• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.320-326
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• 2023

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of visual biofeedback methods utilizing pressure sensors on the static balance of stroke patients. Design: Randomized crossover study. Methods: A total of 27 patients with hemiparesis participated in this study. The following three feedback conditions were considered: condition 1 (Knowledge of performance feedback), condition 2 (Knowledge of result feedback), and condition 3 (None feedback). A force plate was used to measure static balance. The total sway length, average sway velocity, x-axis excursion, and y-axis excursion of the center of pressure were measured. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was employed for comparisons of variables between each condition. The statistical significance level was set at α = 0.05 for all analyses. Results: There was a significant difference in the static balance results between each feedback condition (p<0.05). In the post-hoc results, it was confirmed that the static balance was significant in the order of knowledge of performance feedback, knowledge of result feedback, and none feedback. Conclusions: When comparing the three conditions, it was observed that knowledge of performance feedback showed the most improved effect on static balance ability. As further research progresses, that this approach could be used as an effective intervention method in clinical settings.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.251-258
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• 2023

Objective: The practice of breathing exercises involves altering the depth and frequency of respiration. Strengthening respiratory muscles plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health and well-being. The efficiency of the respiratory system affects not only physical activity but also various physiological processes including cardiovascular health, lung function, and cognitive abilities. The study evaluated the reliability of the developed device for inspiratory/expiratory training using pressure sensors and Bluetooth connectivity with a smartphone application. Design: Design & development research Methods: The research methodology involved connecting a custom-made respiratory sensor to an IMT-PEP BIC Breath device. Various pressure conditions were measured, and statistical analyses were performed to assess reliability and consistency. Results showed high Intraclass Coefficient Correlation (ICC) values for both inspiratory and expiratory pressures, indicating strong test-retest reliability. The device was designed for ease of use and wireless monitoring through a smartphone app. Results: This study conducted at expiratory pressure confirmed the proper operation of the IMT/PEP breathing trainer at the specified pressure setting in the product. The pressure sensor demonstrated high test-retest reliability with an ICC value of 0.999 for both expiratory and inspiratory pressure measurements. Conclusions: The developed respiratory training device measured and monitored inspiratory and expiratory pressures, demonstrating its reliability for respiratory training. The system could be utilized to record training frequency and intensity, providing potential benefits for patients requiring respiratory interventions. Further research is needed to assess the full potential of the device in diverse populations and applications.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.132-138
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• 2023

Purpose: This study compared the effects of the elastic resistance and general training for college Taekwondo athletes, and investigated the biomechanical ability and lower extremity function according to the movement speed of the knee joint. Methods: Twenty university student Taekwondo athletes participated voluntarily in this study. The subjects performed general resistance training for four weeks, followed by elastic resistance training for another four weeks. The biomechanical parameters during the fast and slow isokinetic conditions, Y-balance ability, and vertical jump ability were measured three times: before training, after general resistance training, and after elastic resistance training. Statistical analysis was performed under isokinetic conditions and the intervention effect. Results: The biomechanical ability differed significantly between fast and slow isokinetic conditions (p<0.05). An analysis of the training method revealed a significant difference in the maximum knee extension speed and the posterior-lateral direction of the Y-balance test (p<0.05). Conclusion: Elastic resistance training had a more positive effect on the functional task performance than biomechanical factors related to muscular strength compared to general resistance training. In addition, speed-related knee biomechanical information of subjects with strong physical abilities could be utilized in sports physiotherapy.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 2024

Purpose: This study examined the perceived quality of life of families of individuals with developmental disabilities who regularly participate in physical activities. It also explored differences in the quality of family life based on variables such as family relationships, family income, gender, disability type, and age. Methods: A survey was administered to 69 family members of individuals with developmental disabilities who regularly participate in physical activities. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. Results: The average overall quality of life for families of individuals with developmental disabilities who participate in continuous physical activities was 3.49. After analyzing each subtype, psychological health was found to be 3.91, the burden for people with developmental disabilities was 2.75, community participation was 3.76, cohesion was 3.83, and openness was 3.49. No statistically significant differences were found in family relationships or family classes, disability type, age, or gender of the individuals with developmental disabilities across the variables. Conclusion: When planning service development and support to improve the quality of life for families of individuals with developmental disabilities, it is necessary to develop systematic programs at the family level rather than providing support based on various variables.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.143-154
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• 2024

