Comparison of third-year medical and physical therapy students' knowledge of anatomy using the carpal bone test.

OBJECTIVE: The curricula of all health professionals have an important foundation of human anatomy. A comparison of the anatomy retention between students from different curricula has not been studied. Our aim was to examine the knowledge competency of third-year physical therapy and medical students in carpal bone anatomy. METHODS: The testing was conducted on the third-year medical and physical therapy students at Universidad de Granada. Students were given 5 minutes to answer the carpal bone test, a test which requires the identification of the carpal bones in an illustration of the bony skeleton of carpal region. Differences in the distribution of the responses between groups were analyzed using the χ(2) test. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-four (n = 134) tests were analyzed (n = 54 [41%] physical therapy students, n = 80 [59%] medical students). Only 39 students correctly identified all of the carpal bones (42.6% physical therapy, 20% medical, P < .001). Physical therapy students correctly identified a greater number (P < .001) of carpal bones (mean ± SD, 5.8 ± 2.2) than medical students (mean ± SD, 3.1 ± 2.9). The capitate was the most frequently identified bone in both physical therapy (96%) and medical (46%) students (P < .001). The hamate bone was the least frequently identified bone by medical students (n = 29, or 36.3%), whereas the trapezoid bone was the least frequently identified bone by physical therapy students (n = 35, or 64.8%). CONCLUSION: There are few studies investigating anatomical knowledge levels between disciplines. This study found that physical therapy students exhibited better retention of anatomy of the carpal bones than medical students.

Alteration in sleep quality in patients with mechanical insidious neck pain and whiplash-associated neck pain.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine differences in sleep quality between patients with mechanical neck pain, patients with whiplash (WAD) pain, and healthy controls and to determine the relationship between the intensity of ongoing pain, disability, and sleep quality. DESIGN: Nineteen patients with mechanical neck pain (4 men, 15 women; age, 40 ± 16 yrs), 22 with WAD (4 men, 18 women; age, 38 ± 15 yrs), and 18 comparable controls (4 men, 14 women; age, 41 ± 13 yrs) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess sleep quality. A numerical pain rate scale (0-10) and the Neck Disability Index (0-50) were collected for assessing neck pain and disability. RESULTS: Significant differences in sleep quality (P < 0.001), sleep latency (P = 0.005), sleep efficiency (P = 0.002), sleep disturbances (P < 0.001), use of sleeping medication (P < 0.001), daytime dysfunction (P < 0.001), and total Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score (P < 0.001) but not for sleep duration (P = 0.096) were found; patients with mechanical neck pain and WAD pain exhibited higher scores in all components compared with healthy controls. Seventeen (77%) patients with WAD and 13 (68%) with mechanical neck pain reported poor sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score, >8). Significant positive correlations between mean intensity of ongoing pain with sleep quality (r(s) = 0.693; P < 0.001); sleep duration (r(s) = 0.433; P = 0.044); sleep efficiency (r(s) = 0.644; P = 0.001) and total Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score (r(s) = 0.643; P = 0.001) were found in patients with WAD pain; the higher the intensity of ongoing pain, the worse the sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep disturbances are a common finding in individuals with neck pain and are associated with the intensity of ongoing pain in WAD. It seems essential to address the ongoing cycle of pain and sleep disturbances as an integral part of the treatment of patients with neck pain.