eS44 The 4th European Congress of the ER-WCPT / Physiotherapy 102S (2016) eS43–eS65
discrimination and negative perceptions that might be held
by others. Non-disclosure is a barrier to the provision of
reasonable adjustment.
Impact and implications: Lack of reasonable adjustment
related to non-disclosure or failure to provide reasonable
adjustment is a potential issue for those with SpLD. It may be
that career progression/success in funded CPD opportunities
is impeded because some with SpLD do not have access to
reasonable adjustment/assistive technology.
Funding acknowledgement: Health Education North
West.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2016.10.361
OA056
Optimal duration of cold therapy
applications at the ankle
R. Abela ∗ , M. Vella, J. Scerri, J. Xerri de
Caro
University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Relevance: This paper presents the results of a research
study carried out with the intention to inform physiothera-
pists on the optimal duration of cold therapy at the ankle
in order to maximise the impact on practice of decisions by
physiotherapists for their patients/clients.
Purpose: The major reason for doing this study was to
determine the appropriate duration of ice applications to the
ankle joint within the context of skin surface temperature in
order to guide physiotherapists to make informed decisions
on optimal duration. The aim of this study was to measure
skin surface temperature changes at the ankle over a period of
time and the objective to determine that point when no more
significant skin surface temperature change was recorded.
Methods/analysis: An experimental approach was fol-
lowed to collect skin surface temperature data at the ankle
joint, involving a control. Ice application was administered
via two standardised methods: an ice bag containing 750 ml
of ice cubes and 250 ml of water to 41 participants; and local
immersion in a water bath kept between 16 and 18 ◦ C (Lee
and Warren, 1978) to 38 participants, who were all recruited
through an open call for participation amongst university
undergraduate students. The cold modality was applied to
the participants’ right ankle for 30 minutes, during which skin
surface temperature was recorded at 5-minute intervals using
the FLIR i3® thermal imaging device. Concurrently temper-
ature was recorded at the left ankle that served as a control.
Skin surface temperature was recorded every 5 minutes and
for a further 20 minutes following removal of the applica-
tion. Repeated measures analyses of variance were applied to
determine the significance of variation in temperature across
time whilst pairwise comparisons were examined using post
hoc Bonferroni tests.
Results: Significant decreases in temperature were
obtained for participants undergoing the ice bag
(F = (10,31) = 661.04, p ≤ .001) and the local immersion
(F = (10,28) = 217.36, p ≤ .001) techniques. Post hoc anal-
yses revealed significant decreases in temperature using
the ice bag application up to the 10 minute point but not
after 15 minutes. Significant decreases in temperature
were obtained for up to 15 minutes when using the local
immersion technique.
Discussion and conclusions: The findings suggest that
there is no further significant drop in skin surface tempera-
tures at the ankle following 15 minutes of ice bag application
whilst at 10 minutes a significant change was still being
recorded. These findings match the descriptive duration of
application to bring about pain inhibition by Enwemeka
et al. (2001). Also, no further significant drop in skin
surface temperatures at the ankle following 20 minutes of
local immersion application whilst at 15 minutes a significant
change was still being recorded.
Impact and implications: The optimal duration for the
application of cold therapy to the ankle is between 10 and
15 minutes using the ice bag application and 15–20 minutes
using the local immersion technique. These findings may
guide the duration of application of cold therapy in practice
settings.
Funding acknowledgement: None.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2016.10.362
OA057
Exploring the usability of a mobile app for
adolescent obesity management
G. O’Malley 1,2,∗ , G. Dowdall 3 , A. Burls 4 ,
I.J. Perry 2 , N. Curran 5
1 Temple Street Childrens University
Hospital, Physiotherapy, Dublin, Ireland
2 University College Cork, Dept of
Epidemiology & Public Health, Cork,
Ireland
3 Temple Street Childrens University
Hospital, Child Heath Information Centre,
Dublin, Ireland
4 City University London, School of Health
Sciences, London, United Kingdom
5 University College Cork, Department of
Applied Psychology, Cork, Ireland
Relevance: Obesity is a global epidemic. Behavioral
change approaches towards improving nutrition, increasing
physical activity level, improving sleep, and reducing sitting
time are recommended as best practices in adolescent obesity
management. However, access to evidence-based treatment
is limited and portable technologies such as mobile apps
may provide a useful platform to deliver such lifestyle inter-
ventions. No evidence-based validated app exists for obesity
intervention; therefore, a novel mobile app (Reactivate) was