• PNF and Movement
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2021

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) respiratory muscle strengthening exercise on the pulmonary function, back pain, and disability level of patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: There were 24 CLBP patients randomly divided into the experimental group (n = 12) who took part in PNF respiratory muscle strengthening exercise and the control group (n = 12) who performed a mock treatment. Both groups performed their respective interventions for 15 min five times per week for four weeks. The pulmonary function was measured using a portable spirometer. The back pain of the participants was assessed using a visual analogue scale. The Oswestry disability index was conducted to measure disability level. A paired t-test was performed to compare within-group changes before and after the PNF respiratory muscle strengthening exercise. Differences between the experimental and the control groups were analyzed using an independent t-test. For all tests, the level of statistical significance was α = 0.05. Results: The within-group change in pulmonary function was significantly different in the experimental group (p < 0.05), and the levels of back pain and disability were significantly different between the groups (p < 0.05). There was also a significant between-group difference in pulmonary function, back pain, and disability level after intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that PNF respiratory muscle strengthening exercise enhances pulmonary function and reduces levels of back pain and disability in patients with CLBP.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2022

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the effects of keeping contraction of abdominal and pelvic floor muscles on 3D pelvic stability in individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP) during normal speed walking. METHODS: The subjects were 20 adults with CLBP deformity and had moderate pain intensity of the visual analog scale. A three-dimensional camera capture system was used to collect kinematic pelvic motion data with and without contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during gait. The subjects were asked to walk on a walkway in the lab room and they were attached 40 reflective markers to their pelvic segment and lower extremities. A Visual3D Professional V6 program and Vicon Nexus software were used to analyze 3D pelvic kinematic data. RESULTS: There were significant differences between with and without contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles of the pelvic depression and the total pelvic motion in coronal plane during gait (p < .05). However, there were no significant differences in any of the maximal motion of the pelvic segment in sagittal and transverse motion plane according to the different muscle contraction conditions (p > .05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that maintaining co-contraction of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles in individuals with CLBP increased pelvic stability and contributed to preventing excessive pelvic movements during gait.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.29-45
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• 2024

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare the effects of pain level, lower back pain dysfunction level, psychosocial level, hip abductor strength (HAS), number of positive lumbar instability tests, and dynamic balance (DB) by applying lumbar stabilization exercises according to the presence or absence of gluteus medius muscle weakness in chronic lower back pain (CLBP) patients with lumbar instability. METHODS: Thirty-five CLBP patients with lumbar instability were divided into the gluteus medius weakness (n = 18) and gluteus medius non-weakened (n = 17) groups using the gluteus medius manual muscle test. Intervention applied conservative physical therapy and lumbar stabilization exercises to both groups that lasted three times a week for four weeks. To compare the intervention effects, the quadruple visual analog scale (QVAS), the Korean version of the Oswestry disability index (K-ODI), fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FABQ), HAS, lumbar instability tests positive response counter (LIC), and DB were measured. RESULTS: Significant differences were shown for QVAS, K-ODI, FABQ, HAS, LIC, and DB for both groups pre- and post-intervention (p < .05). Compared to the gluteus medius weakness group, the gluteus medius non-weakened group showed a significant difference (p < .05) in the changes in QVAS, K-ODI, FABQ-W, FABQ-total, and HAS. CONCLUSION: In CLBP patients with lumbar instability, having gluteus medius weakness was less effective in improving lumbar stabilization exercise than gluteus medius non-weakness regarding pain level, lower back pain dysfunction level, psychosocial level excluding physical activity, and hip abductor strength. Therefore, additional gluteus medius strengthening exercises are necessary for patients with lumbar instability and gluteus medius muscle weakness.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1981-1991
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• 2020

Background: Although various exercises have been performed for patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), the effects of these exercises including joint mobilization, gym ball exercises, and breathing exercises on flexion relaxation ratio (FRR) have not been compared. Objective: To compare the effects of joint mobilization, gym ball exercises, and breathing exercises on the flexion relaxation phenomenon (FRP) and pain in patients with chronic low back pain. Design: Randomized pretest-posttest control group design. Methods: Thirty-six patients with chronic low back pain who were undergoing rehabilitation at a rehabilitation center were included. The patients were randomly divided into three groups: joint mobilization group (JMG; n=12), gym ball exercise group (GBG; n=12), and breathing exercise group (BEG; n=12). The exercises were performed for 40 minutes a day, twice a week, for a total of 12 weeks. Results: There were no significant differences in FRR between the three groups (P>.05). Significant decreases in the modified visual analog scale (MVAS) scores after intervention between the groups were found (P<.05). The GBG was significantly decreases from the JMG in the MVAS (P<.05). However, there were significant improvements between the pre- and post-interventional findings on FRR and MVAS in the three groups (P<.05). Conclusion: We demonstrated that intervention using joint mobilization, gym ball exercises, and breathing exercises improve FRP and pain in patients with CLBP.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.251-255
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• 2019

Background: Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) including laser acupuncture (LA) has been widely used to treat chronic low back pain (CLBP), but there is no critically appraised evidence of the potential benefits. The purpose of this protocol for a systematic review was to enable the evaluation of the effectiveness of LLLT including LA for non-specific CLBP to identify the potential benefits. Methods: The electronic databases MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase (Ovid), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Korean medical databases (KoreaMed, KMBASE, KISS, NDSL, KISTI, OASIS), the Chinese database (CNKI), and Japanese databases (CiNII, J-STAGE) are recommended. Results: Randomized controlled trials in LLLT including LA should be included in the searches. All data synthesis and subgroup analyses should be conducted using a Review Manager software. The Cochrane risk of bias tool can be used to evaluate methodological quality of the studies. A risk ratio or mean difference with a 95% confidence interval will show the effects of LLLT including LA. Conclusion: The primary outcome would be pain intensity and functional status/disability due to low back pain. The secondary outcome would be a global measurement of recovery or improvement, quality of life and adverse event.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.2078-2093
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• 2019

