• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2004

The objective of this study is to identify the effects of material position and physical fatigue on postural stability. Ten male subjects participated in this study. After bicycling exercises, their centers of pressure (COPs) were measured under four material handling positions and four excercise levels. The measured COPs were then utilized to calculate postural sway length in each experimental condition. Subjects' postural stability was quantified using the sway length. Results showed that the effect of different material handling position was significant on the postural sway length in both the posterior-anterior axis and the medio-lateral axis. Results also showed that the postural sway length was increased as physical fatigue accumulated, significantly in subject's posterior-anterior axis. The results imply that bearing a material on the back or front with both hands appeared to cause least sway length and instability.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.5-17
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between normal adults' resting calcaneal stance position(RCSP) and postural sway. Subjects were 70 normal adults(34 men and 36 women) in their twenties who attend S. University. Postural sway during a single limb stance was measured using the CMS 10 Measuring System when subjects positioned on the balance trainer in their bare foot. RCSP while subjects were standing on the glass plate was measured using the angle tinder after subjects were positioned in prone to divide equally lower leg and calcaneus using the goniometer. The result was as follows. There were significant weak positive correlations between RCSP and postural sway(r=0.362, p<0.01), the leg of the small RCSP within a subject has the small postural sway index($X^2=43.758$, p<0.001). There was no significant difference between groups of rearfoot valgus(RCSp<$2^{\circ}$) and those of rearfoot varus (RCSp>$2^{\circ}$) in the postural sway. In conclusion, there is a weak relationship between increasing the absolute value of RCSP and increasing postural sway.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.126-132
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• 2020

Background: Augmented somatosensory feedback stimulates the mechanoreceptor to deliver information on bodily position, improving the postural control. The various types of such feedback include ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) and vibration. The optimal feedback to mitigate postural sway remains unclear, as does the effect of augmented somatosensory feedback on muscle co-contraction. Objects: We compared postural sway and ankle muscle co-contraction without feedback (control) and with either of two forms of somatosensory feedback (AFOs and vibration). Methods: We recruited 15 healthy subjects and tested them under three feedback conditions (control, AFOs, vibration) with two sensory conditions (eyes open, or eyes closed and the head tilted back), in random order. Postural sway was measured using a force platform; the mean sway area of the 95% confidence ellipse (AREA) and the mean velocity of the center-of-pressure displacement (VEL) were assessed. Co-contraction of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles was measured using electromyography and converted into a co-contraction index (CI). Results: We found significant main effects of the three feedback states on postural sway (AREA, VEL) and the CI. The two sensory conditions exerted significant main effects on postural sway (AREA and VEL). AFOs reduced postural sway to a level significantly lower than that of the control (p = 0.014, p < 0.001) or that afforded by vibration (p = 0.024, p < 0.001). In terms of CI amelioration, the AFOs condition was significantly better than the control (p = 0.004). Vibration did not significantly improve either postural sway or the CI compared to the control condition. There was no significant interaction effect between the three feedback conditions and the two sensory conditions. Conclusion: Lower-extremity devices such as AFOs enhance somatosensory perception, improving postural control and decreasing the CI during static standing.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.39-47
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• 2020

Postural stability can reduce the likelihood of critical slip and fall accidents in workplaces. The present study aimed to analyze the effect of shoes type on the ability of postural control during quiet standing. The effect of workload on the body balance was also of primary concern. Thirteen healthy male undergraduate students participated voluntarily in the experimental study. Standing on a force plate with wearing slippers, sports shoes, or safety shoes, two-axis coordinate on subjects' center of pressures (COP) was obtained in the two levels, rest and workload. For the workload level, subjects performed treadmill exercise to reach the predetermined level of physical workload. By converting the position coordinates of COPs, the postural sway length in both anterior-posterior (AP) axis and medio-lateral (ML) axis was assessed. ANOVA results showed that, in AP direction, wearing slippers significantly increased the postural sway length compared to wearing sports shoes or safety shoes. No significant difference in the mean sway length in AP axis was observed between sports shoes and safety shoes. In ML direction, both the workload and the shoes type did not significantly affect the mean length of postural sway. However, the postural sway length increased marginally with the slippers especially during the workload condition. This study explains wearing slippers may interfere with the ability of postural control during quiet standing. Physical workload decreases the ability of postural stability further.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.557-561
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• 2013

