• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.75-85
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• 2021

Objectives: This study reported about a patient with a right middle cerebral artery infarction whose gait disturbance was improved by Korean medicine treatment. Methods: The patient was treated with a Korean herbal medicine (Gami-yukmijihwang-tang) along with acupuncture, electroacupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, and physical therapy. The treatment effect was evaluated with the manual muscle test (MMT) and the Korean version of the modified Barthel index (K-MBI). The gait of the patient was evaluated by a 10-m walk test (10MWT), the timed up and go (TUG) test, the functional ambulation profile (FAP) score, and the functional ambulatory category (FAC) score. Spatiotemporal parameters were evaluated using a walkway system (GAITRite®, CIR Systems, Inc., USA). Results: After 83 days of traditional Korean medicine treatment, the K-MBI and FAC scores improved from 50 to 70 and from 1 to 4, respectively. The 10MWT and TUG tests also improved from 24.86 to 16.66 sec and from 22.35 to 17.62 sec, respectively. GAITRite® measurements reflected gait improvements: the FAP score improved from 55 to 86 sec; the step time improved from 0.72 to 0.669 sec; the step length improved from 31.076 cm to 41.284 cm; the gait velocity improved from 42.8 cm/sec to 64.1 cm/sec; the cadence improved from 93.6 steps/min to 90.8 steps/min. No adverse effects resulting from treatment or evaluation occurred during the admission period. Conclusions: This study suggests that traditional Korean medicine treatment may reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life in patients with cerebral infarction.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of coordinative locomotor training (CLT) program on the balance for the promotion of life care of elderly obese women. Ten participants of elderly obese women who were able to walk independently without surgery experience of lumbar, hip or knee joint within the past year were recruited and under went the pretest, CLT (20 sessions), followed by the post-test. The test included BMI test using In-body, joint kinematics using myoVIDEO, muscle activation using surface EMG test (erector spinae (ER), external oblique abdominalis (EO), quadriceps femoris (Quad), hamstring muscle (Ham)) and balance tests including dynamic balance test using forced treadmill, Berg balance scale (BBS) and timed up go (TUG). The CLT program was conducted 60 minutes a day, 5 days a week, over 4 weeks period. As a result of this study, The the trunk and hip joints kinematics during the stance and swing phases of gait were a statistical significance levels were set at p <0.05. The ER and EO muscle activation were significantly improved after intervention (p <0.05). The length of gait line and single support line of change of center of pressure (COP) were significantly increased after intervention (p <0.05). The BBS and TUG were also significantly enhanced after intervention (p <0.05). The results of this study showed that CLT program for the improvement of life care had significant effects on improving postural instability, muscle weakness, reduced balance ability and falling risk of obese elderly women. Therefore, it is recommended to apply CLT program to improve life-care through improving balance ability and preventing fall of obese elderly women.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.103-111
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• 2022

PURPOSE: This study was performed to investigate the effects of the whole-body vibration exercise combined with ankle joint mobilization on the gait and balancing ability in patients with hemiplegic stroke. METHODS: A total of 19 patients at a rehabilitation hospital who had suffered a hemiplegic stroke were randomly assigned to the experimental group (whole-body vibration exercise combined with ankle joint mobilization, n=10) or control group (whole-body vibration exercise, n=9). All participants underwent 30 min of comprehensive rehabilitation therapy (5 × /week for 6 weeks). Additionally, the experimental group performed the whole body vibration exercise and ankle joint mobilization (15 minutes each, 30 minutes total, 3 × / week for 6 weeks). In the control group, only the whole- body vibration exercise was performed in the same manner and not the ankle joint mobilization. The gait and balancing abilities were measured before and after the 6-week training. RESULTS: Significant improvements were observed in the 10-m walk test, timed up-and-go (TUG) test, center of pressure (COP) path length, and COP path velocity in the experimental group (p < .05). The experimental group showed a larger decrease in the COP path length and velocity than the control group (COP path length, -10.27 mm vs. -3.67 mm, p < .05; COP path velocity, -.33 cm/sec vs. -.13 cm/sec, p < .05, respectively). CONCLUSION: The whole-body vibration exercise combined with ankle joint mobilization could be effective in improving the gait and balancing ability of stroke patients and could also be more effective for improving the static balance ability than the general whole-body vibration exercise alone.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.429-442
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• 2020

The purpose of this research was to examine changes in the physical fitness, activities of daily living performance, and cognitive status of the frail elderly by combined exercise programs. The combined exercise program consisted of an aerobic exercise for the elderly and a four-color ladder exercise for improving of cognitive ability and physical fitness. Twenty-one frail elderly participated in this study, they were divided into 12 exercise groups and nine control groups. The exercise group conducted the combined exercise program of 60 minutes, twice a week, for10 weeks, while the control group maintained their normal lives. Strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, ADL and MMSE-K were measured. Exercise group showed significant improvement in grip strength compared to control group. In addition, ADL showed significant improvement only in the exercise group. The results of this study showed that participation in the combined exercise program of the el derl y was effective in improving the grip strength, and in preventing various physical functions and cognitive conditions decline.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.993-1003
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• 2010

his study was to investigate effects of improvement of balance abilities through 8-weeks Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and balance training in the women elderly. 42 women elders who were participated in silver college. Randomized study design of two groups was used: TENS group (21 women, 84.53 years old) and balance training group(21 women, 79.93 years old). Each group had a application of TENS, balance training by a researcher three times per week for 8 weeks. Measurements of static postural sway velocity on the floor and foam, timed get up and go test (TUG), functional reach test (FRT), and lateral functional reach test (LFRT) were evaluated at initial presentation (pretest) and after completion of the each intervention program (posttest). The results showed that the TUG was significantly decreased in all groups (p<.05) and the postural sway velocity using force plate in all conditions was significantly decreased in all groups (p<.05). FRT and LFRT were significantly increased in all groups (p<.05). There were significantly differences in TUG and postural sway velocity on the eye closed condition between two groups (p<.05). In conclusion, the application of TENS to older adults whose somatosensory were deteriorated was effective for improvement balance ability.