• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.840-845
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• 2015

Improvement in functional gait is one of treatment goals in treatment of cerebral palsy children. This study intended to examine the effects of insoles for postural correction on gait in spastic cerebral palsy patients by investigating changes in gait temporal spatial parameters. As the subjects, 15 spastic bilateral cerebral palsy patients participated in this study. Temporal spatial parameters of gait were measured using GAITRite system under three gait conditions. Bare foot gait, gait in shoes, and gait in insoles for postural correction were conducted. In order to look at differences in temporal spatial parameters according to three gait conditions, repeated one way analysis of variance was conducted. As post hoc test, Bonferroni was conducted. A significant level was set at ${\alpha}=.05$. According to the result of this study, gait velocity, cadence, step length, stride length of the left lower extremity significantly changed. When the subjects put on customized insoles for postural correction, the effect was greatest. There were no significant changes in stance time, single support time, double support time, swing % of gait, and stance % of cycle. Therefore, gait with insoles for postural correction positively influenced functional gait improvement and will be able to be usefully employed for spastic cerebral palsy children as one of gait assistance devices.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.45-64
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the pelvic tilting exercise, pelvic tilting exercises with floor walking training, pelvic tilting exercises with treadmill walking training on quantitative gait function in patients with hemiplegia. Thirty patients with hemiplegia due to cerebrovascular disease participated in this study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of pelvic tilting exercise group, pelvic tilting exercise with floor walking training group and pelvic tilting exercises with treadmill walking training group. The effects of each therapeutic method were evaluated by measurements of gait velocity, cadence, stride length, step length, base of support and foot angle using ink-foot prints. Data were analyzed statistically using paired t-test and one-way ANOVA. The results of this research are as followings : 1. After treatment, it turned out that pelvic tilting exercises with treadmill walking training has the most effect on gait velocity, cadence, stride length, step length and foot angle, which has significant difference in statistics (p<0.05). 2. Quantification of the gait velocity, cadence, both stride length and step length demonstrated a significant increase (p<0.05) after treatment in all groups when compared with values measured before treatment. The base of support and foot angle in affected side decreased significantly (p<0.05) after treatment in all groups when compared with values measured before treatment. 3. The lumbosacral angle noted a significant increase (p<0.05) after treatment in all groups, however, an ANOVA analysis did not reveal any differences between groups.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of aquatic walking exercise on gait and balance parameters of elderly women. Method: 15 elderly people were recruited for this study (age: 73.20±5.19 yrs, height: 153.87±3.36 cm, mass: 60.33±5.73 kg). All variables were measured using Gaitview AFA-50. The variables were the heel contact time ratio, gait angle, and M/P change ratio for gait patterns and ENV, REC, RMS, Total Length, TLC, Sway velocity, and Length/ENV for balance abilities. A paired t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were carried out to verify the differences in the test scores after participating in the water walking program. The significance level for all statistical analyses was set to α=.05. Results: As for the changes in their walking function after the exercise, heel contact time ratio (p<.01) showed a statistical significance, while gait angle and M/P change ratio did not reveal statistically significant differences. In the test of balance ability on both feet and with eyes opened, statistical significance was found in ENV, REC, RMS, TLC (p<.01), and sway velocity (p<.05), while the test with eyes closed showed statistical significance in length/ENV as well as ENV, REC, RMS, sway velocity (p<.01) TLC, and total length (p<.05). As for the single-leg stance balance ability, ENV and REC revealed statistically significant differences. Conclusion: These results show that water walking is effective for improving the function of the ankle flexor muscles, providing stability to the ankle joint during walking and helping efficient walk. In addition, it is also expected to help prevent falls due to loss of balance by improving the stability of lower extremity muscles and trunk.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.25-34
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• 2020

