• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.101-110
• /
• 1997

The maximal voluntary strength of knee extension and flexion on both the right and left sides was measured in patients with hemiparesis of upper motor neuron type and in a group of normal subjects. Significant differences of maximal voluntary strength were found between male and female but the ratio of flexor to extensor strength did not vary significantly between the sides, between the sex in normal subjects. The maximal voluntary strength of uninvolved side were not reduced significantly but involved side reduced significantly in patients. The ratio of flexor to extensor strength in hemiparetic side was significantly less than the ratio for the normal subjects but not significant difference in uninvolved side of patients. According to the above results, the maximal voluntary strength of flexion was more reduced than that of the extension in lower extremity of hemiparesis patients. The strength ratio of flexion to extension was a useful parameter for guiding the rehabilitation of hemiparesis.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.54-63
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the hip internal rotation on knee extensor and hip abductor electromyographic (EMG) activity during stair up and stair down mobility. Eighteen healthy subjects were recruited. All subjects performed stair up and down movements on a step of 30cm height while maintaining the hip in neutral (condition 1) and hip in internal rotation (condition 2). Surface EMG activity was recorded from five muscles (gluteus maximus, vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis oblique (VMO), posterior gluteus medius (Gmed), and tensor fascia latae (TFU)) and hip internal rotation angle was measured using a three dimensional motion analysis system The time period for stair up and down was normalized using the MatLab 6.5 program, and EMG activity was normalized to the value of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). The EMG activities according to the hip rotation (neutral or internal rotation) during the entire time period of stair up and down in each phase were compared using a paired t-test. During the entire period of stair up, the EMG activities of VL and TFL in condition 2 were significantly greater than in condition 1 (p<.05). During the entire period of stair down, the EMG activities of VL and TFL in condition 2 were significantly greater than in condition 1 (p<.05). However, the EMG activities of the other muscles were not significantly different between the conditions (p>.05). These results suggest that the stair up and down maintaining hip internal rotation was could be a contributing factor on patellar lateral tracking.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.121-131
• /
• 2023

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of ice and hot packs on proprioception, balance, and muscle strength in knee extensor muscle fatigue. METHODS: A total of 31 male and female students in their twenties from a university in A, Chungnam, Korea, were selected as participants. Three experiments were conducted to assess static balance, dynamic balance, proprioception, and muscle strength before and after induction of muscle fatigue, and following intervention. RESULTS: In the case of stability typical (ST), a significant difference was observed in pillow with eye open (PO) when a Hot pack was applied (p < .05). The weight distribution index (WDI), showed significant differences in normal eye open (NO) and Normal eye closed (NC) tests when ice packs and hot packs were applied (p < .05). In the dynamic balance assessment using Y-balance, significant differences were observed in all values except for pre- and post-intervention in the medial and lateral directions (p < .05). The recovery of proprioceptive sensation showed a significant difference when ice packs were applied (p < .05). In muscle strength, significant differences were observed in all comparisons between measurement time points (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Rest was most effective for static balance, and cold and warm compresses were most effective in recovering dynamic balance. For proprioception, cold compresses were most effective. Muscle strength had a positive effect on recovery in all three intervention methods. These results show that cold and warm compresses can be useful in the recovery of various functions related to muscle fatigue.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.5-23
• /
• 2002

