433
Physical Rehabilitation
Assessment and Treatment
by Susan B O’Sullivan and Thomas J
Schmitz. FA Davis Company, Phil-
adelphia. British Distributor: Waverly
Europe Lfd, Broadway House, 2-6 Fulham
Broadway, London SW6 1AA (3rd edn)
1994 (ISBN 0 8036 6699 3). Illus. 748
pages. €50.
The third edition of this book is
designed as a comprehensive text on
the rehabilitation management of
adult patients. The target audience
consists not only of practising phys-
iotherapists experienced in the
rehabilitation setting, but also other
rehabilitation professionals. The
book is designed as a reference text,
to be used not only in clinical prac-
tice, but also in the academic
setting.
Over 700 pages in length and
presented in a closely spaced double
column format, the book is rather
daunting to the casual reader,
relieved partially by a n adequate
but not over-abundant provision of
figures and tables. This format
Illustrations from ‘Physical Rehabilitation Assessment and Treatment’ showing
gait patterns or deviation
is doubtless enforced by the im-
pressive breadth of the remit of the
book, ranging from psychosocial
considerations, through general
approaches to assessment and reha-
bilitation, t o assessment and
treatment strategies of specific
conditions commonly encountered
in clinical practice. Twenty-four
authors contribute t o the book,
many of whom are acknowledged
experts in their fields, and will be
familiar to physiotherapists.
The book is organised into 32
chapters, which can be loosely cate-
gorised into four sections. The first
section focuses on clinical decision-
making, considering not only the
decision-making process based on
clinical findings, but also on the
influence of psychosocialfactors and
patient and therapist values in
determining an holistic approach t o
patient care.
The second section is concerned
with assessment procedures, which
are generally organised with res-
pect to systems (musculoskeletal,
sensory, motor, co-ordination) and
function (general functional anal-
ysis and gait analysis). Each
chapter follows a relatively con-
sistent format, covering the aims
and purposes of assessment, identi-
fication of normal control mech-
anisms and common deficits, and
specific assessment techniques
and procedures. A chapter on
chronic pain management appears
later in the book, but one on theo-
rieskoncepts of pain might usefully
be located in this section.
Centrally positioned in the book
are two chapters on rehabilitation
strategies - the first directed a t
improving motor control and motor
learning, and secondly an excellent
chapter on pre-ambulation and gait
training, an area surprisingly poorly
addressed in many rehabilitation
texts.
The next major section is devoted
to the assessment and management
of specific pathological entities
commonly encountered in clinical
practice, ranging from pulmonary,
cardiovascular and neurological
conditions, through to degenerative
joint disease and burns. Again,
chapters follow a consistent format,
covering pathology, aetiology,
epidemiology, course of the disease,
signs and symptoms, specific assess-
ment procedures and overall
management of the patient.
The book concludes with chapters
on orthotics, wheelchairs, and
biofeedback. Additions to the
previous edition include chapters on
the rehabilitation management of
pulmonary disorders, chronic pain
management, and communication
disorders.
Due to the wide range of topics
addressed in this book, each chapter
is necessarily a concentrated and
condensed treatment of each topic.
However, this is by no means super-
ficial, and each chapter is
well supported by comprehensive
references, and a n extensive
‘further reading list’. A glossary of
terms and self-assessment study
questions appended t o each chapter
perhaps direct the book towards
the academic market, but I would
thoroughly recommend this book
as a comprehensive reference text
for both clinical and academic
departments.
Kate Kerr PhD BA MCSP
Physiotherapy, July 1996, vol 82, no 7