Background: Gait analysis is an important measurement for health professionals to assess gait patterns related to functional limitations due to neurological or orthopedic conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of the newly developed portable gait analysis system (PGAS). Design: Cross-sectional design. Test-retest study. Methods: The PGAS study was based on a wearable sensor, and measurement of gait kinematic parameters, such as gait velocity, cadence, step length and stride length, and joint angle (hip, knee, and ankle) in stance and swing phases. The results were compared with a motion capture system (MCS). Twenty healthy individuals were applied to the MCS and PGAS simultaneously during gait performance. Results: The test-retest reliability of the PGAS showed good repeatability in gait parameters with mean intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.840 to 0.992, and joint angles in stance and swing phase from 0.907 to 0.988. The acceptable test-retest ICC was observed for the gait parameters (0.809 to 0.961), and joint angles (0.800 to 0.977). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the developed PGAS showed good grades of repeatability for gait kinematic data along with acceptable ICCs compared with the results from the MCS. The gait kinematic parameters in healthy subjects can be used as standard values for adopting this PGAS.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.205-209
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• 2016

Objective: Children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy show weakness especially in the lower-extremity rather than upper-extremity muscles and display characteristics such as asymmetric alignment, deficits in postural control or balance ability, and slow walking speed. Various therapeutic interventions are applied to children with cerebral palsy, of which taping is widely used in the field of rehabilitation, however, there are few studies of the effects of kinesio taping on gait patterns of children with cerebral palsy. The present study investigated the effects of kinesio taping on gait parameters of children with cerebral palsy. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Four children with spastic diplegia participated in this study. The participants' gait parameters while walking 10 m with and without kinesio taping (tibialis anterior, quadriceps femoris, and gluteus maximus) were recorded. Gait parameters including gait velocity, cadence, step length, stride length, single support time, and double support time were evaluated using the GAITRite. Mean values were obtained after having the subjects walk three times in each condition with a 5-minute rest period between each condition. The order of each condition was assigned randomly. Results: There were significant improvements in gait velocity, step length, stride length, and single support time of the right leg with kinesio taping condition compared to the without kinesio taping condition taping (p<0.05). However, there were no significant differences in cadence, single support time of the left leg, or double support time. Conclusions: The results show that kinesio taping may have a positive effect for improving gait parameters of children with spastic diplegia. However, its usefulness in the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy needs to be further investigated.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.140-145
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of visual block with ankle joint fatigue on gait and dynamic balance ability. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Thirty healthy young adults (men=15, women=15) between 22 to 25 years of age voluntarily participated in this study. All subjects performed the gait and dynamic balance test successively in two conditions: the visual block and the open eyes condition. Before the gait and dynamic balance test, muscle fatigue on the ankle joint was induced to all subjects by doing ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion alternately, and then gait parameters (step length, stride length, cadence, velocity, single limb support, and double limb support) were assessed by walking on the GAITRite system (CIR Systems Inc., USA). Subjects also performed the functional reach test (FRT) for assessment of dynamic balance. This study examined gait parameters and FRT scores in each visual block and open eyes condition. Results: The results showed that FRT scores with the visual block condition significantly decreased compared to without visual blocking (p<0.01). Step length, stride length, cadence, and velocity of gait parameters decreased significantly in the visual block condition (p<0.01) while there was no significant difference for single limb support. However, double limb support increased significantly in the visual block system (p<0.01). Conclusions: Therefore, blocking of visual information with muscle fatigue of the ankle joint can affect gait and balance ability of young adults and increase the risk of falls.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.399-404
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• 2013

Purpose: To investigate the effects of initiation side on gait symmetry in the chronic stroke patients. Methods: Twenty one patients with independent gait after stroke were divided into the paretic-leg gait initiation group (PLI) and the nonparetic-leg gait initiation group (NPLI). The symmetry ratio (SR) was calculated from of the spatiotemoral and kinematic parameter which measured by 3D motion analysis. Results: In the spatiotemporal variables, SR-step length and SR-velocity was significantly different between groups (p<0.05). In the kinematic variables, SR-TOAA and SR-SwPAA of the hip joint was significantly different between groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: We suggest that the initiating leg may influence on the gait symmetry of stroke patient These results will be a helpful reference in hemiplegic gait training or intervention.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.157-162
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• 2012

