• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2024

Purpose: Although microwave diathermy is widely employed, research conducted in South Korea indicates a lack of theoretical understanding concerning the appropriate application intensity. Consequently, there is a need to enhance the objectivity of microwave diathermy by conducting quantitative studies to determine its effective application intensity and provide suitable application parameters. Methods: The study was performed on 60 participants, divided equally into 40W or 80W microwave diathermy intervention groups. Microwave diathermy was applied at 2,450MHz to iliocostalis and longissimus muscles for 15 minutes in each group. Ranges of motion were compared before and after intervention using straight leg raise (SLR) test results. The analysis was performed using the paired t-test and the independent t-test. Results: SLR angles increased significantly in both groups after intervention, but the 80W group exhibited a greater post-intervention angle increase. While no significant intergroup difference was observed between pre-intervention angles, post-intervention angles were significantly different. Conclusion: The study confirms that microwave diathermy treatment at 40W for 15 minutes effectively increases SLR angles but that treatment at 80W has a greater effect. Further research is warranted to establish quantitatively the optimal time and intensity settings for microwave diathermy.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2011

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease and is led to physical disability. Yet the development of effective disease-modifying treatments has lagged. In this study, I examined the effect of physical therapeutic intervention through microcurrent stimulation and attempt to find which degree of intensity, either 25 ${\mu}A$ or 500 ${\mu}A$ with a regular 5 pps pulse, is more effective in the osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis was induced with a mixture of 2% carrageenan and 2% kaolin in 26 male Sprague-Dawley rats. The mixture (0.1 $m{\ell}$) was injected into the intra-articular capsule of knee joint once a week for three weeks. Five animals did not show degenerative changes by radiological findings and excluded in the following experiment. Osteoarthritic animals were randomly divided into 3 groups ($n_1$, $n_2$, $n_3$=7/each): untreated, treated with 25 ${\mu}A$, treated with 500 ${\mu}A$. All experimental groups received microcurrent stimulation for four weeks (15 min/day, 5 days/week). The ethological inspection of foot print analysis on the walking corridor was accomplished every week. Histological preparations and immunohistochemical staining with insulin-like growth factor-1 were also done in the articular cartilages. All of these parameters were compared with those of osteoarthritic control group (n=7). The ethological inspection of foot print analysis revealed that changes of walking track (paw width) and stride length was significantly increased in both experimental groups. The better results were observed in experimental group treated with 25 ${\mu}A$ intensity without significance than group treated with 500 ${\mu}A$. Histological preparations disclosed that routine hyaline cartilage of articular surface were altered to fibrous cartilage in untreated group and experimental group treated with 500 ${\mu}A$ intensity. But a little changes were seen in experimental group treated with 25 ${\mu}A$ intensity. Immunolocalization of insulin-like growth factor-1 was simultaneously decreased according to the duration of osteoarthritis, and did not show significant difference among the groups. In this study discovered that the microcurrent stimulation, especially 25 ${\mu}A$ intensity, had a positive effect by the ethological inspection, histological and immunohistochemical stainings. These results suggest that microcurrent stimulation with low-intensity might be effective in the promotion of healing process for the osteoarthritis.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.252-260
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of physical fitness improvement program on work intensity of persons with Down syndrome. For this, 8 adults with Down syndrome participated in program and were evaluated. The physical fitness improvement program consisted of grasp, lifting, carrying exercise for 12 weeks, 1 day a week for 2 hours per session. Compared with pre-program conditions, participants in program improved significantly in right grasp power, lifting ability but there was not significant improvement in carrying ability. In view of work intensity, work intensity level of two subjects was changed from average to hard in lifting. One subject was changed from very light to average and two subjects was changed from light to average in carrying. This results suggested that physical fitness improvement program was helpful for promotion the intensity of adults with Down syndrome.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.127-135
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• 2013

