, and fitness needs that are expected as a result of implementing the plan of care. Goals should be measurable and time limited. (If required, goals may be expressed as short-term and long-term goals.)

H

Health status The state or status of the conditions that comprise good health.

History A systematic gathering of data--from both the past and the present--related to why the patient/client is seeking the services of the physical therapist. The data that are obtained (eg, through interview, through review of the patient/client record, or from other sources) include demographic information, social history, employment and work (job/school/play), growth and development, living environments, general health status, social and health habits (past and current), family history, medical/surgical history, current conditions or chief complaints, functional status and activity level, medications, and other clinical tests. While taking the history, the physical therapist also identifies health restoration and prevention needs and coexisting health problems that may have implications for intervention.

Home management The ability to perform the more complex instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), such as, structured play (for infants and children), maintaining a home, shopping, performing heavy household chores, caring for dependents, and performing yard work.

Hydrotherapy An intervention using water to produce a therapeutic effect.

I

Impairment A loss or abnormality of anatomical, physiological, mental, or psychological structure or function. Secondary impairment: Impairment that originates from other, preexisting impairments.

Instruction See Patient/client-related instruction.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) The more complex skills--such as caring for dependents, maintaining a home, performing household chores and yardwork, shopping, and structured play (for infants and children)--that are important components of maintaining independent living.

Integumentary integrity The intactness of the skin, including the ability of the skin to serve as a barrier to environmental threats (eg, bacteria, parasites).

Integumentary repair and protection techniques The application of therapeutic procedures and modalities that are intended to enhance wound perfusion, manage scar, promote an optimal wound environment, remove excess exudate from a wound complex, and eliminate nonviable tissue from a wound bed.

Intervention The purposeful interaction of the physical therapist with the patient/client and, when appropriate, with other individuals involved in patient/client care, using various physical therapy procedures and techniques to produce changes in the condition.

Iontophoresis The introduction of ions into tissues by means of electric current to produce a therapeutic effect.

J

Joint integrity The intactness of the structure and shape of the joint, including its osteokinematic and arthrokinematic characteristics.

Joint mobility The capacity of the joint to be moved passively, taking into account the structure and shape of the joint surface in addition to characteristics of the tissue surrounding the joint.

K

Kinesthesia The awareness of movement.

L

Leisure integration or reintegration The process of assuming or resuming roles and functions of avocational and enjoyable pastimes, such as recreational activities (eg, playing a sport) and age-appropriate hobbies (eg, collecting antiques, gardening, or making crafts).

Locomotion The ability to move from one place to another.

M

Maintenance See Episode of physical therapy maintenance.

Manual therapy techniques Skilled hand movements intended to improve tissue extensibility; increase range of motion; induce relaxation; mobilize or manipulate soft tissue and joints; modulate pain; and reduce soft tissue swelling, inflammation, or restriction.

Mechanical modalities A group of devices that use forces such as approximation, compression, and distraction and that are intended to improve circulation, increase range of motion, modulate pain, or stabilize an area that requires temporary support.

Mobilization/manipulation A manual therapy technique comprising a continuum of skilled passive movements to the joints and/or related soft tissues that are applied at varying speeds and amplitudes, including a small-amplitude/high-velocity therapeutic movement.

Modality A broad group of agents that may include thermal, acoustic, radiant, mechanical, or electrical energy to produce physiologic changes in tissues for therapeutic purposes.

Motor control The ability of the central nervous system to control or direct the neuromotor system in purposeful movement and postural adjustment by selective allocation of muscle tension across appropriate joint segments.

Motor deficit A lack or deficiency of normal motor function (motor control and motor function) that may be the result of pathology or other disorder. Weaknesses, paralysis, abnormal movement patterns, abnormal timing, coordination, clumsiness, involuntary movements, or abnormal postures may be manifestations of impaired motor function (motor control and motor learning).

Motor function (motor control and motor learning) The ability to learn or demonstrate the skillful and efficient assumption, maintenance, modification, and control of voluntary postures and movement patterns.

Motor learning A set of processes associated with practice or experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for producing skilled action.