PURPOSE: The present study was conducted to improve the understanding of the Korean Standard Functional, Disability, and Health Classification (KCF) and its ease of use in the clinical domain of the musculoskeletal system by comparing, analyzing, and linking the KCF codes with items from patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), which are currently mainly used to evaluate patients with neck, shoulder, waist, and knee pain. METHODS: The items of the most widely used PROMs, the Neck Disability Index (NDI), Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) scores, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), and the codes of the KCF were linked by two experts according to the linking rules. RESULTS: The concordance between the items of each of the PROMs and the KCF code linked by the two experts was NDI,86.4%86.4%, DASH 83.3%, ODI 92.0%, and WOMAC 80.7%. The NDI, DASH, and WOMAC indexes were found to comprise items corresponding to physical function, activity, and participation areas, and were linked to 22, 43, and 31 KCF codes, respectively. In addition to these two areas, the ODI included items related to environmental factors and was linked to 25 codes (duplicated codes are treated as one). CONCLUSION: This research can be used by adding the KCF code to the questions of the currently used evaluation tool. This coding can be easily applied and will contribute to the easy understanding of the KCF.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2024

Background: For instance, forward head posture (FHP), characterized by the forward movement of the head relative to the spine, places significant stress on the neck and upper back muscles, disrupting the biomechanical balance of the body. Objects: The objective of this study was to probe the biomechanical effects of FHP on musculoskeletal health through a relative analysis of 26 adults diagnosed with FHP and 26 healthy controls. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the biomechanical impacts of FHP. Participants adjusted their head positions and underwent muscle strength tests, including electromyography assessments and the Biering-Sørensen test for trunk muscle endurance. Data analysis was conducted using Kinovea (Kinovea) and IBM SPSS software ver. 26.0 (IBM Co.) to compare muscle activities between groups with normal and FHPs. Results: The study shows that individuals with FHP have significantly lower muscle activity, endurance, and spinal extension in the erector spinae compared to those without, highlighting the detrimental effects of FHP on these muscles. Conclusion: This study underscores the impact of FHP on erector spinae function and emphasizes the need for posture correction to enhance musculoskeletal health and guide future research on intervention strategies.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.251-263
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• 1994

This article considers the trend of Korea physical therapy reaearch. Because physical therapy research is important for the continued growth of the physical therapy profesion. Such research results in improved patient care and heightens the professional standing of the physical therapy field. The purpose of this article is to discuss a current research trend and to suggest a direction for developing a physical therapy research. We discussed a research design, purposes, and methods. Measurement are fundamental to the practice of physical therapy. The physical therapy evaluation is the foundation for the measurement of the outcome of our therapertic intervention. And we must measure thess outcomes. Achieving a high quality of physical therapy practice requires us to evaluate the client, selecting and adminstering a variety of tests and measurent. For the future study, physical therapist has a good treatment model and research program for evaluating and assessment.

• Studies on Korean Youth
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.333-363
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to explore the transitional relationship between high school students' latent classes of academic factors and their latent classes of physical health factors. We used data taken from high school students in the Korea Child-Youth Happiness Index survey for 2017. The relationship between the two types of latent classes were analyzed by means of transition probabilities. In the latent class analysis on academic factors, three latent classes were drawn out as a best-fit model. Stress, academic achievement and private education factors appeared on a straight line. They were classified into 'low academic stress, academic achievement, and private education groups,', 'middle academic stress, academic achievement, and private education group', and 'high academic stress, academic achievement, and private education groups', respectively. In the latent class analysis of physical health factors, three latent classes were drawn as a best-fit model. They were classified into a 'frequent treatment group' that had a middle level of subjective health satisfaction, a high body mass index, and experiences of outpatient and hospitalization treatments, a 'low subjective health satisfaction group' that had remarkably lower subjective health satisfaction, and a 'health group' that had a high level of health satisfaction and condition. The relationship between the two types of latent classes were analyzed on the basis of transitional probabilities. As a result, it was found that the 'high academic stress, academic achievement, and private education group' had the highest probability of being involved in the 'frequent treatment group' or the 'low subjective health satisfaction group'. Based on a person-centered approach, it was found that the latent group with high risk in terms of their academic factors was likely to belong to a relatively unhealthy latent group. This study confirmed the transitional relationship between academic factors and physical health factors. This implies that it is necessary to select physical health risk groups according to academic factors and to consider effective intervention and tailored approaches which are most appropriate to the subjects.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2003