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of exercise of diverse intensities on the recovery of articular cartilage in osteoarthritic rats. METHODS: Over a period of four weeks, the authors applied treadmill exercise programs of diverse intensities to Sprague-Dawley rats, to which intra-articular injection of monosodium iodoacetate(MIA, 3mg/$50{\mu}l$, diluted in saline) was applied to the right knee joint to induce osteoarthritis. The four-week exercise program was not carried out with the control group(CG, n=10). Exercise programs of applicable intensities were applied to the low-intensity exercise group(LEG, n=10), moderate-intensity exercise group(MEG, n=10), and high-intensity exercise group(HEG, n=10) over the four weeks. Observations were made of morphological changes in the rats' articular cartilage, using hematoxylin and eosin stains. RESULTS: there were significant differences(p<.05) in the comparison of articular damage scores between the four groups involved. Articular cartilage damage scores were found to be significantly lower in the LEG, MEG, and HEG than in the CG, indicating that exercise helped with the recovery of cartilage. Of these latter three groups, the MEG showed the highest level of recovery, while the HEG showed the lowest. CONCLUSION: These study results suggest that exercise is effective in treating OA. They also indicate that in prescribing exercise to treat osteoarthritic patients, exercise of moderate intensity is most suitable to patients' physical conditions, rather than low or high intensity, maximizes, and so should be used to maximize the effects of therapy.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.132-136
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• 2020

Purpose: The talk test (TT) is an alternative, self-reported method for prescribing and guiding exercise training in both healthy adults and patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. This study examined whether the TT is a valid tool for evaluating the exercise intensity during two different types of aerobic activity on a treadmill or stationary bicycle in a healthy population. Methods: A total of ten subjects (six males and four females) who had no medical history related to musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and pulmonary disorders were enrolled in this study. They were evaluated using the TT, which consisted of three-level of difficulties demanding cardiac loads while performing aerobic activities on a treadmill and bicycle ergometer across two consecutive days in a counterbalanced manner. During the activities, the psychophysiological response markers were collected in terms of the heart rate, oxygen saturation, rating of perceived exertion, and metabolic equivalents. Results: Statistical analyses revealed a significant difference in the between-subject variance regarding the TT level effect (p<0.05). On the other hand, no significant findings were detected on the between-group variance(p>0.05) and the TT level×group interaction (p>0.05). The independent t-test indicated no significant differences in heart rate, oxygen saturation, rating of perceived exertion, and metabolic equivalents at any levels of the TT in the two groups. The TT showed a strong correlation with the rating of perceived exertion. Conclusion: This study showed that the TT is a valid and alternative tool for evaluating the aerobic exercise intensity in a healthy population. In addition, differences in the psychophysiological response markers between two aerobic activities, treadmill and bicycle ergometer, were detected in the same exercise intensity scaled with the TT. The TT can be used to evaluate and prescribe the exercise intensity of aerobic activity in cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.527-536
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the mediating effect of job search efficacy on perceived career development support and job support intensity of university students of physical education major. Data were collected by a total of 223 junior and senior students who are undergraduate majoring in physical education in Seoul, Chungnam, and Gyeongsang Provinvces. For the study, the reliability and validity test of the questionnaire and correlation analysis were conducted by using SPSS 20.0 program, and Structural Equation Model(SEM) using AMOS 20.0 program was conducted to analyze the data. The results were as follows. First, career development support perceived by university students of physical education majors had a statistically significant effect on job search efficacy, whereas it had no significant effect on job search intensity. Second, job search efficacy of the students had a statistically significant effect on job search intensity. Lastly, it was found that job search efficacy totally mediated the relationship between perceived career development support and job search intensity.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.63-69
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• 2019

Background: Both the rapid concentric and eccentric contractions during exercise repeatedly impose excessive stress on muscle tissue. The hamstring muscles are very susceptible to injury due to the tensile stress. Various interventions are currently being undertaken to prevent strain injury before exercise. Stretching is the most common method and is known to have a positive effect on flexibility and muscle performance. However, relatively few studies have investigated the potential negative factors of stretching. Objects: The purpose of this study was to examine changes in pain following the different intensity of the stretching and types of physical stress. Methods: The subjects were divided into three groups based on the intensity of stretching: 100% (S100), 75% (S75), and 50% (S50) of the measured force at the point of discomfort in static stretching and 100% (P100), 75% (P75), and 50% (P50) of the maximum voluntary isometric contraction in Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching. The pain individual subjects perceived after stretching was measured via a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and compared between the groups Results: Despite the decrease in the intensity of static stretching, no decrease in VAS value was observed. In PNF stretching, a significant decrease was observed at P50 compared to P100. S100 was significantly higher than P75 and P50. Conclusion: Previous studies have shown that PNF has a superior or the same effect on flexibility in comparison with static stretching. This effect was maintained even in moderate intensity. PNF stretching performed under moderate rather than high intensive static stretching, which causes pain and discomfort, might be recommended in clinical settings.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2008

