• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.192-200
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• 2023

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a balance training program in improving balance and functional independence to reduce fall risks among community-dwelling elders. Design: A multi-center randomized controlled trial Methods: A total of 66participants were randomly assigned to a balance training group or a control group. The balance training program, conducted three times a week for 32 weeks, included warm-up exercises, main balance training exercises, and cooldown stretch exercises. Outcome measures included the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), and Modified Barthel Index (MBI). Results: The balance training group demonstrated significant improvements in all outcome measures, indicating enhanced balance, improved functional mobility, and increased independence in activities of daily living. In contrast, the control group showed only slight improvements in BBS, TUGT and MBI scores. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of balance training programs in reducing fall risk and promoting health and wellbeing among community-dwelling elders. Future research should aim to refine the design of these programs and assess the sustainability of the observed improvements.

• 운동영양학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.7-12
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• 2020

[Purpose] This study was performed to investigate the acid-base and ion balance at rest and after exercise in healthy males under normoxia, moderate hypoxia, and severe hypoxia. [Methods] Ten healthy Korean males completed three different trials on different days, comprising exercise under normoxia (F_iO₂ = 20.9%, N trial), moderate hypoxia (F_iO₂ = 16.5%, MH trial), and severe hypoxia (F_iO₂ = 12.8%, SH trial). They undertook endurance exercise for 30 min on a cycle ergometer at the same relative exercise intensity equivalent to 80% maximal heart rate under all conditions. Capillary blood samples were obtained to determine acid-base and ion balance at rest and after exercise. [Results] Exercise-induced blood lactate elevations were significantly increased as hypoxic conditions became more severe; SH > MH > N trials (P = 0.003). After exercise, blood glucose levels were significantly higher in the SH trial than in the N and MH trials (P = 0.001). Capillary oxygen saturation (S_CO₂) levels were significantly lowered as hypoxic conditions became more severe; SH > MH > N trials (P < 0.001). The pH levels were significantly lower in the MH trial than that in the N trial (P = 0.010). Moreover, H_CO_3^- levels were significantly lower in the SH trial than in the N trial, with significant interaction (P = 0.003). There were no significant differences in blood Na⁺, K⁺, and Ca²⁺ levels between the trials. [Conclusion] MH and SH trials induced greater differences in glucose, lactate, S_CO₂, pH, and HCO_3^- levels in capillary blood compared to the N trial. Additionally, lactate, S_CO₂, and HCO_3^- levels showed greater changes in the SH trial than in the MH trial. However, there were no significant differences in Na⁺, K⁺, and Ca²⁺ levels in MH and SH trials compared to the N trial.

• 한국운동역학회지
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.24-30
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the factors of successful and unsuccessful movements through the analysis of kinematics and muscle activity of the Free Aerial Cartwheel on the balance beam. Method: Subjects (Age: 22.8 ± 2.4 yrs., Height: 158.7 ± 5.0 cm, Body mass: 54.1 ± 6.4 kg, Career: 13 ± 2.4 yrs.) who were currently active as female gymnasts participated in the study. They had no history of surgical treatment within 3 months. Subject criteria included more than 10 years of professional experience in college and professional level of gymnastics and the ability to conduct the Free Aerial Cartwheel on the Balance Beam. Each subject performed 10 times of Free Aerial Cartwheel on the balance beam. One successful trial and one unsuccessful trial (failure) among 10 trials were selected for the comparison. Results: It was found that longer time required in case of unsuccessful trial when performing the Free Aerial Cartwheel on the balance beam compared with successful trial. It is expected to be the result of movement in the last landing section (i.e. phase 5). In addition, it was found that the center of gravity of the body descends at a high speed to perform the jump (i.e. phase 2) in order to obtain a sufficient jumping height when the movement is successful while the knee joint is rapidly extended to perform a jump when movement fails. In the single landing section after the jump (i.e. phase 4), if the ankle joint rapidly dorsiflexed after take-off and the hip joint rapidly flexed, so landing was not successful. Conversely, in a successful landing movement, muscle activity of the biceps femoris was greatly activated resulting no shaking in the last landing section (i.e. phase 5). Conclusion: In order to succeed in this movement, it is necessary to perform a strong jump after rapidly descending the center of gravity of the body using the force of the biceps femoris muscle. Further improvement of the skills on the balance beam requires the analysis of the game-like situation with continuous research on kinematic and kinematic analysis of various techniques, jumps, turns, etc.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.59-64
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• 2017

