Filtering by
- Creators: College of Health Solutions
Methods: After searching through PubMed and PsycINFO and screening each article to see if the studies matched our inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7 studies qualified for this meta-analysis. Across all studies, 274 children with NSCL/P were compared to 267 of their typically developing peers. The mean age for children with NSCL/P was 118.8 months (SD = 49.19) and 119.8 months (SD = 49.81) for typically developing children. Effect sizes and demographic information (i.e. study location, sample size, assessments used, etc.) were pulled from each study.
Results: The average effect size for this systematic review is -0.41, demonstrating that children with NSCL/P performed 0.41 standard deviations less than their typically developing peers on measures of word decoding. This was calculated using the RVE-model. Both the older and younger age range showed deficits in their word decoding abilities compared to their typically developing peers. Hearing status, language abilities, and speech abilities were reported minimally with many inconsistencies between studies.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that children with NSCL/P perform poorer on word decoding tasks than their noncleft peers. These differences are found in both the younger and older populations of our sample. More evidence and fewer inconsistencies in the research are needed to determine whether hearing, language, and speech abilities have an effect on the word decoding skills of children with NSCL/P.
Recovery from exercise has become an evolving aspect of all sports performance. Increased research has led numerous individuals to understand and utilize the modalities that have become available. Methods such as Cold Water Immersion (CWI), Contrast Water Therapy (CWT), and Hot Water Immersion (HWI) are some of the modalities growing in popularity as well as utilization by athletes across all sports. This paper aims to examine and analyze evidence across several research journals that evaluate the effectiveness and also application of these recovery methods. Cold and heat exposures on the body can have a drastic positive impact on athletic performance. However, without the correct knowledge and guidance, these methods can augment, mitigate, and even diminish the effects of adaptation and exercise. This thesis aims to examine research journals and extract specific practices based on empirical evidence. This is to form proper deliverables and protocols for athletes to use for ideal adaptations and recovery for performance.
This thesis reviewed variables of baseball mechanics and performance as discussed in current literature. This included investigating factors of biomechanics, the health of players, and comparisons across demographics. At the biomechanical level, components of the kinetic chain were observed as the energy transferred from the lower body to the upper body. Additionally, the upper body appeared to compensate for deficits in the rotation of the trunk. Injuries to the abdominal and low back were correlated with trunk rotation, while arm injuries were traced back to overuse and fatigue. When considering experience level, variation tended to decrease. Youth players demonstrated different patterns of fatigue and different injury correlates compared to adults. At a geographic level, American pitchers may be associated with an increased risk of elbow injuries, with Japanese and Korean pitchers to shoulder injuries; these differences are thought to be due to differences in instruction. Applying this research and findings to current baseball players may help guide training and performance or continue research.