Using definite article with "total"
Should I use definite article before "total"?
Prior context: rehabilitation, describing patients' used physical therapy hours
Sentence in the middle of this work:
In contrast, total received post-acute PT changed only in four counties.
In contrast, the total received post-acute PT changed only in four counties.
Presumably the PT concept has already been introduced; thus, the definite article would be used. Additionally, "only" is best placed directly before the word it modifies:
In contrast, the total received post-acute PT changed in only four counties.