The purpose of this study to identified the effect of muscle strengthening of ankle joints on postural sway. The subjects of this study were 29 healthy adults aged between 20 and 30 years(male 18, female 11). All subjects received ankle muscle strengthening exercise for 3 times, 3 sessions, 30 minutes per week over 4weeks period. The measured item of muscle strength, postural sway. Data collected from all subjects the result were as follows. The ankle strength showed significant increase(p<.05). One leg stand test with eye close increase in static balance(p<.05), left-right sway distance and anterior-posterior sway distance with eye open and close in static balance(p<.05). The result findings show that strength of the ankle joint muscles is a factor which affects postural sway and the ankle joints are important in static balance.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of foot orthotic on postural sway. Subjects were 15 patients(7 men and 8 women) who prescribed foot orthotic at B hospital and L rehabilitation medicine clinic in Seoul. Postural sway during a single limb stance was measured using the CMS 10 Measuring System when subjects positioned on the balance trainer under two treatment conditions(orthotic and nonorthotic). RCSP(resting calcaneal stance position) while subjects were standing on the glass plate was measured using the angle finder after subjects were positioned in prone to divide equally lower leg and calcaneus using the goniometer. The result was as follows. There were significant difference between postural sway of orthotic and nonorthotic conditions(t=4.888, 4.589, p<0.001), and the leg of the small RCSP within a subject has the small postural sway index($x^2=26.000$, p<0.001). In conclusion, foot orthotics provide structural support for detecting and controlling postural sway in patients prescribed foot orthotics.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2008

Purpose: This study examined whether or not changes in the static and dynamic balance performance occur during pregnancy. Methods: Fourteen pregnant women and fourteen non-pregnant women volunteered to participate in the study. All subjects were tested for their balance performance on the Chattecx Balance System (Chattanooga Group, Inc., USA) under a two platform condition: stable platform and dynamic platform(forward-backward sliding and tilting). The Chattecx Balance System was measured using the postural sway index, anterior-posterior sway index, and medial-lateral sway index. Results: There was a significant difference in the postural sway index and anterior posterior sway index in the static and dynamic platform condition between the pregnant and non-pregnant women (p<0.05). However, there was no difference in the medial-lateral sway index. Conclusion: The postural sway index and anterior-posterior sway index decreases during pregnancy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.67-71
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• 2017

PURPOSE: Muscle fatigue is a cause to change proprioception. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of calf muscle fatigue and visual control on postural balance during single-legged standing in healthy adults. METHODS: Nineteen healthy adults (male) were participated in this study (mean age: 24.36 years; mean height: 171.32 cm; mean weight: 64.58 kg). The postural balance (sway length, sway area, sway velocity of COG displacement) was measured by Balance Trainer System (BT4) in before and after calf muscle fatigue feeling in single legged stance. In this study, repetitive single-legged heel rise test was used to induce fatigue of the calf muscle. Paired t- test was used to compare the postural balance between before and after calf muscle fatigue. Data of subjects were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Level of significance was set to .05. RESULTS: The sway length, sway area, sway velocity of COG (center of gravity) displacement after calf muscle fatigue feeling was significantly increased compared to before calf muscle fatigue feeling during single leg standing both eye open and close conditions (p<.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggested that calf muscle fatigue feeling has affected on postural balance when standing one leg both eye open and close conditions and postural control was disturbed by muscle fatigue and visual feedback in single leg standing.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.267-273
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• 2018

Purpose: Leg length discrepancy (LLD) is one of the risk factors for postural imbalance. This study aimed to investigate the effect of induced leg length discrepancy on the limitation of stability (LOS) and static postural balance. Methods: Thirteen adults (males, 7; females 6) participated in this study. The LOS and static postural balance [sway length, sway area, and sway velocity of center of gravity (COG) displacement] were measured by the balance trainer system. The subjects were asked to move the COG for the anterior, posterior, and left and right directions maximally and to keep standing on the platform with and without induced LLD for 30 s in the open and closed eyes conditions, respectively. The LLD was artificially induced to 2 cm using insole. Wilcoxon test was used to compare the LOS and the static postural balance between with and without induced LLD. Results: The anterior and posterior LOS significantly decreased in induced LLD (p<0.05), and the left and right LOS were not significantly different between with and without LLD (p>0.05). Sway length, sway area, and sway velocity of the COG displacement significantly decreased in induced LLD (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study suggests that induced LLD could decease the antero-posterior LOS and increased the static postural balance. Therefore, the LLD could disturb the postural balance.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2006

Loss of postural balance can possibly lead to increased risk of slips and falls in work places. Present study was performed to investigate the effects of noisy environments on postural stability during standing. It is known that a sound is characterized by the frequency and pressure level of the sound. Therefore, effects of the frequency and pressure level on postural stability were of primary concern. Ten male subjects participated in the experiment. Subject's center of pressure(COP) position was collected on a force plate while they were exposed to different frequency and pressure levels of the sound. Measured COP was then converted into the length of postural sway path in both anterior-posterior(AP) and medio-lateral(ML) axis. Results showed that the length of sway path in AP axis was significantly affected by the frequency of sound. The length of sway path was lowest at frequency level of 2000Hz and increased below and above this frequency range. The sound pressure level, however, did not significantly affect the postural sway length in both AP and ML axis. The results imply that industrial workers in noisy environments should be aware that their abilities of postural balance can be disturbed significantly.