Rehabilitation and Therapy Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Rehabilitation and Therapy facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is the primary focus of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)? → Accepting difficult thoughts and feelings while committing to values-based action
2. What is the typical rehabilitation protocol progression after total knee replacement (TKA)? → Early mobilization day 1, progressive weight bearing, range of motion, then strengthening
3. Which evidence-based psychotherapy is the first-line treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? → Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
4. In sensory re-education following nerve repair, which phase begins with training light moving touch? → Early phase sensory re-education
5. Which term describes the substitution of one phoneme for another in speech (e.g., saying 'wabbit' for 'rabbit')? → Substitution error
6. Wernicke's aphasia is located in which brain region? → Left posterior superior temporal gyrus
7. A physical therapist uses manual traction on the cervical spine. What is the primary intended effect? → Decompressing intervertebral discs and reducing nerve root pressure
8. Which term describes the wearing away of articular cartilage in a joint, leading to bone-on-bone contact and pain? → Osteoarthritis (OA)
9. Which muscle group is primarily targeted during closed kinetic chain exercises for knee rehabilitation? → Quadriceps and hamstrings
10. What is the Lidcombe Program used to treat? → Stuttering in preschool-aged children
11. Which therapy is specifically designed to treat eating disorders and focuses on the therapeutic relationship, interpersonal functioning, and normalizing eating? → Family-Based Treatment (FBT/Maudsley approach) for adolescents and CBT-E for adults
12. In exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD, what is the 'response prevention' component? → Refraining from compulsive rituals after exposure to obsessional triggers
13. Which framework used by occupational therapists categorizes occupations into areas such as ADLs, IADLs, work, and leisure? → Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF)
14. In the FITT principle for exercise prescription, what does the second 'T' stand for? → Type
15. Which assistive device is commonly recommended for a patient with weak hand grip during meal preparation? → Built-up handle utensils
16. The 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) is used in cardiac rehabilitation primarily to assess which of the following? → Functional exercise capacity
17. Which scale is most commonly used to classify stroke disability and functional outcome? → Modified Rankin Scale (mRS)
18. When is it generally considered safe for a cardiac rehabilitation patient to resume sexual activity after a myocardial infarction? → When the patient can climb two flights of stairs without symptoms
19. Which vocal pathology is associated with vocal hyperfunction and often requires voice therapy focused on reducing vocal effort? → Vocal nodules
20. A patient with a rotator cuff tear most commonly involves which tendon? → Supraspinatus
21. What is the primary feature of dysarthria that distinguishes it from aphasia? → Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder affecting speech production, not language
22. Which condition is characterized by inflammation of the plantar fascia at its calcaneal insertion, causing heel pain with first steps in the morning? → Plantar fasciitis
23. Which dietary modification is most important for cardiac rehabilitation patients with hyperlipidemia? → Reduce saturated fat and trans fat intake
24. In therapeutic ultrasound, what frequency is typically used for deeper tissue penetration? → 1 MHz
25. What is the typical target heart rate range used during supervised cardiac rehabilitation exercise sessions? → 60–80% of maximum heart rate
26. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was originally developed by Marsha Linehan to treat which condition? → Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
27. Which assessment is used to evaluate language abilities in school-age children and adolescents? → Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5)
28. What does IADL stand for? → Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
29. Which stage of healing sees maximum collagen synthesis and is the target for progressive loading in tendon rehabilitation? → Proliferative (repair) phase, occurring roughly 4 days to 6 weeks post-injury
30. Which commonly prescribed cardiac medication blunts the heart rate response to exercise and must be accounted for when prescribing exercise intensity? → Beta-blockers (e.g., metoprolol)