Objective: Elderly people with dementia experience not only cognitive dysfunction but also motor function deficits, such as balance and gait impairments. Recently, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used to reduce pain as well as to control muscle spasm, spasticity and motor performance in various types of subjects. The purpose of this study determined the effect of a single trial TENS on balance and gait function in elderly people with dementia. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: Twenty-two subjects with dementia were assigned to the TENS group (n=12) and ten subjects were assigned to the control group (n=10) randomly. Subjects were classified into two groups: the TENS group (n=12) and the placebo-TENS group (n=10). The TENS group had electrical stimulation applied on the calf muscle for 15 minutes, while the placebo-TENS group had not received real electrical stimulation. The timed up and go test (TUG) and functional reach test (FRT) were used to measure the balance function, and the 10 meters walk test (MWT) and 6MWT were used to assess gait ability. All tests were performed before and after intervention under a single-blinded condition. Results: After intervention, there were significant improvements in TUG, FRT, 10MWT, and 6MWT results in the TENS group (p<0.05), while the placebo-TENS group did not show significant changes in all outcome measurements. There were also differences in all tests between the two groups at post-measurements (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a single trial TENS application on the calf may be used to improve balance and gait function in elderly people with dementia.

• 대한물리치료과학회지
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

Background: The requirements for postural and motor control in backward walking training (BWT) may improve balance and walking speed in patients with acute stroke. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of BWT on balance, balance confidence, and fall efficacy in this population. Design: Randomized controlled pilot trial. Methods: This study included 14 subjects with acute stroke (onset of illness less than one month). They were randomly allocated to a BWT (n=7) or forward walking training (n=7) group and observed five times in a week for a period of two weeks. Measurements were taken before and after the experiment using the Berg balance scale (BBS), Activities-specific balance confidence scale (ABC), and Fall efficacy scale (FES). Results: The BBS, ABC and FES scores obtained in both groups after the experiment were significantly higher than those before the experiment (p<0.05). In addition, the BBS, ABC, and FES scores in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that BWT improved balance and balance confidence and decreased the risks of fall in patients with acute stroke. Further study is needed to better understand the effects of backward walking in acute stroke patients.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.75-82
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• 1995

Two digestion trials were conducted to investigate the effect of feeding heated soybean meal (HSBM) on ruminal and post-ruminal digestion of organic matter (OM) and nitrogen (N), bacterial N flow to the duodenum and N balance in young calves weaned at 6 weeks of age. In trial 1, calves were fed concentrate diets containing soybean meal (SBM) or HSBM and hay mixed in the ratio of 6:4 to support daily weight gain of 0.5 kg. The same concentrate diets were used in trial 2, but the ratio of concentrate to hay was 7:3 to support body weight gain of 0.7 kg/d. Measurements were made 10 and 13 weeks of age in trial 1, and at 10 and 15 weeks in trial 2. Ruminal OM digestibility increased with advancing age in both trials. Ruminal OM digestion was not affected by the diets in trial 1, but it was greater for the SBM diet than for the HSBM diet at 10 weeks in trial 2. Net N loss from the rumen was lover for the HSBM diet than for the SBM diet in trial 1, but it was not affected by the diets in trial 2. Bacterial N flow to the duodenum, N digestion in the total digestive tract and N retention were not affected by the diets in either of the trials.

• 대한물리치료과학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.1-13
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• 2022