Purpose: This study is to identify the effect of Ankle Joint Taping applied to patients with chronic hemiplegia on their gait velocity and joint angles. Methods: We randomly extracted a clinical sample from 30 patients with hemiplegia resulting from stroke and classified them into two groups of a control group including 15 patients offered a regular therapeutic exercise and a test group including 15 patients offered taping. We also conducted the comparative analysis and pretest of the affected ankle joint angles by the normal characteristics of all subjects, Time to up and go test (TUG), 3D movement analyzer before the intervention. We applied taping to a test group for eight hours a day, five days a week during two weeks and conducted the comparative analysis of the gait velocity and the affected ankle joint angles by a comparison between and within two groups of before and after the intervention by conducting a posttest after the intervention. The result is as followings. Results: It indicated that there was a significantly decreased time with the increased gait velocity that a test according to a result of comparing the gait velocity within two groups (p<0.05). It indicated that there was a significantly increased angle in a comparison within two groups of test that inversion angle of a control group according to a result of comparing the ankle joint angles by 3D movement analyzer within groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: We found that TUG will help patients walk independently because it met a test group's need in the change of the gait velocity between two groups by recording less than 14 seconds which is the standard of using assistive aids and also found that ankle joint taping will help the joints prevent their function change considering that a control group showed an increased inversion angle in the change of the ankle joint within two groups.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 2006

A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate if two different age groups(young vs. old) had differences in walking velocity and heel contact velocity and, furthermore, if these gait characteristics could adversely influence initial friction demand characteristics(i.e. RCOF) and the likelihood of slip-initiation. Twenty eight(14 younger and 14 older adults) participated in the study. While wearing a safety harness, all participants walked at their preferred gait speed for approximately 20 minutes on the linear walking track(1.5m× 20m) consisting of two floor-mounted forced plates. During subsequent 20 cameras, respectively. The results indicated that older adults walked slower(i.e., slower whole body center-of-mass velocity), exhibited lower heel contact velocity, and produced lower initial friction demand characteristics (i.e. RCOF) in comparison to younger adults. However, ANCOVA indicated that the diferences in heel contact velocity between the two age groups were due to the effects of walking velocity. The bivariate analysis further suggested that walking velocity was correlated to RCOF and heel contact velocity, while heel contact velocity was not found to be correlated to RCOF. In conclusion, could be a better indicator for predicting initial friction demand characteristics(i.e. RCOF) not hel contact velocity.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.265-273
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• 2020

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of participation in contact sports on neurocognitive scores, dual-task walking velocity, and cognitive costs in retired athletes. Method: Forty-four retired athletes (mean age = 26.4±5.5 yrs) and thirty-eight controls (mean age = 26.1±4.9 yrs) participated in this study. Neurocognitive score was collected using computerized neurocognitive testing using RehaCom. Gait velocity was collected one single task, four dual-tasks, and two multi-tasks using Optogait. Mann-Whitney U test was performed to compared differences in cognitive scores among groups. A mixed-design two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni posthoc test were used to assess the effect of group and walking tasks for each condition. Results: The auditory divided attention of neurocognitive score of retired athletes was higher than the control group (p < 0.05). No statistical differences were observed in the other neurocognitive scores between groups. The changes in walking velocity and cognitive costs according to the dual-task walking tests differed between the two groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although participation in contact sports did not affect the neurocognitive results of retired athletes, it could be confirmed that the reduction in walking velocity and an increase in cognitive costs during dual-task walking. Rather than observing only neurocognitive scores as a single evaluation item for cognitive evaluation of retired athletes in relation to daily life, the application of the dual-task gait test may provide useful information.