Purpose: To determine the effect of the Fall Prevention Program(EPP) on gait, balance and muscle strength in elderly women at a nursing home. Method: The subjects of this consisted of 38 elderly women between the ages of 70 to 89 years living at a nursing home located in Seoul. Each of the experimental group and control group was composed of 19 subjects. The subjects in experimental group have participated in FPP for the 8 weeks which consisted of exercise, education and foot care. They started to exercise for 40 minutes per session, 3 sessions a week during the 1st week at 40% of age adjusted maximum heart rate. From the 2nd week to the 4th week, they increased the duration of exercise to 50 minutes per session and the intensity to 60% of age-adjusted maximum heart rate. They participated in 50 minutes at 60% of age-adjusted maximum heart rate from the 5th week to the 8th week. Each exercise session consisted of 10 minutes of warming-up exercise, 30 minutes of conditioning exercise and 10 minutes of cooling-down exercise. They participated in education for 20 minutes per week from the 1st week to the 4th week. Then they participated in a 30-minute foot care program per week from the 5th week to the 8th week. Gait, balance and muscle strength for each subject were measured before and after FPP. Gait was evaluated by step length, step width, gait speed and walking distance. Balance was measured by the duration of standing on one leg with their eyes closed and open each, and a get-up and go test. Grip strength was measured by hand dynamometer. Hip extensor and flexor strength, knee extensor and flexor strength and ankle plantarflexor and dorsiflexor strength were measured by manual muscle tester. Data was analyzed using SPSS form Windows. t-test and Chi square test were utilized as a homogeneity test. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to test the effect of FPP. Result: 1) Step width significantly decreased, and step length, gait speed and walking distance significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group after FPP(p<0.005). 2) There was no significant change in standing time on one leg with their eyes closed after FPP. The standing time on leg with their eyes open and the time of "get-up and go" significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group after FPP(p<0.005). 3) Muscle strength-grip strength, hip extensor and flexor strength-significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group after FPP(p<0.005). 4) There was no significant difference of frequency of fall between the experimental group and control group during the period of FPP. Conclusion: These results suggest that FPP can increase gait, balance and muscle strength of elderly women at a nursing home.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.155-165
• /
• 2005

Arthritis is one of the most common chronic degenerative joint disease in elderly. Osteoarthritis is a widespread, slowly developing disease, with a high prevalence increasing with age in women. The large joints mostly involved by the disease are the knees. But there are no treatments available that cure the underlying process of osteoarthritis diseases. Physical exercise helps in increasing cartilage nutrition and remodeling, increases the synovial blood flow, decrease swelling, and improves muscle strength. Thus, exercise has been suggested as an important nursing strategy in osteoarthritis. Purpose: The purpose of this study were to compare muscle strength between Tai-Chi exercise and aquatic exercise for women with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with pretest and posttest measures was used. The study subjects were those who had been enrolled in a community health center, and agreed to participate in the study for eight weeks, signed the consent form, and obtained the physicians approval. The study dropout rates were 13.2% with the final study subjects of 17 on Tai-Chi exercise, 16 on aquatic exercise program. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS for Window (version 12.0). Independent sample t-test and paired t-test was performed to compare of muscle strength for women with osteoarthritis after 8-week Tai-Chi exercise and aquatic Exercise. Results: The homogeneity tests of demographic characteristics and study variables at the pretest data revealed no significant differences between two groups. After 8-week Tai-Chi and aquatic exercise, there was significant result in pre-post test comparison on muscle strength on Tai-Chi group, but no significant in aquatic group. There were no significant differences of knee extensor (p=.078), and hand grip(p=.118) in group comparisons on muscle strengths. But there were significant differences of knee flexor(p=.024). Conclusion: Tai-chi exercise was effective in improving knee flexor. So, it seems that Tai-chi exercise may be more suitable for aquatic exercise in osteoarthritis exercise programs. Further studies with other comparisons in physical and psycho social outcomes are necessary to confirm the more effects of exercise.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.20-30
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ankle joint mobilization with movement (MWM) on the range of motion (ROM) in the ankle, on the muscle strength of lower extremities, and on spatiotemporal gait parameters in chronic hemiplegic patients. Fifteen subjects with chronic stroke were divided into two groups: an experimental group (8 subjects) and a control group (7 subjects). Both groups attended two or three sessions of physical therapy each week. The experimental group also attended additional MWM training sessions three times a week for five weeks. For both groups, the ROM of the ankle, the muscle strength of the lower extremities, and the spatiotemporal gait parameters in paretic limbs were evaluated before and after the training period. The results showed that the experimental group experienced more significant increases than did the control group in terms of passive (6.10%) and active (21.96%) ROM of the ankle, gait velocity (12.96%), and peak torque, of the knee flexor (81.39%), the knee extensor (24.88%), and the ankle plantar flexor (41.75%)(p<.05). These results suggest that MWM training in patients with chronic stroke may be beneficial in increasing ROM in the ankle, muscle strength in the lower extremities, and gait speed.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.297-308
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among isometric and isokinetic muscle strength, lean body mass(LBM) and bone mineral density(BMD) in the elderly. Eleven males(age, 70.27${\pm}$5.78yr; height, 167.36${\pm}$6.68 cm; weight, 68.34${\pm}$8.23 kg) and thirteen female(age, 69.77${\pm}$4.13yr; height, 152.80${\pm}$4.45 cm; weight, 56.86${\pm}$7.40 kg) participated in this study. In all subjects, LBM and BMD segments was measured by using Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry(DEXA, Lunar DPS-DM, U.S.A.). Maximum isometric and isokinetic muscle strength of flexion and extension at the knee and elbow, ankle, trunk joints were measured by using an isokinetic dynamometer(CON-TREX(R) Multi Joint Testing Module, Switzerland). The results of this study showed that isometric and isokinetic muscle strength was significantly higher in extension than flexion. In the male and female, hamstring to quadriceps strength ratio(H:Q ratio) was increased as contraction velocity increased. BMD was correlated significantly with trunk extension in the male, but not in the female. LBM was correlated significantly in the male and female with knee extension strength. This study suggests that in the elderly muscle strength training program should put more weight on extensor muscles of the body.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study was to provide foundations for proper stretching method not to lose muscle strength caused by shrink of muscle for preventing injury and improving performance when we make training programs. This study compared and analyzed isokinetic variables related to the static stretching frequency of knee joint extensor by isokinetic instruments applied to normal adults. 45 normal adults are randomly sampled into 3 different groups. All the measured variables were processed with SPSS and, means and standard deviations at each angle speed were calculated. The difference of means between before and after stretching of each groups were processed by paired t-test. One-way ANOVA and after test(Duncan) This study was able to see that stretching decrease acute isokinetic muscle strength High frequency stretching group showed more efficient decrease of muscle strength than low frequency stretching group. As a result, making training program for a game requiring strong muscle strength should consider proper stretching method not to lose muscle strength.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2020