Background: This research was conducted to understand balance training in trunk control, balance, and walking in stroke patients. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: The subjects included 40 stroke patients, of whom 20 undertook balance training using visual information and the other 20 undertook balance training using balance boards. Using visual feedback, the balance training group used a training program within the static balanced evaluation tool, while the balance training group trained using a balance board. All subjects underwent 20 mins of neurodevelopmental treatment, and both target groups underwent 10 mins each of balance training by using either visual feedback or a balance board. The treatment period lasted a total of 4 weeks, twice a day. Trunk control before and after training was evaluated with the Trunk Impairment Scale. Balance capability was assessed by the Berg Balance Scale, Functional Reach Test, Timed Up and Go test, and Static balance measurement tool. Walking capacity was measured using gait measuring equipment, and cadence and velocity were measured. Results: Both groups showed a significant improvement in their interstitial control, balance, and gait ability after the experiments compared to before the experiments (p<0.05). The difference between the two groups was not significant. The visual feedback balance training group showed a more substantial improvement than the balance board training group. Conclusion: In this study, we found that the balance training combined with visual feedback contributes to improving trunk control, balance, and gait in patients with hemiplegia due to stroke. In addition to this, I believe that balanced training combined with visual feedback can be used as a training method when considering patients who lack interstitial control, balance, and gait ability.

• 대한물리의학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of four weeks of gaze stabilization exercises and balance training on the static and dynamic balance functions. METHODS: The study was an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial conducted at Daegu University in South Korea. Thirty subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected and divided randomly into three groups containing ten each. The first group received balance exercises with gaze stabilizing exercises (BGG). The second group received a balance exercise (BEG), and the third group received gaze-stabilizing exercise (GEG). Each group exercised for 40 minutes, three times a week for four weeks. The subjects were asked to complete the following static balance test: 1) one-leg standing test, 2) sharpened Romberg test, dynamic balance test, 3) Y-balance test, and 4) single-leg stand-squat-stand test. The static and dynamic balance were measured before and after four weeks to determine the effect of exercise on balance. RESULTS: The static (OLS and SRT) and dynamic (YBT and SST) balance tests showed significant differences in the surface and length of the three groups (p < .05), and the y-balance score effect size, 11.477 (p < .05), was improved significantly. On the other hand, the change in BGG value was larger than those of BEG and GEG, and the improvements in balance control were the most significant. CONCLUSION: After four weeks of exercise, BGG showed the best improvement in static and dynamic balance, suggesting that this specific type of gaze stabilization exercise with balance exercise may benefit healthy young adults.

• 국제물리치료학회지
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.1779-1784
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• 2019

Background: A number of researchers have attempted to improve the balance of stroke patients, however there is still a question as to whether taping is effective in increasing balance. Objective: To determine the effect of paretic and non-paretic side taping on the balance ability in patients with stroke. Design: A single-blind randomized controlled trial Methods: This randomized single-blind controlled clinical trial with a repeated measures study included 45 subjects who were randomly assigned to paretic side taping groups (n=15), non-paretic side taping groups (n=15), and trunk exercise groups (n=15). Trunk exercise and paretic side taping groups had taping on the paralyzed erector spinae, while the non-paretic side taping group had taping on the non-paralyzed erector spinae. Trunk exercises were performed for 30 minutes to promote core muscles. The balance ability measured the center of pressure movement (paretic side, non-paretic side,forward, backward, limit of stability) in the sitting position. All measurements were evaluated using BioRescue. Results: All three groups showed significant increase in all variables after 4 weeks. The paretic and non-paretic side taping groups had a significant increase in all variables after 30 min of attachment. However, there was no significant difference among the three groups. Conclusions: Paralysis and non-paralysis taping improved the balance ability of patients with stroke in an immediate effect of 30 min. However, after 4 weeks of intervention, taping with trunk exercise did not differ from single trunk exercise. In future studies, various analyses need to be conducted through more diverse evaluations.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.222-229
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise on the posture and walking speed of chronic stroke survivors with an ankle-foot orthosis. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Twenty-four chronic persons with chronic stroke admitted to Bobath Memorial Hospital in Seongnam city were divided into two groups by random blind method. Treadmill exercise with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis was performed in the experimental group and treadmill exercise was performed in the control group. The experiment was carried out for 6 weeks, and the experiment was carried out three times a week for 20 minutes per session. To measure the effect, static balance was measured using the MTD system before and after training, and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was used to measure functional balance. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in the BBS measurement results for confirming the functional balance (p<0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the 2 groups in single limb support time, step time and step length (p<0.05). Conclusions: In this study, it was found that treadmill exercise with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis in persons with chronic stroke was effective in maintaining functional balance, walking ability, step length, and step time. Therefore, it is necessary to use a flexible ankle-foot orthosis with proper treadmill exercise as a method of improving balance and walking speed of chronic stroke survivors.