First-Ever Paris Patla Musculoskeletal Grant Advances Study on Prearthritic Hip Disorders

Intra-articular, prearthritic hip disorders (PAHD) lead to substantial dysfunction in young adults and are proposed precursors to hip osteoarthritis (OA). Paris Patla Musculoskeletal Grant recipient, Marcie Harris-Hayes, PT, DPT, MSCI, is developing effective treatment strategies for people with PAHD that will improve function, decrease pain, and prevent or delay the onset of OA.

In 2017, Stanley Paris, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Hon LLD(Otago), and Catherine Patla, PT, DHSc, MS, OCS, MTC, FAAOMPT, gifted the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research its largest donation ever. They also contributed $500,000 in 2014 which was matched by Laureate Education, Inc. for a $1 million contribution to create the Paris-Patla Fund for Manual Therapy Research to provide funding for grants and projects to investigate areas related to orthopedic manual physical therapy.

The fund supports Paris Patla Musculoskeletal Grants focused on high-priority, high-impact projects. This grant provide awardees with $240,000 over two years, with the option for a third year of funding at $120,000 based on progress.

In 2018, Marcie Harris-Hayes, PT, DPT, MSCI, a Professor at Washington University in St. Louis’ Program in Physical Therapy was awarded the first-ever $240,000 Paris Patla Musculoskeletal Grant. Her project titled, “Comparison of Movement Pattern Training and Manual Therapy for Pre-arthritic Hip Disorders (PAHD)” was developed to assess the treatment effects of different physical therapist-led interventions for people with PAHD, with the goal to improve function, decrease pain, and prevent/delay the onset of osteoarthritis. In 2020, FPTR elected to extend the Harris-Hayes’ study with the additional $120,000.

“Investigating the effectiveness of physical therapist-led interventions is important for the care of our patients and for the future of our field,” said Harris-Hayes.

“I was so honored to receive the Paris Patla Musculoskeletal Grant,” said Harris-Hayes. “Stanley and Catherine have a long history of supporting physical therapy research and their support of my work will advance physical therapy research for patients with prearthritic hip disorders.”

Little is currently known about the effect of physical therapist-led intervention for people with prearthritic hip disorders, such as femoroacetabular impingement, hip dysplasia and labral tears. This funding from the 2018 grant is helping Harris-Hayes complete a pilot clinical trial comparing two interventions for people with prearthritic hip disorders.

“Funding from the Paris Patla grant is providing sufficient support to collect the necessary data to apply for federal funding that will support a large multicenter randomized control trial. This will allow us to definitively compare two physical therapist-led interventions, movement pattern training, and joint mobilization.”

Results may lead to an inexpensive, relatively safer approach to surgical intervention and gain insight into how to best match patients to various treatment options.

Obtaining funding continues to be a challenge for many physical therapist researchers, yet FPTR provides multiple funding avenues for both promising emerging researchers and established physical therapist investigators. “The Paris-Patla Fund for Manual Therapy Research is one of the largest funding mechanisms provided specifically to support physical therapists who are investigating clinical effectiveness,” said Harris-Hayes. “Investigators who are interested in improving our understanding of physical therapist-led interventions should consider applying for this grant.”

Select Foundation Grants and Scholarships Awarded