• PNF and Movement
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of direct and indirect methods of contract-relax techniques in proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching for improving hamstring flexibility. Methods: Twenty-six subjects were randomly assigned to either a direct contract-relax technique group or an indirect contract-relax group. For each group, stretching intervention was performed three times a week for a period of two weeks, with 12 seconds for the contraction and 10 seconds for the relaxation per once. The direct contract-relax technique for hamstring flexibility was applied by asking the subject to press down on the shoulder of the trainer in the straight leg-raising position. Conversely, the indirect contract-relax technique was performed by raising the leg with resistance. To facilitate a comparative analysis of hamstring flexibility between the two groups before and after the stretching intervention, two-way repeated ANOVA was performed. Hamstring flexibility for each group was measured using a passive straight leg-raising test. Results: The results showed significant improvement in hamstring flexibility for all subjects in the two groups. However, there was no significant difference between the groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, both direct and indirect contract-relax techniques are confirmed to be useful for improving hamstring flexibility. The choice of suitable technique has to be made individually according to the condition of each subject.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.377-394
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• 2009

Using the Socio-cultural Stress and Coping model, this study proposed a path model to explore how cultural values affect the physical health of Korean American caregivers through caregiver burden, receipt of informal social support and utilization of formal care services. For physical health outcomes, three physical health indicators were employed: self-reported global physical health, self-reported blood pressure, and salivary cortisol. The path model was analyzed by using a sample of 87 Korean caregivers living in Los Angeles County and Orange County, California, USA. The major findings of this study included the following: 1) Stronger belief in cultural values was associated with more frequent utilization of formal care services, leading to lower levels of systolic boold pressure; 2) Cultural values did not affect the physical health of Korean American caregivers through caregiver burden. The demonstration of positive effects of cultural values on the physical health of Korean America caregivers through social support utilization call attention to the need of further research on the understudied group providing family care to frail older family members.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.270-280
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• 2007

This study was performed to investigate the effects oi nutrition education program in physical health, nutritional status and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the Elderly in Seoul. Nutrition education program was consisted of healthy eating, prevention and diet therapy of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Seventy eight free-living elderly people (13 male, 65 female), aged ${\geq}60 $ years participated in this program. Before and after nutrition education program, we surveyed the general characteristics, physical health, general health, nutrition status, and health-related quality of life to the subjects. All the subjects were divided into program completers (N=47) and noncompleters (N=31). All the data were analyzed by student t-test, chi-square test, paired t-test, and marginal homogeneity test using SPSS 9.0 version at p<0.05. After nutrition education program, physical activity and ADL maintained, however IADL improved in program noncompleters. In eating habits, 'slow eating' significantly improved in program completers in program completers. Nutrition knowledge and recognition scores were significantly increased in both groups, and accuracy score was significantly increased in program completers. However, nutrient-intakes of %RDA were not significantly changed in both groups, and it seemed to be more influenced by other factors such as 'family income' or 'family type' than by the nutrition education program. In HRQoL, social functioning was improved after nutrition education program in both groups (p<0.05). The nutrition education program has more effects on the program completers than on the noncompleters, and it is also needed social supports for the Elderly to fulfill their nutrient requirements.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.21-28
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the onset times of muscle activities and the order of muscle firing in erector spinae, multifidus, rectus abdominis and biceps brachii during perturbation between subjects with and without work-related chronic low back pain (LBP). Twenty-nine subjects, 14 with and 15 without LBP, participated in this study. The muscle responses were measured by surface EMG (electromyography) during perturbation in eye opened and eye closed conditions. The EMG onset times of the erector spinae, multifidus, rectus abdominis and biceps brachii were similar between groups in eye closed condition. But the onset times of the erector spinae, multifidus, rectus abdominis were significantly delayed in subjects with LBP in eye opened condition. The results provide an evidence for impaired feed-forward control of the trunk muscles in subjects with LBP. Further studies are needed to identify whether the impaired feed-forward control of the trunk muscles is the contributing factor to LBP.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.163-175
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• 2020

The study was undertaken to identify in relation stress perceived, perceived physical health status and Chewing difficulty with over 60 years elderly people. The subjects of the study were 10,806 subjects who answered to National Health and Nutrition survey for (2016, 2017). The response of 1,195 subjects were used for the final analysis. Analysis conducted using SPSS version 12.0 included Chi-square test to identify stress perceived, perceived physical health status and Chewing difficulty rate according to subject characteristics and multivariate logistic regression analysis to determined independent significance. Stress perceived was correlated with perceived physical health status(p=-0.252^**), and had a negatively correlation, Chewing difficulty(p=-.150^**). Therefore it is necessary to evaluate as a predictor of health risk for the health promotion of the elderly.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.349-357
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• 2008

