Health comparison of physical therapy students from their first to second year of a three-year professional masters program

TL;DRAbstract

The purpose of our study was to evaluate changes in the health status of students over an 18 month period of a 26 month masters of physical therapy program. The subject population consisted of twenty-one volunteer students, 7 males and 14 females, averaging 25.6 years of age. Physical fitness changes were measured by determining the VO2max of the subjects. Results over this 18 month period revealed a significant increase in VO2max for females between initial and 15 month evaluations as demonstrated by the one-way ANOV A with repeated measures (p=0.003). The mean VO2max value for females at initial to 18 months was 39.871ml.kg-1.min-1 (SD=6.491) and 44.464 ml.kg-1.min-1 (SD=8.l39). There was no significant change demonstrated in the males. Body composition was assessed through skinfold measurements using Lange® calipers. Males exhibited a significant increase in percent body fat (p=0.OI4) between initial evaluation and 15 month re-evaluation, with an initial value at 10.36% (SD=3.951) a

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