• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.124-130
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• 2022

Background: During postural control, older adults are more dependent on proprioception than are young adults. Ankle proprioception, which plays an important role in maintaining postural balance, decreases with age. Published studies are insufficient to establish a significant age difference in postural sway resulting from the known age-related decrease in ankle proprioception and do not examine various detailed test conditions. Objects: The present study aimed to compare ankle proprioception between older and younger groups along dimensions of position vs. force proprioception and dorsiflexion vs. plantarflexion. The present study also aimed to compare postural sway between young and older women during quiet standing under two sensory conditions. Methods: We recruited seven young women aged 21-24 and seven older women aged 60-63. Ankle proprioception was assessed as the accuracy of the joint position sense (JPS) and the force sense (FS). Postural sway was assessed using center-of-pressure measurements recorded during quiet standing under two sensory positions: eyes open and eyes closed with head tilted back. Results: Older women had lower JPS in dorsiflexion and lower FS in plantarflexion than did younger women. We found no significant age differences in JPS in plantarflexion or in FS in dorsiflexion. We observed a main effect of group on postural sway in two sway parameters out of three. We observed significant differences in JPS with dorsiflexion, and in FS with plantarflexion. Conclusion: Proprioception for ankle plantar flexor decreased more significantly with aging than did that for ankle dorsiflexor, accounting for the impaired postural balance observed in older women.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.134-142
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• 2012

Purpose: This study examined the effect on postural control during the stimulation of haptic touch with fingertip on the stable surface at quiet standing posture, squat flexion stage, 60 degrees squat stage and squat extension stage. Methods: The postural sway was measured on the force platform, while 30 subjects were squatting, under three different haptic touch conditions (No Touch [NT], Light Touch [LT], Heavy Touch [HT]), above the touch pad in front of their body midline. Three different haptic touch conditions were divided into 1) NT condition; squatting as right index fingers held above the touch pad, 2) LT condition (<1N); squatting as the touch pad was in contact with right index fingers pulp with a pressure not exceeding 1N and 3) HT condition; squatting as subjects were allowed to use the touch pad for mechanical support by transmitting onto it with as much force, choosing with their index fingers. Results: There was significant decrease in LT, rather than that of NT (p<0.01), and in HT, rather than that of LT (p<0.01), as the results of the distance and velocity of center of pressure (COP) in mediolateral direction at quiet standing position. In anteroposterior direction, the distance and velocity of COP in LT and HT showed significant decrease, when compared to that of the data of NT (p<0.01). There was no significant difference between the 3 conditions (NT, LT, and HT), with respect to the distance and velocity of COP in mediolateral direction, during dynamic balance (squat flexion stage, squat extension stage) (p>0.05). In anteroposterior direction, the results of the distance and velocity of COP in HT showed significant decrease when compared to that of the data of NT (p<0.05). Conclusion: Light touch, during the task, decreased the postural sway at static balance. The results suggest that haptic touch should be applied, appropriately, because it varies the effects according to different conditions.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.321-326
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• 2019

Background: Performing cognitive tasks and muscular fatigue have been shown to increase muscle activity of the lower extremity during quiet standing. A common intervention to reduce muscular fatigue is to provide a softer shoe-surface interface. However, little is known regarding how muscle activity is affected by softer shoe-surface interfaces during static standing. The purpose of this study was to assess lower extremity muscular activity during erect standing on three different standing surfaces, before and after an acute workload and during cognitive tasks. Methods: Surface electromyography was collected on ankle dorsiflexors and plantarflexors, and knee flexors and extensors of fifteen male participants. Dependent electromyography variables of mean, peak, root mean square, and cocontraction index were calculated and analyzed with a $2{\times}2{\times}3$ within-subject repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Pre-workload muscle activity did not differ between surfaces and cognitive task conditions. However, greater muscle activity during post-workload balance assessment was found, specifically during the cognitive task. Cognitive task errors did not differ between surface and workload. Conclusions: The cognitive task after workload increased lower extremity muscular activity compared to quite standing, irrespective of the surface condition, suggesting an increased demand was placed on the postural control system as the result of both fatigue and cognitive task.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제27권5호
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• pp.292-298
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of dual tasks on balance and postural control during standing in patients with cerebellar ataxia (CA). It was hypothesized that CA patients would exhibit different sway characteristics of the center of mass (COM) depending on the complexity of the secondary cognitive tasks compared with normal control subjects. Methods: A total of 8 patients with CA and age-matched healthy control subjects participated in this study. They were instructed to perform two balance tasks (non-dual and dual movement) with 3 different complexity of dual tasks. Range, variability, and velocity of COMs were measured. Results: According to the results CA patients showed deficits in balance and postural control with increased dual-task complexity during the static balance task in saggital sway movements. However, there was no significant difference in static balance in frontal sway. With higher difficulty in the cognitive task, CA patients took longer to stabilize their body center, while normal control subjects showed no change between conditions. In addition, CA patients had a greater COM resultant velocity during recovery in the dual-task condition compared with the single-task condition. These findings indicate that CA patients had defendable compensatory strategies in performing dual tasks. Conclusion: In conclusion, CA patients appeared to manage the priority to balance and postural control. Particularly in a situation with a postural threat such as when potential consequences of the loss of stability increase, they appeared to prioritize the control of balance and posture over the performance of the secondary task.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.223-228
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of balance training using a training mat on the postural balance of the elderly individuals. Methods: Thirty-five participants were selected from a falling prevention class and were randomly allocated to two groups; 17 in an exercise group (EG, $72.7{\pm}5.1$ years) and 18 in the control group ($74.9{\pm}4.0$ years). The EG underwent balance training using training mats for 60 minutes a day, 2 days a week, for 4 weeks. Postural balance parameter (timed up and go test, functional reach test, and one leg standing) were measured pre- and post- training. Results: The EG showed significant improvements in all variables that were analyzed. Conclusion: This study confirmed that balance training using a training mat effectively improves the postural balance in elderly people at risk for falling.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.31-35
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• 2018

