• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2024

Background: Following lower limb strength training exercises, patients with stroke often experience muscle fatigue, which can frequently lead to falls. Therefore, this study aims to explore how lower limb muscle fatigue caused by squats affects the strength and balance of healthy individuals before extrapolating it to patients with stroke. Design: Cross-sectional study Methods: The study followed a cross-sectional design. The study was conducted on 30 healthy adults. Strength and balance were measured before and after performing wall squat exercises. Muscle strength was measured using a dynamometer, while balance was assessed with the S3 check system. A paired t-test was used for the analysis. Results: The knee extensor and hip extensor showed a significant decrease after wall squat (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference observed in knee flexor and hip abductor between before and after wall squat. Balance did not show a significant difference between before and after wall squat. Conclusion: Muscle fatigue caused by wall squats was found to reduce the strength of the knee and hip extensors, while having no impact on balance. The results of this study may serve as foundational data for future research targeting patients with stroke.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 2016

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of dynamic balance measurements using a smartphone. METHODS: Thirty subjects were selected out of Y-university students without fractures, operation history, and inflammatory arthritis who had not started regular exercise during the past three months. Their dynamic balance ability was measured by the Biodex Balance System (Biodex Medical Systems, Inc., USA) using smartphones. The smartphone utilized in this study was the Galaxy Note4 LTE (SM-N910K, Samsung, Korea), and the application was the Sensor Kinetics pro (Ver.2.1.2, INNOVENTIONS Inc, US). The dynamic balance ability was measured in triplicate. RESULTS: With eyes closed, a low level of correlation (r>0.30, p<0.05) and low reliability (ICC>0.60) were determined between the roll value of the smartphone gyroscope versus the medial/lateral score of the Biodex Balance System. With eyes closed, a low level of correlation (r>0.30, p<0.05) and low reliability (ICC>0.60) were determined between the total value of the smartphone gyroscope versus the total score of the Biodex Balance System. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that using a smartphone can generate highly limited data regarding balance ability. They are unlikely to replace the existing more expensive devices entirely. However, smartphones may be highly useful in environments in which an expensive device is not available or when dynamic balance ability should be measured immediately or within a few hours.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2016

PURPOSE: This study compared the effectiveness of trunk control exercise performed on an unstable surface with that of general balance exercise on dynamic balance in the patients with chronic stroke. METHODS: The persons of this study were thirty-seven chronic stroke patients were recruited and randomly divided into 2 groups; (1) those who performed trunk control exercise on a foam roll and (2) those who performed general balance exercise. The exercises were performed 5 times a week for 4 weeks. To determine the effectiveness of the 2 types of exercises, we measured dynamic balance at the beginning of the exercises and again after 4 weeks at the completion of exercises program. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of exercise, both the groups showed increased Berg's balance scale and timed-up-and-go test (p<.001) scores. However, Trunk control exercise group was more effective than general balance exercise group was in increasing the Berg's balance scale (p<.01) and timed-up-and-go test (p<.05) scores. CONCLUSION: We suggest that trunk control exercise may be effective in increasing the balance ability of patients with chronic stroke than general balance exercise. Thus, trunk control exercise is important for such patients. Further studies are needed for better understanding of the effectiveness of trunk control exercise in chronic stroke patients.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was intended to discover the effect of the turning training on figure of 8 tract on stroke patients' static and dynamic balance, as well as walking. Methods: A total of 42 stroke patients participated in this study. The training group was trained on the figure of 8 tract, while the control group was trained on the straight path for 30 minutes per day, for 4 weeks. Berg balance scale was used to measure the balance of the patients, before and after the training, and Good balance system was used to measure the sway speed and the distance of COG while standing. To measure the ability of walking, TUG and FSST were also used. Results: There were significant increases in the average score of Berg balance scale, in both groups after the training, and also significant difference between both groups were observed. The training group showed significant differences in the static balance ability, as well as anteroposterior and mediolateral sway speed. Further, there were significant increases in the dynamic balance ability, COP total distance, and TUG in both groups. The results showed more differences in comparing the control group with that of the training group. In FSST, there was no change in the control group, but there was a significant increase in the training group. Conclusion: Turning training on figure of 8 tract in stroke patients significantly increased the static and dynamic balance and walking ability. Based on the results, it can be seen that the training on the figure of 8 tract can influence the ability of balance and walking, which can lead to appropriate reactions to the change of environment and various tasks. Thus, it is assumed that turning training on figure of 8 tract as a means of improving the condition of stroke patients can be a meaningful program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.235-246
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• 2011

Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare and assess the effects of lumbar stabilization exercise on the balance ability of young college studets with low back pain after having performed spinal stabilization exercise by using 3-dimensional air-balance system and gym ball. Methods: The subjects of this study were 34 low back patients in their early twenties. They were divided into two groups: 3-dimensional lumbar stabilization exercise group(N=17) and gym ball lumbar stabilization exercise group(N=17). The period of the intervention was for five weeks. VAS(Visual Analogue Scale) for pain test, ODI(Oswestry Disability Index) for ADL limitation test, Tetrax system for static balance test, and Air-balance system 3D for dynamic balance test were used as evaluation tools for this study. Results: Pain showed significant decrease in both groups after having performed the experiment, but ADL limitation of the groups did not show any remarkable difference between before and after the experiment. Dynamic balance ability in the 8-directional angle comparison test significantly increased in all directions except for the backward, left-backward, and right-backward directions. As for dynamic balance ability in the 8-directional postural test, 3D exercise group showed statistically significant reduction in every direction while gym ball exercise group did not(p<.05). However, when it comes to static balance ability in the weight distribution and stability test, there was not significantly change between pre and post test in both groups. Conclusion: This study shows 3-dimensional lumbar stabilization exercise is more effective in the lumbar stabilization of coordinated movement than gym ball exercise, which may imply that 3D air-balance system can be used for the therapeutic treatment of body imbalance for patients with low back pain.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.430-435
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• 2014

Purpose: The objective of this study was a virtual reality-based balance training program effective for improvement in physical function, examined the balance ability and fall efficacy of elderly women with experienced falls, intending to examine the program's usefulness as an exercise program to prevent the recurrence of a fall. Methods: The participants were 30 elderly women aged 65 or older who met the conditions. The participants were randomly assigned to either a balance training group (BT) or a virtual reality-based balance training group (VT) and received the training three times per week, 30 minutes per day, for six weeks. To measure static balance, the Tetrax Portable Multiple System (Tetrax Ltd, Israel) were used. To measure dynamic balance, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and functional reach test (FRT) was used, and regarding fall efficacy, the Korean Fall Efficacy Scale (K-FES) was used. Results: Tetrax significantly improved after the intervention in both the BT group and the VT group (p<0.05). The comparison between the two groups was not significantly. BBS and FRT result significantly improved after the intervention in both the BT and VT groups (p<0.001), while K-FES was significantly ameliorated in the VT group only (p<.05). Comparing the groups, there were more significant changes in the BBS (p<0.05) and FRT (p<0.01) result of the VT group than the BT group. Conclusion: A virtual reality-based balance training program is considered to be usable as an exercise program to prevent recurrence of falls in elderly women.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.357-365
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• 2012

