Comprehensive Exam Questions(2023)

Comprehensive Exam Questions(2023) What type of question is usually used to begin the initial interview? - CORRECT ANSWER-Open- ended question The 11- point numeric scale best quantifies which of the following characteristics of pain? - CORRECT ANSWER-Intensity Which of the following pain assessment tools best assists in determining the systems to review? - CORRECT ANSWER-McGill long form A patient presents in physical therapy for his initial visit and is asked to fill out the McGill long form. The patient circles 12 descriptive words. How is this interpreted? - CORRECT ANSWER-The patient has an emotional overlay about the pain A patient calls into the clinic to discuss a change in pain status with her PT. What is the most appropriate pain assessment tool to use in this situation? - CORRECT ANSWER11- point numeric scale What test is the gold standard for pain intensity? - CORRECT ANSWER-Visual analog scale Which of the following tests requires the physical therapist to determine pain intensity? - CORRECT ANSWER-Faces Pain Scale A patient scores a 91% on the Oswestry Disability Index. To what extent is the patient's pain affecting function? - CORRECT ANSWER-Significantly Which of the following is NOT a red flag: loss of appetite and nausea, sudden changes in weight, heaviness in the chest, pain that changes with activity. - CORRECT ANSWER-Pain that changes with activity A PT has a 45-year-old female patient on her caseload with the medical diagnosis of left biceps strain. Through the course of the medical history, the patient reports that her pain radiates down her left arm to the elbow and the pain has been nearly constant the last 2 days. Rest has not improved her symptoms. She has also felt tired and out of breath. In addition to the musculoskeletal system, which other system should the PT screen more thoroughly? - CORRECT ANSWER-Cardiovascular- pulmonary Edema assessment is included in which system review? - CORRECT ANSWERCardiovascular- pulmonary A 75-year-old male presents in physical therapy for complaints of knee pain. During the subjective portion of the exam, he reports two falls in the last two days which is why he thinks his knee started to hurt. In addition to reviewing the musculoskeletal system, what other system would require a thorough review? - CORRECT ANSWERNeuromuscular Scar mobility is included in which system review? - CORRECT ANSWER-Integument During an exam for a patient referred with a left ankle sprain, you find out the MOI was from a fall after tripping over her cat. Which systems will need tests/measures beyond oral screening questions? - CORRECT ANSWER-CV/P, integument, MS, Neuromuscular A patient presents in physical therapy with complaints of right knee pain. Which joints would be assessed during a musculoskeletal screen? - CORRECT ANSWER-Ankle, knee, hip A patient presents in physical therapy with a referral for a 'fall risk assessment'. The patient does not have any impairment of the musculoskeletal system upon assessment of UE or LE AROM or strength. What would be the most important screening to perform next based on the referral? - CORRECT ANSWER-Balance assessment When completing a MS screen for a patient referred for gait training, which joints should be screened first? - CORRECT ANSWER-Hip, knee, and ankle in the sagittal plane What is the best way to screen the integument system of a patient 1- day s/p TKA? - CORRECT ANSWER-Use of questions and visual inspection to screen integument A 14-year-old male patient is referred to you for left elbow pain from over-use after pitching a long weekend of baseball. He denies any numbness or tingling. How will you most likely complete your systems review? - CORRECT ANSWER-Take vitals, ask questions about his skin, assess AROM and strength at elbows, shoulders and wrists, ask questions about and observe balance and ask him how he arrived today A patient is unable to whist. What cranial nerve is affected? - CORRECT ANSWER-CN VII A patient has impaired sensation along the medial aspect of the left forearm and into the lateral finger (5th digit). Neither palpation nor ROM of the left elbow elicits symptoms. What is the impaired structure? - CORRECT ANSWER-C8 spinal nerve root A patient has a diminished brachioradialis reflex. Which of the following muscles would be important to strength test? - CORRECT ANSWER-Biceps A patient is unable to alternative touching his knee and toe with the opposite foot. Under which of the following categories should this observation be documented? - CORRECT ANSWER-Motor coordination A patient demonstrates normal Achilles stretch reflex. How would this be documented? - CORRECT ANSWER-2+ A patient is clearly watching another patient and a physical therapist play catch on the other side of the gym. She is demonstrating which of the following characteristics? - CORRECT ANSWER-Attention A patient has impaired sensation along the lateral aspect of the thigh and across the knee. Trunk flexion increases symptoms. Hip flexion and extension do not change symptoms. What is the impaired structure? - CORRECT ANSWER-L4 spinal nerve root The pupillary light reaction tests which of the following cranial nerves? - CORRECT ANSWER-CN III A PT wants to categorize a 72- year- old patient's functional level. The patient is able to follow simple commands appropriately, but depends on instructions to function in the environment. Which test would best categorize the patient's abilities? - CORRECT ANSWER-RLA A patient's blood pressure reading, while he is sitting is 124/ 78. His blood pressure immediately after standing is 128/ 80. How would this finding be interpreted? - CORRECT ANSWER-The patient's blood pressure is unaffected by this position change A PT is testing a patient for sensation using light touch. The patient is able to identify when he is being touched on both upper extremities 100% of the time, except when the PT touches both arms at the same time. In this case, the patient only reports being touched on the right side. Which anatomical structure is affected? - CORRECT ANSWER-Parietal cortex A patient has impaired sensation over a portion of the dorsum