Purpose: This study examined the effects of pre-eccentric exercise to the quadriceps for the prevention of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and recovery of muscular function, depending on the training intensities. Methods: Subjects were divided into one of three groups that control group, a low intensity eccentric exercise group (LIEE group) and a high intensity eccentric exercise group (HIEE group). Subjects who underwent pre-eccentric exercise undertook exercise at an intensity of 25% and 75% of maximal voluntary contractions, respectively. After undertaking pre-eccentric exercise for eight weeks, eccentric exercise was applied again to induce DOMS. Measurements were conducted to examine pain and muscular function changes before, immediately after, after the induction of DOMS, and at the first, third, fifth and seventh days after the induction of DOMS. Results: Subjects who underwent pre-eccentric exercise showed a significant difference from the control group for the changes in the visual analogue scale (VAS) pain threshold, pressure pain threshold and muscle thickness by isometric contraction from measuring DOMS, and in particular, pain threshold by isometric contraction had remarkable effect in the LIEE group of subjects. For the change of the root mean square values using mechanomyography (MMG) as the measurement of muscular function recovery, subjects who had undertaken pre-eccentric exercise group showed a significant difference as compared to the control group. Conclusion: Pre-eccentric exercise was very effective in preventing and recovering delayed onset muscle soreness and was helpful to prevent and recover from decreased muscular function. The difference based on the intensity of exercise was not great, but it was more effective in the low intensity eccentric exercise group of subjects. Therefore, it can be considered that pre-eccentric exercise has a high application value as a physical therapy intervention for prevention and rehabilitation of sports injuries.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.133-142
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• 2015

This study aimed to identify the exercise intensity associated with four common physical activities for adults (running, skipping rope, walking, and muscle strength exercises) and two horticultural activities (creating a vegetable bed and garden maintenance). For this experiment, 19 males (mean age: $25.8{\pm}2.3$ years) randomly participated in the activities at a glasshouse at Konkuk University. Each of the six activities lasted for 5 minutes; the subjects rested for 5 minutes during intervals between the activities. A portable metabolic analyzer was used to store the oxygen and energy consumption values obtained upon measurement of each activity. In addition, a wireless heart rate monitor was used to measure the subjects' heart rate. According to the results, the four types of physical activities and two horticultural activities carried out by the subjects are moderate- to high-intensity activities [i.e., $3.8{\pm}0.9$ to $9.9{\pm}2.1$ metabolic equivalents (METs)]. Running ($9.9{\pm}2.1$ METs) and skipping rope ($8.8{\pm}2.2$ METs) were categorized as high-intensity physical activities, whereas creating a vegetable bed ($5.0{\pm}1.2$ METs), walking ($4.9{\pm}0.8$ METs), muscle strength exercises ($4.5{\pm}1.3$ METs), and garden maintenance ($3.8{\pm}0.9$ METs) were classified as moderate-intensity physical activities. The exercise intensities of horticultural activities in this study were similar to those of walking and muscle strength exercises. Therefore, participating in these horticultural activities is expected to garner health benefits similar to those reaped from the physical activities described in the current study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2015

PURPOSE: Low-intensity exercise with transient restriction of blood flow to muscle could be an alternative rehabilitation method which avoids the problems associated with conventional high-intensity exercise. However, the mechanism of low-intensity exercise with transient restriction of blood flow is not clearly known. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of improvement of muscular function after low-intensity exercise with transient restriction of blood flow using H-reflex analysis. METHODS: Twenty one healthy young adults with no medical history of neurological or musculoskeletal disorder voluntarily participated in this study. The ${\alpha}$-motor neuron excitability of the triceps surae was assessed using the H-reflex. The amplitude of the M-wave and H-reflex were measured across three conditions: rest, after low-intensity exercise without restriction of blood flow and after low-intensity exercise with restriction of blood flow. The subjects performed low-intensity ankle plantar flexion exercise at their own pace for one minute without or with transient restriction of blood flow achieved by a sphygmomanometer cuff on popliteal fossa at a pressure of 120mm of mercury(120 mmHg). RESULTS: No significant changes of the excitability of the ${\alpha}$-motor neuron were obtained across three different conditions. CONCLUSION: This study found that low-intensity exercise with transient restriction of blood flow did not influence to ${\alpha}$-motor neuron excitability of the triceps surae. From the results, I could come to the conclusion that further study will be required.