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of different external loads on the muscle activities around the hip during prone hip extension with knee flexion (PHEKF) exercise in healthy young men. METHODS: Sixteen healthy adult males participated in the study. A pressure biofeedback unit was used to provide feedback to the participants during the abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) with PHEKF. Sandbags (0 kg, 1 kg, 2 kg, and 3 kg) were used to provide external resistance. The quadriceps was contracted to maintain knee flexion 90° against resistance. Each resistance condition using a sandbag weight was given in random order. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to measure the electrical activity of the gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, and erector spinae during PHEKF. RESULTS: The muscle activity of the gluteus maximus was highest with the 3 kg resistance and lowest with 0 kg (F = 128.46, P = .00). The muscle activities of the biceps femoris and erector spinae were highest with 0 kg and lowest with 3 kg (F = 29.49, P = .00). The muscle activity rate of the gluteus maximus/biceps femoris was highest with 3 kg and lowest with 0 kg (F = 37.49, P = .00). CONCLUSION: The activity of the gluteus maximus was increased using a higher external weight load during PHEKF, while the activity of the biceps femoris decreased. These findings suggest that an external weight is needed during hip extensor exercise to strengthen the gluteus maximus and inhibit the biceps femoris.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.1-15
• /
• 2002

The purpose of this study was to compare the balance and gait between fallers and non-fallers in elderly. A brief questionnaire was used to obtain the fall history. Twenty-seven women subjects were evaluated in this study. Eleven subjects and a mean age of 84.5 years (SD=4.6) were designated as the faller group. Sixteen subjects and a mean age of 80.3 years (SD=5.3) were designated as the non-faller group. The fall-related factors (mental status, balance, range of motion and muscle strength of lower extremity, sensation of foot, and cadence, walking velocity, stride length) were compared between faller group and non-faller group and measured. The results showed that faller group had significantly less range of motion of the hip flexion and knee extension, and strength of the knee extensor and ankle dorsiflexor and plantar flexor than non-faller group. The scores of the Functional reach test and One leg standing were significantly less in faller group than in non-faller group. Faller group showed less walking velocity and stride length compared to non-faller group. However, there was no significant difference in cadence during comfortable waking and fast walking between two groups. There were no significant differences in pressure, position sensory between two groups. These results suggest that exercise for improving the flexibility, muscle strength of the lower extremity and balance may be useful strategies to prevent fall in elderly. Further studies are needed to identify which specific factors are related to fall in the elderly population.