Muscle endurance The ability to sustain forces repeatedly or to generate forces over a period of time.

Muscle length The maximum extensibility of a muscle-tendon unit.

Muscle performance The capacity of a muscle or a group of muscles to generate forces.

Muscle power The work produced per unit of time or the product of strength and speed.

Muscle strength The muscle force exerted by a muscle or a group of muscles to overcome a resistance under a specific set of circumstances.

Muscle tension state of partial muscle contraction that is characterized by persistent, involuntary contraction of muscle fibers or of a muscle or muscles and that is usually associated with pain and excessive irritability.

Muscle tone The velocity-dependent resistance to stretch that muscle exhibits.

N

Neuromotor development The acquisition and evolution of movement skills throughout the life span.

O

Orthotic devices A variety of implements and equipment used to support or protect weak or ineffective joints or muscles and serve to enhance performance. Orthotic devices include braces, casts, shoe inserts, and splints 

Osteokinematics Gross angular motions of the shafts of bones in sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes.

Outcome See Expected outcomes.

Oxygen saturation The amount of oxygen combined with hemoglobin as measured in arterial blood.

P

Pain A disturbed sensation that causes suffering or distress.

Pallesthesia The ability to sense mechanical vibration.

Palpation Examination using the hands (eg, palpation of muscle spasm, palpation of the thoracic cage).

Paraffin bath A superficial thermal modality using paraffin wax and mineral oil to produce a therapeutic effect.

Patient/client-related instruction The process of informing, educating, or training patients/clients, families, significant others, and caregivers with the intent to promote and optimize physical therapy services.

Patients Individuals who are the recipients of physical therapy examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention and who have a disease, disorder, condition, impairment, functional limitation, or disability.

Pathology/pathophysiology (disease, disorder, condition) An abnormality characterized by a particular cluster of signs and symptoms and recognized by either the patient/ client or practitioner as "abnormal." It is primarily identified at the cellular level.

Percussion (diagnostic) A procedure in which the clinician taps a body part manually or with an instrument to estimate its density or its resonance.

Percussion A procedure utilized with pulmonary postural drainage to lossen secretions from the bronchial walls. The therapist uses slightly cupped hands to percuss the chest wall.

Performance-based assessment The measurement and quantification of a variable during completion of a task or activity.

Peripheral nerve integrity The intactness of the spinal nerves, including their afferent and efferent components.

Phototherapy An intervention using the application of light to produce a

therapeutic effect.

Physical agents A broad group of procedures using various forms of energy that are applied to tissues in a systematic manner and that are intended to increase connective tissue extensibility; increase the healing rate of open wounds and soft tissue; modulate pain; reduce or eliminate soft tissue swelling, inflammation, or restriction associated with musculoskeletal injury or circulatory dysfunction; remodel scar tissue; or treat skin conditions. These agents may include athermal, cryotherapy, hydrotherapy, light, sound, and thermotherapy agents.

Physical capacity The ability of the body or body parts to process and execute physical tasks.

Physical function Fundamental component of health status describing the state of those sensory and motor skills necessary for usual daily activities, including work and recreation.

Physical performance Whole body effort intended to accomplish an action, task, or activity.

Physical therapist/physiotherapist A person who is a graduate of an accredited physical therapist education program and is licensed to practice physical therapy. The terms "physical therapist" and "physiotherapist" are synonymous.

Physical therapist assistant A technically educated health care provider who assists the physical therapist in the provision of physical therapy interventions. The physical therapist assistant, under the direction and supervision of the physical therapist, is the only paraprofessional who provides physical therapy interventions. The physical therapist assistant is a graduate of a physical therapist assistant associate degree program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy (CAPTE).

Physical therapy/physiotherapy Physical therapy is examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention provided by physical therapists/physiotherapists. Physical therapy includes diagnosis and management of movement dysfunction and enhancement of physical and functional abilities; restoration, maintenance, and promotion of optimal physical function, optimal fitness and wellness, and optimal quality of life as it relates to movement and health; and prevention of the onset, symptoms, and progression of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities that may result from diseases, disorders, conditions, or injuries. The terms "physical therapy" and "physiotherapy" are synonymous.

