Description:

12:10pm-1:00pm

Greg Hicks, PT, Ph.D.
Assoc. Professor
University of Delaware

Abstract: The overarching goal of our research program is to improve physical function and participation in older adults with chronic musculoskeletal conditions, particularly low back pain (LBP). Despite the fact that LBP is a common problem for older adults and is associated with poor outcomes in this vulnerable age group, little research has focused on LBP in people over age 65. With minimal research available, clinicians do not have clear evidence-based guidance regarding management of older adults with LBP. This presentation will focus on our pathway towards developing a focused treatment algorithm designed to prevent and address the pain-related disability found in older adults with LBP. Our work has largely focused on the identification of potentially modifiable "rehabilitation risk factors" that are associated with functional limitations, as well as the development of interventions to address these risk factors. Specifically, we will discuss our findings re lative to trunk muscle impairments and clinical hip impairments in the context of the older adult with low back pain.

Bio: Gregory E. Hicks, PT, PhD is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware and the Director of the Delaware Spine Studies research program. He also holds appointments in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomechanics and Movement Sciences, the Delaware Rehabilitation Institute and the Center for Biomedical Engineering Research at the University of Delaware. Dr. Hicks is an academic physical therapist with doctoral training in Rehabilitation Science as well as post-doctoral training in Epidemiology of Aging from the National Institute on Aging. He maintains an active research agenda, which is primarily focused on the development of novel intervention strategies to improve physical function for older persons with chronic musculoskeletal conditions. His work, which includes a recently completed observational study and randomized clinical trial among older adults with chronic low back pain (LBP), has been consistently fu nded by the National Institutes of Health. He is currently the principal investigator of an NIH-funded longitudinal study of older adults with LBP designed to identify modifiable rehabilitation impairments associated with the development and maintenance of activity limitations and participation restrictions in this vulnerable population. Further, Dr. Hicks has been invited to speak both at the national and international levels regarding his expertise on chronic pain in the geriatric population. He currently serves as an editorial board member for the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences and for Pain Medicine. Dr. Hicks also serves regularly as an ad hoc reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and sits on Data Safety Monitoring Boards for two NIH funded trials.