Visual smoke recognition is a challenging task due to large variations in shape, texture and color of smoke. To improve performance, we propose a novel smoke recognition method by combining dual-encoded features that are extracted from both spatial and Curvelet domains. A Curvelet transform is used to filter an image to generate fifty sub-images of Curvelet coefficients. Then we extract Local Binary Pattern (LBP) maps from these coefficient maps and aggregate histograms of these LBP maps to produce a histogram map. Afterwards, we encode the histogram map again to generate Dual-encoded Local Binary Patterns (Dual-LBP). Histograms of Dual-LBPs from Curvelet domain and Completed Local Binary Patterns (CLBP) from spatial domain are concatenated to form the feature for smoke recognition. Finally, we adopt Gaussian Kernel Optimization (GKO) algorithm to search the optimal kernel parameters of Support Vector Machine (SVM) for further improvement of classification accuracy. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can extract effective and reasonable features of smoke images, and achieve good classification accuracy.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.583-593
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between and subjective instability pain behavior (SIPB) and physical instability test(PIT) according to the presence of characteristic past histories(CPH) in people with chronic low back pain(CLBP). Forty CLBP subjects participated in this study. The presence of four characteristics past histories(long term history, traumatic experience, sports activities, neurologic sign) were examined. According to presence number(PN) of CPH, subjects were divided into 5 groups[group 1(PN:0): n=8, group 2(PN:1): n=8, group 3(PN:2): n=8, group 4(PN:3): n=8, group 5(PN:4): n=8]. After 16 items were examined for the SIPBs, then Seven PITs were conducted, and the results were scored. The SIPBs and PITs were compared according to the presence numbers of CPH, and the relation between them was analyzed. There was a significant difference(p<.05) in both SIPB scores and PIT scores in the comparison of groups according to the presence number of CPH. There was high positive correlation between the presence numbers of CPH and SIPB score(r=.819, p=.000) and PIT score(r=.606, p=.000). Also, there was a correlation between SIPB score and PIT score(r=.571, p=.000). Based on the findings in the present study, the presence of three or more CPH in people with CLBP may be a useful variable in the diagnosis of lumbar instability. The combined findings of the three variables such as CPH, SIPB, and PIT can improve the accuracy of lumbar instability diagnosis.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.581-597
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• 2012

Objectives : To explore the experiences of patients with chronic low back pain(CLBP) in a randomized controlled trial(RCT) of acupuncture. Methods : Five qualitative focus group interviews were conducted at three Korean Medicine Hospitals. Two to 4 participants from the same group(real or sham acupuncture) in the RCT of acupuncture for CLBP discussed their experiences and perceptions of the clinical trial and the acupuncture treatment. Transcribed data were read independently by researchers and analyzed to categorize information and identify themes. Results : A total of 14 participants were included. Most of them discovered positive aspects of being a study subject and a patient. They recognized the differences between experimental and real-world clinical settings such as formal procedures of treatment, and different acupuncture device. Participants also expressed the weaker sensation of acupuncture compared to the previous experience. Especially, they were well aware of the 'subjects' role themselves, thus they observed their changes of symptom closely. As subjects were generally satisfied with their treatment and they had a good feeling to acupuncture after the trial, they expressed their willingness to participate in the future clinical trial of acupuncture. Conclusions : Our finding suggests that the Korean patients' experience of participating in an RCT was generally positive. Their tendency to perform the 'subject' role might affect the trial's process or overall results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.295-302
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term lumbar stabilization exercise to patients suffering from chronic low back pain(CLBP) on the strength of their lumbar flexor and extensor and the postural balance of them and to suggest effective treatment duration for them. METHODS: Study subjects were 20 patients with CLBP who's been reported the pain for more than 12 weeks. For these subjects, muscle strength of both extensor and flexor of lumbar and the balancing ability were measured before and after the intervention. Lumbar stabilization exercise was composed of matt, ball and sling exercise. The intervention was applied for total 12 sessions for 4 weeks (3 times a week) and each session was for 40 minutes. RESULT: For muscle strength of both extensor and flexor of lumbar, there was significant differences after the application of lumbar stabilization exercise(p<.05). For balancing ability, stabilization shows significant differences in all of the positions except PC(eyes closed on pillows)(p<.05). Distribution of weight shows no significant differences but it was generally distributed within normal range after the exercise and Fall index shows significant differences between before and after the exercise(p<.05). CONCLUSION: These results could have positive effect on deciding different periods of therapeutic intervention.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.285-292
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of 8 direction incline and rotation exercise on pain and dynamic balance in the patients with chronic low back pain(CLBP). 20 patients who were diagnosed with CLBP were included for the study. 10 patients(experimental group) were treated by modality{Hot Pack(H/P), Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation(TENS), Ultra Sound(U/S)} and then performed 8 direction incline and rotation exercise. The other 10 patients(control group) were only treated by modality. The therapeutic intervention was taken three times a week for 6 weeks. Dynamic balance was assessed by Star Excursion Balance Test(SEBT) and pain was assessed by Visual Analog Scale(VAS). VAS scores of both groups were decreased. However, the experimental group was more significantly decreased than the control group. The dynamic balance of both groups was significantly increased in anterior, posterior, medial, lateral direction. But experimental group was more significantly increased than the control group. In conclusion, 8 direction incline and rotation exercise was effective on pain and dynamic balance in CLPB.