Plan of care Statements that specify the anticipated goals and the expected outcomes, predicted level of optimal improvement, specific interventions to be used, and proposed duration and frequency of the interventions that are required to reach the goals and outcomes. The plan of care includes the anticipated discharge plans.

Postural drainage See Pulmonary postural drainage.

Posture The alignment and positioning of the body in relation to gravity, center of mass, and base of support.

Power See Muscle power.

Prevention Activities that are directed toward (1)achieving and restoring optimal functional capacity, (2) minimizing impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities, (3) maintaining health (thereby preventing further deterioration or future illness), (4) creating appropriate environmental adaptations to enhance independent function. Primary prevention: Prevention of disease in a susceptible or potentially susceptible population through specific measures such as general health promotion efforts. Secondary prevention: Efforts to decrease the duration of illness, severity of diseases, and sequelae through early diagnosis and prompt intervention. Tertiary prevention: Efforts to limit the degree of disability and promote rehabilitation and restoration of function in patients/clients with chronic and irreversible diseases. Also see Episode of physical therapy prevention.

Primary care The provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients and practicing within the context of family and community. [Defining Primary Care: An Interim Report. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press; 1995]

Prognosis The determination of the predicted optimal level of improvement in function and the amount of time needed to reach that level.

Proprioception The reception of stimuli from within the body (eg, from muscles and tendons) and includes position sense (the awareness of joint position) and kinesthesia (the awareness of movement).

Prosthesis An artificial device used to replace a missing part of the body.

Prosthetic requirements The biomechanical elements necessitated by the loss of a body part.

Protective devices A variety of devices and equipment used to support or protect weak or ineffective joints or muscles and serve to enhance performance. Protective devices include braces, cushions, helmets, and protective taping.

Pulmonary pastural drainage Placing the body in a position that uses gravity to drain fluid from segments of the lungs.

R

Range of motion (ROM) The are through which movement occurs at a joint or a series of joints.

Reconditioning Restoration to good physical and mental condition.

Reexamination The process of performing selected tests and measures after the initial examination to evaluate progress and to modify or redirect interventions.

Referral A recommendation that a patient/client seek service from another health care provider or resource.

Reflex A stereotypic, involuntary reaction to any of a variety of sensory stimuli.

Reflex integrity The intactness of the neural path involved in a reflex.

Respiration/gas exchange The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide across a membrane either in the lungs or at the cellular level.

S

Scar Disposition of connective tissue as a result of the healing process.

Screening Determining the need for further examination or consultation by a physical therapist or for referral to another health professional. Cognitive screening: Brief assessment of the patient's/client's thinking process (eg, ability to process commands).

Self-care management The ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), such as bed mobility, transfers, dressing, grooming, bathing, eating, and toileting.

Sensory Having to do with sensations or the senses, including peripheral sensory processing (eg, sensitivity to touch) and cortical sensory processing (eg, two-point and sharp/dull discrimination).

Sensory integration The ability to integrate information that is derived from the environment and that relates to movement.

Sensory integrity The intactness of cortical sensory processing, including proprioception, pallesthesia, stereognosis, and topognosis.

Serial casting A process in which the patient is recasted over a period of time, typically to achieve increased range of motion of a particular body part.

Signs Objective evidence of physical abnormality.

Splinting support of a body segment through application of an external device. Static: Customized and prefabricated splints, inhibitory casts, and spinal and other braces that are designed to maintain joints in a desired position. Dynamic: Customized and prefabricated supports that allow for or control motion while providing support.

Stereognosis The ability to perceive, recognize, and name familiar objects.

Strength See Muscle strength.

Strengthening The process of making stronger. Active: A form of strength-building exercise in which the patient/client actively contracts the muscle(s) through the range of motion of active movement. Movement may begin with gravity eliminated and progress to movement against gravity. Assistive: A form of strength-building exercise in which the physical therapist assists the patient/client through the available range of motion. Resistive: Any form of active exercise in which a dynamic or static muscular contraction is resisted by an outside force. The external force may be applied manually or mechanically.

