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Therapeutic Exercise: Range of motion exercise · Passive, Active-Assisted and Active ROM

How passive, active-assisted and active range of motion exercises differ, what each can and cannot do, and how therapists choose and apply them safely.

For learning, not medical advice: for your own health, ask a doctor or another qualified professional.

Therapeutic Exercise · 27 questions

Try 3 questions

1. In passive range of motion (PROM) exercise, what produces the joint movement?

  1. The patient's own muscles, contracting lightly
  2. An external force, with no voluntary muscle effort
  3. Gravity alone, with the patient's muscles assisting
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Answer: An external force, with no voluntary muscle effort

In PROM a therapist, device or the patient's other limb moves the segment while the target muscles stay relaxed, so no active contraction drives the motion.

2. Which of these goals can passive range of motion NOT achieve?

  1. Reducing the formation of adhesions
  2. Maintaining joint and soft tissue mobility
  3. Increasing muscle strength or endurance
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Answer: Increasing muscle strength or endurance

Without voluntary contraction the muscle receives no training stimulus, so PROM cannot build strength or prevent atrophy, though it does keep tissues mobile.

3. Early after a rotator cuff repair, the repaired muscle must not contract. Which exercise fits this phase?

  1. Passive ROM within protected limits
  2. Active ROM of the shoulder through full range
  3. Active-assisted ROM with a cane
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Answer: Passive ROM within protected limits

Any active or assisted movement makes the repaired muscle contract and stress the suture, so early protection relies on passive motion within safe limits.

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