Study of Secondary Conditions and Effects of Aquatic Intervention on Adult CP

描述（由申请人提供）：该指导研究职业发展奖将培训Deborah Thorpe博士进行临床结果研究。长期目标是让她为独立资助、假设驱动的研究做好准备，这些研究将测试旨在维持脑瘫（CP）成人的流动性、活动和生活质量的干预措施。Thorpe博士是UNC联合健康科学系物理治疗部的助理教授。她的主要导师是理查德·亨德森博士，一位知名的骨科医生，也是CP肌肉骨骼疾病领域的研究员。来自纽约州立大学上州医科大学的物理医学和康复临床医生兼科学家，他的研究重点是CP患者衰老的影响。该申请提出了一个结合教学和临床研究的经验，将利用北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校和纽约州立大学上州医科大学的大量资源，培养Thorpe博士对临床结果研究和基于活动的干预的兴趣。Drs。Dianne Damiano, Carol Giuliani， Robert McMurray和Laura Vogtle也将在CP和成果研究的主题领域提供研究建议和专业知识。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This mentored research career development award will train Dr. Deborah Thorpe in clinical outcomes research. The long term goal is to prepare her for independently funded, hypothesis-driven investigations that will test interventions designed to maintain mobility, activity and quality of life in adults with cerebral palsy (CP). Dr. Thorpe is an Assistant Professor at UNC in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, Division of Physical Therapy. Her primary mentor is Dr. Richard Henderson, an established orthopedic surgeon and researcher in the area of musculoskeletal conditions in CP. Dr. Thorpe's co-mentor is Dr. Margaret Turk, an established physical medicine and rehabilitation clinician-scientist from SUNY Upstate Medical University whose research focuses on the effects of aging in persons with CP. The application proposes a combined didactic and clinical research experience that will utilize the vast resources at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as SUNY Upstate Medical University to foster Dr. Thorpe's demonstrated interest in clinical outcomes research and activity-based intervention. Drs. Dianne Damiano, Carol Giuliani, Robert McMurray and Laura Vogtle will also provide research advisement and expertise in the subject areas of CP and outcomes research. A two-part mentored research plan is proposed. There is a paucity of evidence addressing the development of secondary impairments and the efficacy of current interventions to address mobility, activity, and health related quality of life (HRQL) in adults with CP. To address these limitations in evidenced-based practice, the specific aims of this study are to: (1a) Characterize secondary impairments and nonimpairment-related factors in a cohort of adults with CP. (1b) Describe the relationships among secondary impairments, HRQL and activity and mobility levels in a cohort of adults with CP. (2) Determine the feasibility of an aquatic exercise intervention aimed at diminishing the severity of select secondary impairments and improving HRQL and activity level in a cohort of adults with CP. Aims 1a and 1b will collect demographic information and measure body composition, strength, pain, cardiorespiratory fitness and health related quality of life (HRQL) in order to better identify specific impairments, functional limitations and disability that will be the focus of future study. Aim 2 will establish the feasibility of a longitudinal aquatic resistive exercise intervention and evaluate its effects on strength, pain, cardiorespiratory fitness, activity level, economy of movement and HRQL. It is expected that aquatic resistive exercise will facilitate increased strength, reduced pain and improved cardiorespiratory fitness, thereby improving health related quality of life.