Dr Suzanne Snodgrass

This study represents the culmination of my PhD research, summarising the manual forces applied by 116 physiotherapists and 120 students. Impact: This paper is published in a high ranking journal (impact factor 2.482), ranked 2nd among the rehabilitation journals worldwide and considered the second-highest ranking journal for physiotherapy/manual therapy research. For this research I developed new equipment to quantify the manual forces applied during physiotherapy treatments. I designed the studies, collected the data, and performed the analyses and manuscript writing.

This study demonstrates with a randomised controlled trial that the real-time feedback provided by an instrumented table does improve the accuracy of mobilisation techniques. Impact: This paper is published in a high ranking journal in the physiotherapy/manual therapy area: Manual Therapy, impact factor 2.319, ranked 5th among rehabilitation journals worldwide and considered the third-highest ranking journal for physiotherapy/manual therapy research. The effectiveness of this real-time feedback software has led to its regular use in the physiotherapy program at Newcastle, as well as its use for four Honours projects, three Class I Honours graduates, and one winning a national oral presentation prize for her research. For this study, I developed new manual therapy feedback software in collaboration with IT, designed the study, collected the data, and performed the analyses and manuscript writing.

Published in a high ranking journal (impact factor 1.059), this extensive review was recognised by the author of the highly utilised standard text in musculoskeletal physiotherapy education (Neuromusculoskeletal Examination and Treatment, Dr Nicola Petty) as a “really helpful summary of the literature…cover[ing] everything I have ever thought or read about on this subject and more” (personal communication). It has generated 15 citations. As lead author, I led the literature search and review, analysis and writing.

This work has been recognised as innovative, described in one citation as using “a rather sophisticated method” of measuring the effects of forces applied with the thumb on the thumb joints (Jensen & Shersen, 2007, Occupational Medicine 57(6): 456-460). It is published in one of the top physiotherapy journals in the world (impact factor 1.709), ranking only behind the U.S.-based Physical Therapy journal in terms of impact factor for physiotherapy-specific journals. It has been cited 16 times, in publications representing the fields of manual therapy, physiotherapy and occupational medicine.

This paper was recognised by this journal in 2002 with its OPTP Award for Excellence in a Published Review of the Literature. It was selected from all other literature reviews published in that journal for that year, and included a monetary award of $750 USD. The journal (JMMT), is very widely read and circulated among physiotherapists and other manual therapy professions in the U.S. It is the primary journal of the American Association of Orthopaedic Manual Therapists. This paper has been cited 8 times.