Purpose: The Purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of walking on physical health such as body composition, blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipids for residents in rural areas. Method: Data were collected from 109 residents at 4 community health centers and during the 12 weeks' period between May and July, 2007 with quasi-experimental pre/post-test design. The data were processed with SPSS Win 12.0. Result: 69.5% of the subjects had chronic degenerative diseases such as hypertension, arthritis and diabetes mellitus. Also, 52.9% had overweight and 14.7% had excessive obesity. There were significant positive changes in BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose and LDL among obese residents. However, there was no significant difference in total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL among blood lipids. Conclusion: This study showed that a 3 months' walking program had positive effects on physical health and it should be continued.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between quality of life (QoL) of the caregiver and disease severity with motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Research data were collected in the Rehabilitation Clinic of Daegu University. The Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-88) and the functional independence measure (FIM) were used for assessment by three occupational therapists, and the 36-item short form health survey (SF-36) were applied to the caregivers. One hundred six caregivers of under 18 years who were diagnosed with CP completed a survey and interview. The caregivers' QoL was evaluated using Medical Outcomes Study SF-36. The children's motor function was scored using GMFM-88 in five dimensions: lying and rolling; sitting; crawling and kneeling; standing and walking, running and jumping and CP's FIM scores. Results: Out of the 8 domains of the Medical Outcomes Study SF-36, the "physical functioning", "physical role functioning", "mental health", and "bodily pain" domains were significantly correlated to "total" percentage scores of the GMFM-88 (p<0.05). In addition, the "mental health" domain was correlated to each subdomain of the GMFM-88, which includes, "lying and rolling", and "crawling and kneeling". Similarly, of Medical Outcomes Study SF-36, "physical functioning", "bodily pain", and "mental health" domains were significantly correlated with "transfer" and "locomotion" of FIM scores (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that the QoL of the caregivers were well correlated with the motor function of children with CP. It is also important to support not only physical health but also psychological health of caregivers of children with CP, especially those with severe motor function.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.317-324
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• 2023

Background: COVID-19 pandemic represented a unique stressful event that affected the physical health and psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals and communities. Monitoring PWB is essential not only to clarify the burden on mental health effects but also to define targeted psychological-supporting measures. This cross-sectional study evaluated the PWB of Italian firefighters during the pandemic. Methods: Firefighters recruited during the pandemic period filled out a self-administered questionnaire, the Psychological General Well-Being Index, during the health surveillance medical examination. This tool is usually used to assess the global PWB and explores six subdomains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. The influencing roles of age, gender, working activities, COVID-19, and pandemic restrictive measures were also explored. Results: A total of 742 firefighters completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in the 'no distress"" range (94.3 ± 10.3), which was higher than that observed in studies conducted using the same tool in the Italian general population during the same pandemic period. Similar findings were observed in the specific subdomains, thus suggesting that the investigated population was in good PWB condition. Interestingly, significantly better outcomes were detected in the younger firefighters. Conclusion: Our data showed a satisfactory PWB situation in firefighters that could be related to different professional factors such as work organization and mental and physical training. In particular, our results would suggest the hypothesis that in firefighters, maintaining a minimum/moderate level of physical activity (consisting of even just going to work) might have a profoundly positive impact on psychological health and well-being.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 2012

Background : In-home physical therapy program as a result of a study of the need for in-home physical therapy, most patients were needed. This study of patients who received physical therapy were surveyed, and patients need physical therapy for what I have found that factors. The purpose of this study is the in-home physical therapy program for patients to determine that how much needs were investigated. Methods : In this study, 469 people were involved with the patients who received physiotherapy. Surveys were returned to the questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed by Chi-square and one-way ANOVA. Results : The need for in-home physical therapy to 31 to 60 years suggests that the highest. In this paper, the female respondents was higher, the damaged parts Many times patients with musculoskeletal injuries, duration of treatment was 3-1 months there. 469 people need physical therapy visits of respondents that respondents were 423 people. qualification standards of physical therapy visits and asked questions of the state or local government public agencies or public health wad the highest with 40.3%, eligibility criteria for physical therapy visits a physical therapist trained in the regular 43.3%, per visit, treatment 10,000won 43.5% less than the cost of investigation into the health insurance coverage and should apply to questions about whether the response was 50.1%. Conclusion : Further, the study of in-home physical therapy services were the patient's perspective. This information, visit the home physical therapy program will contribute to the legalization.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.585-589
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• 2015

Physical inactivity may an important outcome in the prognosis of breast cancer. Physical activity levels decrease significantly for breast cancer patients following the treatment and remain low after oncology treatment is completed. The aim of this study was to determine physical activity levels and to examine associations among physical activity, comorbidity, functional capacity, peripheral muscle strength, and psychosocial status in breast cancer patients. Forty breast cancer survivors were included in this study. Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. Physical activity was assessed with a short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). We defined comorbid diseases according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Functional capacity was evaluated with a six-minute walk test (6MWT). Peripheral muscle strength was measured for quadriceps femoris muscle with a hand-held dynamometer. Psychosocial status was measured with the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS). Forty percent of patients were inactive. The IPAQ total score was significantly related with quadriceps muscle strength (r=0.492; p<0.001) and HADS depression score (r=0.341; p<0.05). Marked correlations were also observed between IPAQ walking score and quadriceps muscle strength (r=0.449; p<0.001), HADS depression score (r=0.341; p<0.05), and CCI (r=-0.433; p<0.001). The CCI score was also markedly associated with quadriceps muscle strength (r=-0.413; p<0.001). 6MWT distance was not significantly correlated with any of the parameters. Regression analyses revealed that psychosocial status and peripheral muscle strength were significant predictors of physical activity estimated with the IPAQ short form and when combined, they explained 35% of the variance. Comorbidities, peripheral muscle strength and psychosocial status partially explain the variability of physical activity level in breast cancer survivors. These results suggest that physical inactivity contributes to worsening health in breast cancer survivors.