• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.143-148
• /
• 2016

Objective: This study aimed to quantify one of the useful upper extremity movements to evaluate motor control abilities between the groups of people with mild and moderate arm impairments performing a door handling task. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twenty-one healthy participants and twenty-one persons with chronic stroke (9 mild stroke and 12 moderate stroke) were recruited for this study. Stroke participants were divided into 2 groups based on Fugle-Meyer Assessment scores of 58-65 (mild arm) and 38-57 (moderate arm). All they performed door handling task including the pronation and supination phases 3 times. We measured some movement factors which were reaction time, movement time, hand of peak velocity, hand of movement units to perform door handling task using the three-dimensional motion analysis. Results: The majority of kinematic variables showed significant differences among study groups (p<0.05). The reaction time, total and phase of movement time, hand of peak velocity, the number of movement units discriminated between healthy participants and persons with moderate upper limb stroke (p<0.05). In addition, reaction time, total and phase of movement time, the number of movement units discriminated between those with moderate and mild upper limbs of stroke patients (p<0.05). Conclusions: Three-dimensional kinematic motion analysis in this study was a useful tool for assessing the upper extremity function in different subgroups of people with stroke during the door handling task. These kinematic variables may help clinicians understand the arm movements in door handling task and consist of discriminative therapeutic interventions for stroke patients on upper extremity rehabilitation.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.399-405
• /
• 2012

The brain is the body's most organized and controlled organ, and it governs various psychological and mental functions. A brain abnormality could greatly affect one's physical and mental abilities, and consequently one's social life. Brain disorders can be broadly categorized into three main afflictions: stroke, brain tumor, and dementia. Among these, stroke is a common disease that occurs owing to a disorder in blood flow, and it is accompanied by a sudden loss of consciousness and motor paralysis. The main types of strokes are infarction and hemorrhage. The exact diagnosis and early treatment of an infarction are very important for the patient's prognosis and for the determination of the treatment direction. In this study, texture features were analyzed in order to develop a prototype auto-diagnostic system for infarction using computer auto-diagnostic software. The analysis results indicate that of the six parameters measured, the average brightness, average contrast, flatness, and uniformity show a high cognition rate whereas the degree of skewness and entropy show a low cognition rate. On the basis of these results, it was suggested that a digital CT image obtained using the computer auto-diagnostic software can be used to provide valuable information for general CT image auto-detection and diagnosis for pre-reading. This system is highly advantageous because it can achieve early diagnosis of the disease and it can be used as supplementary data in image reading. Further, it is expected to enable accurate medical image detection and reduced diagnostic time in final-reading.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.153-159
• /
• 2016

Purpose: This study was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of horticultural therapy by analyzing researches on horticultural therapy applied to elderly Koreans. Methods: We evaluated 401 research papers including dissertations on horticultural therapy applied to elderly Koreans from Jan. 2000 to Feb. 2016. We reviewed the appropriate 12 papers among them for the final analysis. Results: Horticultural therapy had physiological and psychosocial effects. First of all, it showed the physiological effects of reducing stress hormones. Outdoor horticultural therapy improved the gross motor movements of the body. Indoor horticulture therapy improved delicate cognitive & operating functions. Second, horticultural therapy showed the psychosocial effects of reducing depression and improving cognitive functions, language abilities, comprehension, daily activity, life satisfaction and sociality. But the effects appeared differently dependent on the implementation protocol & period of horticultural therapy, as well as the professionalism of the therapists. Therefore, if horticultural therapy were to be administered through nursing, it should be based on its key principle, in other words, the principle of action-interaction-response of horticultural therapy. Conclusion: The results of this study will be useful for developing therapeutic interventions through nursing. Also they will be helpful in applying horticultural therapy programs in nursing practice.

• Korean Journal of Child Education & Care
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.53-76
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of child care type on infant's developmental outcomes assessed by K-ASQ, focusing on the child-centric role of nurture policy. For this, this study categorized child care type into types including home nurturing, child care center, and subtypes of each category. The findings of multiple regression analysis using the first-third wave data of Panel Study of Korean Children(PSKC) are as follows. First, the child care center experience had rather positive effect on the development of all abilities in the infants comparing to home nurturing. Second, the time of attending child care center was differently related to the development of motor, communication, and personal-social skill in infanthood. Finally, the accreditation of child care showed a difference only in terms of social development of infants. In conclusion, even if the experience of using child care center has positive impact on infant's developmental level, it is still in need of improving service quality such as reinforcing accreditation system.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.1768-1773
• /
• 2019

Background: Aging reduces cognitive abilities, including visual memory (VM) and visual discrimination (VD). Since common cortical networks subserve eye movement and attention, voluntary eye movement may improve visual attention. Visual selective attention was major role for memory, and visual memory and visual attention are intimately related. Objective: To identify the improvement in VD and VM, after implementing the eye movement program consisting of saccadic eye movement (SEM) and pursuit eye movement (PEM) in the institutionalized healthy elderly. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: The study involved a sample of 36 participants, and the mean age was 79.03 years (range 76~84 years). They were randomly allocated to the experimental group (n=16) and control group (n=20). Participants in the experimental group performed SEM 5 times per week for 4 weeks: twice daily at the same time in the morning and afternoon. The program was carried out for 3 minutes, and it consisted of SEM and PEM. The target's moving frequency was set at 0.5 Hz. VM and VD at the baseline and post-intervention were measured using Motor-Free Visual Perception test-4 (MFVPT-4). Results: VM significantly improved in the experimental group (p < .01), and significant differences were observed compared to the control group (p < .01). There was no significant change in VD. Conclusion: The eye movement program consisting of SEM and PEM increased VM more than VD. Therefore, eye movement program was feasible interventions for improving VM in institutionalized elderly persons.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.83-103
• /
• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to develop a longitudinal predictive model that identifies first-grade children who are at risk for ADHD and to investigate the factors that predict the probability of belonging to the at-risk group for ADHD by using machine learning. Methods: The data of 1,445 first-grade children from the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 8th waves of the Korean Children's Panel were analyzed. The output factors were the at-risk and non-risk group for ADHD divided by the CBCL DSM-ADHD scale. Prenatal as well as developmental factors during infancy and early childhood were used as input factors. Results: The model that best classifies the at-risk and the non-risk group for ADHD was the LASSO model. The input factors which increased the probability of being in the at-risk group for ADHD were temperament of negative emotionality, communication abilities, gross motor skills, social competences, and academic readiness. Conclusion/Implications: The outcomes indicate that children who showed specific risk indicators during infancy and early childhood are likely to be classified as being at risk for ADHD when entering elementary schools. The results may enable parents and clinicians to identify children with ADHD early by observing early signs and thus provide interventions as early as possible.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.81-89
• /
• 2019