Supportive devices A variety of devices and equipment used to support or protect weak or ineffective joints-or muscles and serve to enhance performance. Supportive devices include compression garments, corsets, elastic wraps, neck collars, serial casts, slings, supplemental oxygen, and supportive taping.

Symptoms Subjective evidence of physical abnormality.

T

Tests and measures Specific standardized methods and techniques used to gather data about the patient/client after the history and systems review have been performed.

Therapeutic exercise The systematic performance or execution of planned physical movements, postures, or activities intended to enable the patient/client to (1) remediate or prevent impairments, (2) enhance function, (3) reduce risk, (4) optimize overall health, and (5) enhance fitness and well-being.

Thermistor An electrical resistor that uses a semiconductor whose resistance varies sharply in a known manner with the ambient temperature; used in determining temperature.

Thermotherapy An intervention using heat to cause vasodilation to produce a therapeutic effect.

Topognosis The ability to localize exactly a cutaneous sensation.

Traction The therapeutic use of manual or mechanical tension created by a pulling force to produce a combination of distraction and gliding to relieve pain and increase tissue flexibility.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) An intervention using electrical energy to stimulate cutaneous and peripheral nerves via electrodes on the skin's surface.

Transfer The process of relocating a body from one object or surface to another (eg, getting into or out of bed, moving from a wheelchair to a chair).

Travel training Instruction provided to develop an awareness of the environment and to learn skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place within that environment.

Treatment The sum of all interventions provided by the physical therapist to a patient/client during an episode of care.

U

Ultrasound A diagnostic or therapeutic technique using high-frequency sound waves to produce heat. Pulsed ultrasound: The application of therapeutic ultrasound using predetermined interrupted frequencies.

Ultraviolet A form of radiant energy using light rays with wavelengths beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum.

V

Vasopneumatic compression device A device to decrease edema by using compressive forces that are applied to the body part.

Ventilation The movement of a volume of gas into and out of the lungs.

Ventilatory pump Thoracic skeleton and skeletal muscles and their innervation responsible for ventilation. The muscles include the diaphragm; the intercostal, scalene, and sternocleidomastoid muscles; the accessory muscles of ventilation; and the abdominal, triangular, and quadratus lumborum muscles.

Ventilatory pump dysfunction Abnormalities of the thoracic skeleton, respiratory muscles, airways, or lungs that interrupt or interfere with the work of breathing or ventilation.

Vestibular Describing the sense of balance located in the inner ear.

Visit All physical therapy services provided in a 24-hour period. Range of number of visits: All visits within a single episode of care. The range may be adjusted based on factors that may require a new episode of care or that may modify frequency of visits and duration of episode.

Visual analog scale A tool used in a pain examination that allows the patient/client to indicate degree of pain by pointing to a visual representation of pain intensity.

Volume measurement The amount of fluid that has been displaced from a container (of any size) following the introduction of part or all of the body.

W

Wellness Concepts that embrace positive health behaviors that promote a state of physical and mental balance and fitness.

Work conditioning An intensive, work-related, goal-oriented conditioning program designed specifically to restore systemic neuromusculoskeletal functions (eg, strength, endurance, movement, flexibility, motor control) and cardiopulmonary functions. The objective of the work conditioning program is to restore physical capacity and function to enable the patient/client to return to work.

Work hardening A highly structured, goal-oriented, individualized treatment program designed to return the client to work. Work hardening programs, which are often interdisciplinary in nature, use real or simulated work activities designed to restore physical, behavioral, and vocational functions. Work hardening addresses issues of productivity, safety, physical tolerances, and worker behaviors.

Work (job/school/play) integration or reintegration The process of assuming or resuming roles and functions at work (job/school/play), such as gaining access to work (job/school/play) environments and workstations, negotiating school environments, and participating in age-appropriate play activities or work hardening or work conditioning programs.

Wound An area of disrupted or discontinuous skin or tissue.

Wound care Procedures used to achieve a clean wound bed, promote a moist environment or facilitate autolytic debridement, or absorb excessive exudation from a wound complex. Also see Integumentary repair and protection techniques.