Slone K, Action Potential, Colorado Springs, CO, krae02@hotmail.com. Tasso KH; University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL ktasso@unf.edu.

PURPOSE: Physical therapy is growing and expanding into new areas of practice including the examination and intervention of animals. Consequently, we have an obligation to examine research related to physical therapy and animals. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine research studies related to the use of physical therapy modalities with animals and to classify the studies according to their scientific rigor. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A review of the literature identified 109 articles related to animal physical therapy. Of the 109 articles, only 21 addressed some aspect of therapeutic modalities and animals. ANALYSES: Twenty-one relevant studies were reviewed to determine the scientific strength of each including the research design, number of subjects and significance of the findings. Each study was classified according to its scientific rigor based on a model by Sackett. RESULTS: There were no Level I research studies that utilized random assignment of more than 30 subjects. Seven Level II studies involved random assignment of less than 30 subjects. Only one article fit the Level III criteria of a nonrandomized study with both control and treatment groups. No retrospective, historical Level IV studies were found. Three case studies were classified as Level V. An additional 10 articles consisted of literature reviews or proceedings from a symposium with no clinical recommendations. CONCLUSION: The majority of the literature related to the use of physical therapy modalities for animals involve literature reviews without any clinical recommendations. The efficacy or effects of therapeutic modalities for animals cannot be determined due to a lack of well-designed, randomized studies. FUNDING SOURCE: none.

Copyright 2004 by the American Physical Therapy Association

Reprint Information
Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Students and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Similar inquiries by all others should be made to the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.