Purpose : The present study has been performed to find the effects on gross motor function and balance ability of applying a balance exercise program consisting of motions able to stimulate balance-related sensory systems on various support surfaces along with goal-oriented upper extremity tasks to enhance the balance ability. Methods : 10children diagnosed as having spastic diplegia were selected as the subject for this study, of whom 5children were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) and the remainder to a balance exercise group (BEG) to perform the upper extremity task on various support surfaces. Each intervention was executed 30minutes per session with 2sessions a week for 12weeks. To make comparisons before and after intervention, gross motor function measure; standing; demention D(GMFM;D), walking/running/jumping ;demention E (GMFM;E) and pediatric balance scale (PBS) were evaluated. Results : The CG showed a significant difference (p<.05) in GMFM;E. BEG showed a significant difference (p<.05) in GMFM;D as well as GMFM;E and in PBS before and after intervention. BEG showed a significant improvement (p<.05) in GMFM;D and the PBS compared with the CG whereas it did not indicate any statistically significant difference in GMFM;E. Conclusion : According to the results of this study, it has been shown that a balance exercise accompanied by upper extremity task on various support surfaces had an effect on improvement in the gross motor function and the balance ability of children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.209-215
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aims to understand the effect of balance training on ankle muscle activity and static balance in stroke patients. Methods: The subjects were composed of 12 patients who were admitted with chronic stroke in H, K, and R hospitals located in Gangwon-do from August to October 2014. This study conducted balance training on the subjects for 20 min a session, twice a day, five times a week for six weeks. This study measured the surface electromyogram (EMG) of the paretic side's tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius for muscle activity. Static balance was measured as a TETRAX stability index. The measurements were conducted before the experiment and six weeks after. The result was statistically analyzed using paired t-test at the significance level of 0.05. Result: Muscle activity of the paretic side's tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius did not show a significant difference in the comparison between pre- and post-balancing training. However, the stability index showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between standing with eyes open (NO) and standing on a sponge with eyes open (PO). Conclusion: Although balance training did not affect the muscle activity of chronic stroke patients, it had an effective influence on the stability index. That is, balance training was effective at the functional level, but it did not change the structure level in terms of the ICF evaluation standard. Balance training becomes more effective when it is applied in relation to task.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.212-217
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• 2022

Purpose: This study sought to investigate the effects of visual cue deprivation balance training by applying head control feedback to the balance function and the fall index in older people. Methods: The study was conducted on 26 older people at the S Hospital in Gyeongsansi. The patients were randomly divided into the experimental groupI (EGI, n=9), the experimental groupII (EGII, n=9), and the control group (CG, n=8). The three groups were trained for 30 minutes three times a week for four weeks. To assess the patients' static balance function, their limits of stability (LOS) was measured using the BioRescue system, (RM Ingenierie, France), composed of a pressure platform that can measure force in diverse ways, a computer, and a monitor. The dynamic balance function was measured using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Also, the fall index was measured to evaluate the risk of falling. A paired t-test was performed to compare pre- and post-training performance within the groups. One-way ANOVA was performed for comparing the three groups. A post hoc least significant difference (LSD) test was also performed. Results: The results of the LOS showed a significant difference after training in the EGI and EGII groups (p<0.05). As a result of the difference between the three groups, there was a significant difference after training (p<0.05). The results of the BBS showed a significant difference after training in the EGI group (p<0.05). As a result of the difference between the three groups, there was a significant difference after training (p<0.05). Conclusion: Visual cue deprivation balance training applying head control feedback is effective in improving the dynamic balance function in older people. It is also necessary to constantly maintain the head orientation by feedback and to properly control the head movement.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.274-281
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• 2022

Background: The range of motion (ROM) and balance ability of the ankle joint affect the stability of the ankle and prevent injuries or hurts from falling. In the clinical tests conducted recently, the floss band is widely used to enhance the range of joint motion and exercise performance, and there are many studies that have applied it to ankle joint increasing dorsi flexion (DF) angle. Objects: This study compared the effects on the range of ankle motion and static/dynamic balance ability of the ankle through three conditions (before floss band intervention, after floss band intervention, and after active exercise intervention) for adults. Methods: One intervention between floss band and active exercise was applied randomly and another intervention was applied the next day. After each intervention, the ROM of the ankle joints and the static balance was checked by measuring conducting one leg test. And the dynamic balance was checked by conducting a Y-balance test. Results: In the case of DF, the range of joint motion showed a significant increase after floss band intervention compared to before floss band intervention (p < 0.05). Static balance ability showed a significant increase after the intervention of floss band and active exercise compared to before the intervention of floss band (p < 0.05). The dynamic balance ability showed a significant increase after the intervention of the floss band compared to before intervention of the floss band and after active exercise intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Based on these results, it was confirmed that the application of floss band to the ankle joint increases DF and improves the static and dynamic balance ability. Based on this fact, we propose the application of a floss band as an intervention method to improve the ROM of the ankle joint and improve the stability of the ankle in clinical field.