Background: Although postural instability is one of the major symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), dopaminergic treatment is ineffective for treating postural instability. Recent reports have shown that somatosensory deficit is associated with postural instability, and that somatosensory input improved postural instability. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of lateral wedges for quiet standing postural control in people with PD. Methods: Twenty-two patients who were diagnosed with PD were enrolled in this study. The participants stood on a force plate under two conditions (wedge and no wedge) with or without having their eyes open or closed. The center of pressure (COP) range and velocity were analyzed using a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: The range and velocity of COP in the anterioposterior and mediolateral (ML) directions were significantly improved after the patients stood on the lateral wedge with their eyes closed (p < 0.05). The range in ML direction and velocity in both directions of COP were significantly decreased when their eyes were open (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Regardless of vision, standing on lateral wedges improved postural sway in people with PD.

• 한국운동역학회지
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.427-432
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• 2016

Objective: The goal of this study was to systematically investigate the postural stability of dancers by providing unexpected perturbations. Method: Six female dancers and college students participated in this study. Unpredictable wait-pull balance perturbations in the anterior direction were provided to the participants during standing. Three different perturbation intensities (low, moderate, and high intensity) were used by increasing perturbation forces. Spatial and temporal stability of postural control were measured by using margin of stability (MoS) and time to contact (TtC), respectively. Results: Both MoS and TtC at moderate intensity were significantly greater in the dancer group than in the control group, but no significant differences were found at low and high intensities between the groups. Conclusion: The present study showed spatial and temporal stability of dynamic postural control in dancers. We found that the dancers were more spatially and temporally stable than the ordinary participants in response to unexpected external perturbation when the perturbation intensity was moderate at two extreme intensity levels (low and high).

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제13권9호
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• pp.843-850
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• 2007

This paper proposes a somatosensory stimulation system for the improvement of postural stability using vibration as somatosensory stimulation. This system consists of vibratory stimulation and postural response measurement. To evaluate this system, the center of pressure(COP) was closely observed in turn with simultaneous or separate mechanical vibratory stimulations to flexor ankle muscles (tibialis anterior, triceps surae) and two plantar zones on both feet while standing on a stable and an unstable support. The simultaneous vibratory stimulations cleared influenced postural stability and the effects of vibrations were higher with the unstable support. In separate vibratory stimulations, the extent of the COP sway reduced when the direction of the vibratory stimulations and that of the inclination of body coincided for flexor ankle muscle stimulations. In the contrary, the extent of the COP sway increased when the direction of the stimulations and that of body inclination coincided for plantar zone stimulations. These results can be useful for the development of rehabilitation systems that utilizes somatosensory inputs for postural balance.

• 대한물리치료과학회지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.19-27
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• 2009

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine changes of postural sway and weight distribution after cooling the foot. Methods: Ten men with no history of sensory, neurological and orthopedic disorders were participated in this study. They performed four methods: (1) non-treated feet group(control group); (2) both feet treated group; (3) right foot treated group; and (4) left foot treated group. The feet of them were put into ice box, then they stood more than forty seconds on EMED system with bared feet. Data on the moving length, velocity, and maximum velocity of COP and the weight distributions during thirty seconds only were measured in standing position. Results: (1) The moving length and velocity of COP were significant difference between control group and both feet treated group only(p<0.05). (2) The maximum velocity of COP was significant difference among control group and all experimental groups. (3) The changes of weight distribution were significant difference among control group and right/left foot treated groups. Conclusions: Cooling the foot led to increased postural sway and changed weight distribution patterns.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Background: The multiple hop test is an active performance test that has been commonly used to assess individuals with functional ankle instability. Previous studies have suggested that insufficiency of dynamic postural stability and passive stability during dynamic activities can have an influence on performance in the multiple hop test. However, no study has investigated the effects of dynamic postural stability training and ankle bracing on multiple hop test performance in individuals with functional ankle instability. Objects: The purpose of this study was to compare the immediate effects of dynamic postural stability training versus ankle bracing in the performance of the multiple hop test for participants with functional ankle instability. Methods: Twenty-nine participants with functional ankle instability who scored below 24 in the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool were selected. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: a dynamic postural stability training group (n1=14) and an ankle bracing control group ($n_2=15$). The multiple hop tests were performed before and after applying each intervention. Dynamic postural stability training was performed using visual-feedback-based balance-training equipment; participants in this group were asked to perform a heel raise in a standing position while watching the centering of their forefoot pressure to prevent excessive ankle inversion. Ankle bracing was applied in the control group. Results: When comparing the pre- and post-intervention period for both groups, both methods significantly improved the results of the multiple hop test (p<.05). However, no significant differences were shown between the dynamic postural stability training and ankle bracing groups (p>.05). Conclusion: Both dynamic postural stability training and ankle bracing showed significant improvement (2.85 seconds and 2.05 seconds, respectively) in test performance. Further study is needed to determine the long-term effects of dynamic postural stability training and to determine whether insufficient dynamic postural stability is a causative factor for functional ankle instability.