PURPOSE: To solve the problems of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients complaining of muscle fatigue and having limited motor abilities, this study provided the clinical basic data for pulmonary rehabilitation by examining the effects of High Low-Frequency Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) on the respiratory muscle strength, quadriceps muscle activity, and life quality. METHODS: Samples were collected from 20 COPD patients and placed randomly in a low-frequency group (n=10) and high-frequency group (n=10). For a pretest, the respiratory muscle strength (MIP, MEP), quadriceps muscle activity (LF, VM, VL), and life quality (SGRQ) were measured. After applying NMES to each group for 30 minutes at a time, five times a week, for four weeks, a posttest was conducted in the same way as the pretest. RESULTS: Both groups showed significant differences in the respiratory muscle strength, quadriceps muscle activity, and quality of life within the groups and there were significant differences in the quadriceps muscle activity between the groups. CONCLUSION: The four-weeks NMES positively influenced the respiratory muscle strength and life quality by enhancing the function of the quadriceps and exercise tolerance. In particular, high-frequency(75 Hz) NMES was more effective than low-frequency (15 Hz) NMES. This result can be an alternative means to improve the physical functions of COPD patients clinically in the future.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.29-38
• /
• 2021

Purpose : Therapeutic exercise should improve the health outcomes of rehabilitation in children with neurodevelopmental disability. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of primitive reflex integration exercises on forward head posture, balance ability, and concentration in children with neurodevelopmental disability. Methods : This study included 10 children with neurodevelopmental disability. Primitive reflex integration exercises were performed for 40 minutes, twice a week for 8 weeks (16 sessions). The reflective markers were placed at the center of the shoulders and on the ears. A caliper was used to measure the distance between the attachments of the reflective markers to assess the forward head posture. Pediatric balance scale was used to quantify balance ability. Their abilities in terms of changeless sitting, looking at the teacher, putting children's hands on their knees, and looking at immovable and movable objects, were assessed to quantify concentration. Results : There were significant improvements in forward head posture after the intervention (p=.005). Primitive reflex integration exercises significantly improved balance ability of children with neurodevelopmental disability (p=.027). There were also significant improvements in changeless sitting (p=.005), looking at the teacher (p=.004), putting children's hands on their knees (p=.005), and looking at the immovable (p=.004) and movable (p=.004) objects. Conclusion : This study showed that primitive reflex integration exercises were a useful intervention to improve forward head posture, balance, and concentration in children with neurodevelopmental disability. Therefore, primitive reflex integration exercises may also promote and improve their general development. Further studies with appropriate sample size and control group are needed to conclude the effectiveness of primitive reflex integration exercises on improving posture, motor function, and concentration in children with neurodevelopmental disability.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.55 no.10
• /
• pp.512-517
• /
• 2022

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is brain damage which is caused by the impact of external mechanical forces. TBI can lead to the temporary or permanent impairment of physical and cognitive abilities, resulting in abnormal behavior. We recently observed that a single session of early exercise in animals with TBI improved their behavioral performance in the absence of other cognitive abnormalities. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of continuous exercise during the early stages of TBI in rats. We found that continuous low-intensity exercise in early-stage improves the locomotion recovery in the TBI of animal models; however, it does not significantly enhance short-term memory capabilities. Moreover, continuous early exercise not only reduces the protein expression of cerebral damage-related markers, such as Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein (GFAP), Neuron-Specific Enolase (NSE), S100β, Protein Gene Products 9.5 (PGP9.5), and Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70), but it also decreases the expression of apoptosis-related protein BAX and cleaved caspase 3. Furthermore, exercise training in animals with TBI decreases the microglia activation and the expression of inflammatory cytokines in the serum, such as CCL20, IL-13, IL-1α, and IL-1β. These findings thus demonstrate that early exercise therapy for TBI may be an effective strategy in improving physiological function, and that serum protein levels are useful biomarkers for the predicition of the effectiveness of early exercise therapy.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.23-32
• /
• 2010

U-healthcare provides people with many conveniences and keeps their health. As facility centered medical environment is being changed to patient centered one, however, various problems are emerging. These problems range from institutional problems to technological, producer related, and user related ones. The researcher took interested in problems originating from users, in particular, elderly patients and guardians taking care of an elderly patient. The main focus of this study is the direction of serious contents design for training skills in HMI of U-healthcare equipment and developing emergency coping abilities. In this study, I started from research on elderly cognitive psychology and elders' motor reactions and interconnected the characteristics of various digital content forms. The results of this study are expected to be useful for the rapidly expanding elderly population and in the U-healthcare industry.