of the hand. What is the suspected cause of the altered sensation? - CORRECT ANSWER-Peripheral nerve root (ulnar or radial) A patient has impaired sensation over the left cheek. Which nerve is impaired? - CORRECT ANSWER-CN V What would impact the decision to perform sensation testing? - CORRECT ANSWERLevel of cognition, arousal, and attention A patient presents in physical therapy with complaint of left elbow pain. The PT palpates the elbow and finds that it is warm to the touch and swelling is present. The fingers on the left hand are not swollen; nor do they have an increased temperature. What system is most likely affected? - CORRECT ANSWER-Musculoskeletal One PT is covering for another to treat a patient with mid-back pain. The daily note from the last visit states that a mobilization was performed at the left transverse process of T4. Intra-rater reliability for spinal palpation is .84 and inter-rater reliability for spinal palpation is .67. How would the covering PT proceed? - CORRECT ANSWER-The covering PT should test the mobility of the transverse processes of T2- T4 to determine the level of hypomobility A patient presents in physical therapy with complaints of right elbow pain. Palpation of the elbow is tender upon palpation of the lateral epicondyle. No change in temperature is noted. The patient has pain during active wrist extension and at end range of wrist flexion PROM. Which test and measure would be important to perform? - CORRECT ANSWER-Muscle length testing of the wrist extensors During the subjective exam, the PT notices the patient is having a difficult time articulating words although he has no apparent difficulty in what to say. Which cranial nerve should be tested? - CORRECT ANSWER-CN IX A patient has a positive slump test. Which test could be performed to confirm these results? - CORRECT ANSWER-Straight leg raise A patient presents in physical therapy for her initial evaluation in a wheelchair and leaning towards the right in the chair. The PT performs a musculoskeletal screen on the patient and finds impairments of the left upper and lower extremities for range of motion and strength; the right UE and LE are WNL for AROM and strength. No facial grimacing is noted during the assessment. What would be critical to address next by the physical therapist prior to assessing gait? - CORRECT ANSWER-Static balance in sitting A PT is evaluating a patient for the first time. During the initial conversation, the PT suspects the patient is ignoring the left arm as it is dangling off the wheelchair arm and the patient does not pick it up, even with cuing. What test would best assess this particular deficit? - CORRECT ANSWER-Clock drawing test A patient demonstrates 2 beats of clonus and a strong muscle contraction during the Achilles stretch reflex. How would this be documented? - CORRECT ANSWER-4+ An 82-year-old female is referred to a PT for right wrist pain. She is generally healthy for her age; has High Blood Pressure (HBP) that is controlled by medications. Her pain started a week ago after she hand-wrote nearly 60 Christmas cards. She reports initially having numbness and tingling in her fingers but not for the past 2 days. She rates her pain (on a 0-10 pt scale, 0=no pain) at a 5/10 at worst (with gripping/writing), 4/10 currently and 2/10 at best (rest). She would like to be able to get back to knitting which she has not been able to do since the pain started. She lives with her daughter and sonin-law in a ranch home; no entry steps with bedroom and bathroom on the first floor. She drove herself to the clinic. Her systems review results are:CV: Vitals: BP 122/82 mmHg, HR: 62 bpm, RR: 15 breaths/minIntegument: not impaired for pliability, texture, color or scar formationNM: not impaired for gait; not impaired for sitting and standing static balance and sitting dynamic balance; standing dynamic balance impaired; motor function not impaired and transfers/transitions not impairedMS: impaired for right wrist ROM and strength all planes, R elbow flexion and extension ROM and strength and R grip strength; all other right ROM/ strength as well as all of left elbow, wrist and hand ROM and strength not impaired. What are your next tests? - CORRECT ANSWERMuscle strength, ROM, and balance A patient presents in physical therapy with complaints of left shoulder pain. AROM left shoulder abduction 0 - 67º, PROM is 0 - 160 º. What would be the next test to perform? - CORRECT ANSWER-MMT middle deltoid in supine A patient demonstrates impaired sensation of the C7 dermatome. Which reflex would be the most important to test? - CORRECT ANSWER-Triceps A PT wants to test S1 myotome. Which of the following motions would they test? - CORRECT ANSWER-Ankle PF A PT tests the resistance to passive motions on a patient's ankle. There is a moderate increase in tone through most of the ROM. How would this be documented using the Modified Ashworth Scale? - CORRECT ANSWER-2 A PT tests the muscle strength of the left hip adductor muscle group. The patient is unable to achieve full available AROM against gravity. She is able to achieve full available AROM in supine and take some resistance. What is her MMT grade? - CORRECT ANSWER-2+/5 A patient is able to open his eyes in response to verbal stimuli, but uses incomprehensible words. He does have a withdrawal to pain, but does not demonstrate any other purposeful movements. What would be the best way to document the patient's level of arousal? - CORRECT ANSWER-Glasgow Coma Scale A patient is asked to demonstrate how to brush his hair. He pats his right knee with his right hand. What is the patient demonstrating? - CORRECT ANSWER-Apraxia Visual acuity tests which of the following cranial nerves? - CORRECT ANSWER-CN IV A patient has impaired strength of muscles innervated by the femoral nerve. Which reflex would be important to test? - CORRECT ANSWER-Patellar A PT tests the muscle strength of the left supraspinatus in an 88-year-old female. The patient is able to achieve full available AROM against gravity and able to hold the test position, but is unable to accept any resistance. What is her MMT grade? - CORRECT ANSWER-3/5 A review of a patient's c