Therapeutic ultrasound is commonly applied for deep heating in physical therapy setting. However, it is difficult to determine the exact application dosage and to confirm the immediate heating effect. Microwave Radio-Thermometer (MRT) can measure the temperature by the electromagnetic energy in the microwave region of the object that emits above absolute zero temperature. MRT was used for early diagnosis of breast cancer since it was not harmful, non-invasive, and non-ionizing to the human body. The purposes of this study were to investigate how accurately 1.1 GHz RTM (RES Ltd. Russia) measures the change of average temperature in the tissue, and to determine the depth of temperature change measurement. Therapeutic ultrasound was applied (continuous wave for 5 minutes, 1 MHz, intensity of 1.5 $W/cm^2$ [in vitro] and 1.0 $W/cm^2$ [in vivo]) in four different conditions: (1) 30 cases of in vitro specimen of pork, (2) 30 cases of in vitro specimen of pork ankle joint, (3) 10 cases of in vivo canine thigh, and (4) 30 cases of in vivo human body. Intraclass Correlation Coeffients (ICC[3,1]) between average needle probe thermometer below surface and MRT temperature was revealed as followed: (1) Before ultrasound application ICCs ranges above .8 in specimen of pork (15 mm underneath the skin) and above .82 in specimen of pork ankle joint (10~30 mm underneath the skin). (2) After ultrasound application ICCs ranges above .7 in both specimens of pork and pork ankle joint. (3) Before ultrasound application ICCs ranges above .8 in canine thigh (20 mm underneath the skin). (4) After ultrasound application ICCs ranges above .82 in canine thigh. The temperature of the human body increased significantly with the mean of $15^{\circ}C$ in muscle tissue and with the mean of $3.5^{\circ}C$ in joint (p<.00). It was revealed that the average depth of temperature measurement of the tissue by MRT was in between 10 and 35 mm, and determined that the proper temperature measurement band was $36.5{\sim}37.0^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.319-329
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• 2010

Objectives: This study was performed to determine the levels of quality of life (QOL) according to the grade of long-term care service for the elderly people who were admitted from long-term care insurance, and to reveal its association with the physical and mental functioning such as the Activity of Daily Living (ADL), the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean version (MMSE-K). Methods: The interviews were performed during the period from March 1 to May 31, 2009, for 958 elderly people in urban and rural areas. The questionnaire items included various indices such as the ADL, IADL, CES-D, and MMSE-K, as independent variables and the index of QOL, as the dependent ones. For statistical analysis, t-tests were used for the mean scores of QOL according to gender and the grade of long-term care services, and Spearman's correlation was used for each variable. The effects of physical and mental functioning for QOL were assessed by covariance structure analysis. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean scores of QOL among all the subjects was $55.4{\pm}15.62$ (Grade I: $49.7{\pm}14.17$, Grade II: $56.8{\pm}14.62$, Grade III: $59.4{\pm}16.36$), and it was lower according to the higher grade of long-term care insurance. In terms of the correlation matrix of the QOL and the physical and mental function factors, the QOL showed positive correlation with the ADL, IADL and MMSE-K, while it had negative correlation with depression. On the analysis of covariance, mental functioning (depression and the MMSE-K) had a greater influence on the level of QOL than the physical functioning (ADL and IADL). Conclusions: The level of the QOL in the elderly people who were admitted from long-term care insurance was lower according to higher the grade of long-term care insurance. Also, the mental functioning (depression and MMSE-K) was more influential on the level of the QOL than the physical functioning (ADL and IADL).