• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.23-30
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• 2021

PURPOSE: Physical therapists are at risk of becoming infected because they are in contact with or within 2 meters of the patient while treating them. The purpose of this study is to investigate the anxiety and depression of physical therapists during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to identify the factors that affect anxiety and depression. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during the pandemic. The survey were completed by 84 physical therapists in 24 local hospitals in Gwangju, South Korea. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) were used to evaluate their anxiety and depression status. Logistic regression models were used to identify the general characteristics factors related to anxiety or depression. RESULTS: It was found that 40 (47.6%) respondents had anxiety, and 37 (44%) had depression. If there was a child under the age of seven in the physical therapist's family, a high probability of anxiety (p < .05) prevailed. Physical therapists in their 30s had a higher risk of depression than those in their 40s (p < .05). The risk of anxiety and depression in physical therapists who were with patients who did not wear masks was higher than for those who were with patients who wore masks (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The anxiety and depression status of physical therapists in Gwangju, South Korea, during the pandemic of COVID-19 was poor. It is necessary to wear a mask for all people during physical therapy.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-26
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• 2005

The most of patients and protectors point that the Home Visting Physical Therapy is necessary and compulsive. A Public Health Center and a Welfare Center have to help a home visiter for treatment cure to ask for professional medical services in general hospital. On getting a name lists of patients a treatment of doctors, they must remark the conditions of the patients to keep the mutual relation general hospital. A home visiting physical therapists in the welfare center and public health center need to discuss a main doctors in a same center for revaluation of patients. The system in a general hospital consists of the medical department and the administration with the doctor of hospital as the central figure. A department of home visiting physical therapy has a physical therapy team closely connected with various medical office in hospital. The system in a public health center is composed of the health executive office, health direction medicine office, and the community health office. Department of home visiting physical therapy belongs to community health office. Home visiting physical therapy in a welfare center belongs to home visiting service office. The qualifications of a physical therapist is intended for people who have received clinic experience of three years and regular education. The theory (352 hours) and practice (248 hours) total to 600 hours. They can develop professional skills through these education courses. The frequency of home visiting is proper third a week after talking with a medical attendant about the state of patient. The care time is proper from 30 to 60 minutes.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide basic data for the effectiveness and the necessity of home visiting physical therapy through examining performance ability and functional changes in daily life activities by investigating the life of disabled persons living at home. Methods: After selecting 100 people with physical disabilities greater than level 3 and brain damage related disabilities living in Youngam-Gun, we conducted mobility tests according to a Modified Bathel Index (MBI), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and floor and bed movements? for Activities of Daily Living evaluation. We did this before the experiment and after doing home visiting physical therapy for 90 minutes at a time, once a week for 6 months Results: 1) Persons who live in a bed are higher than those who live in a floor. There was a significant difference between persons who live in a floor and those who live in a bed in the change in MBI and BBS scores after home visiting physical therapy. 2) Those with a musculoskeletal disorder had a significantly different change in MBI and BBS according to the type of disease and kind of disability. Those with neuropathy had a significantly different change in MBI. Those with physical disabilities showed a significant difference in MBI and BBS. Conclusion: A home visiting physical therapist can cause an improved performance ability and lead to the ability of disabled persons living at home to carry out activities of daily livingin a large part and the study for brain lesion disabilities except physical disabilities and stroke which occupy large proportion of disabled persons should be done.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.149-169
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• 2018

Purpose : This study was to develop a strategy for modeling future workforce projections to serve as a basis for analyzing annual supply of and demand for physical therapists across the South Korea into 2030. Methods : In-and-out movement model was used to project the supply of physical therapists. The demand was projected according to the demand-based method which consists of four-stages such as estimation of the utilization rate of the base year, forecasting of health care utilization of the target years, forecasting of the requirements of clinical physical therapists and non-clinical physical therapists based on the projected physical therapists. Results : Based on the current productivity standards, there will be oversupply of 39,007 to 40,875 physical therapists under the demand scenario of average rate in 2030, undersupply of 44,663 to 49,885 under the demand scenario of logistic model, oversupply of 16,378 to 19,100 under the demand scenario of logarithm, and oversupply of 18,185 to 20,839 under the demand scenario of auto-regressive moving average (ARIMA) model in 2030. Conclusion : The result of this projection suggests that the direction and degree of supply of and demand for physical therapists varied depending on physical therapists productivity and utilization growth scenarios. However, the need for introduction of a professional physical therapist system and the need to provide long-term care rehabilitation services are actively being discussed in entering the aging society. If community rehabilitation programs for rehabilitation of disabled people and the elderly are activated, the demand of physical therapists will increase, especially for elderly people. Therefore, healthcare policy should focus on establishing rehabilitation service infrastructure suitable for an aging society, providing high-quality physical therapy services, and effective utilization of physical therapists.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.23-33
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• 2018

Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate trend in use of occupational therapy assessment tools used by pediatric occupational therapist. Methods : Survey questionnaire developed for this study were used to for data collection. The questionnaires are divided into 10 area: occupational performance, activities of daily living, education, play, sensory-perceptual, motor and praxis, cognition, social interaction skills, development, and physical examination. Total 105 responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics analysis and frequency analysis. Results : For the general process of evaluation in pediatric occupational therapy, major response on the initial evaluation time was 30~60minutes (41.9%), and major response on the re-evaluation period was 3~6months (41.0%). The major assessment tool for each area Canadian Occupation Performance Measure (55.2%) for occupational performance assessments, Wee Functional Independence Measure (57.1%) for activities of daily living assessments, School Function Assessment (2.5%) for education assessments, Knox Preschool Play Scale (28.6%) for play assessments, Developmental Test of Visual Perception (94.3%) for sensory-perceptual assessments, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (42.9%) for motor and praxis assessments, Evaluation of Social Interaction (6.1%) for social interaction skills assessments, Denver Developmental Screening Test (92.4%) for development assessments, Clinical Observation (89.5%) for physical examination assessments. Conclusion : The study identified the most assessment tools used for specific area by pediatric occupational therapists. The results can be used as a basic data to educate about pediatric occupational therapy evaluation, as well as to develop new assessment tools in pediatric setting in future.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.206-211
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is the effect of massage therapy on the human autonomic nerve system by heart rate variability spectral analysis. This study were to effect autonomic nerve system before and after massage therapy in 12 health peoples. The effect of massage therapy were assessments through Heart Rate Variability (HRV; SA-2000E, Medicare, Korea) before and after the massage therapy by same massage therapist. Statistical techniques for data analysis were applied paired t-test. The 0.05 level of significance was used as the critical level for rejection of the null hypotheses for the study. On the basis of the results analyzed in this study, conclusions were drawn as follows; Rest Heart Rate was significantly decreased before and after massage therapy, but other variable were no statistical significances. These results suggest that massage therapy maybe be effective in reducing heart rate and activity in valgal tone.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.14 no.1_4
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• pp.61-69
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• 2007

Physiotherapy may be defined as the use of physical techniques for the treatment of injuries and movement dysfunction. In the world of human medicine, physiotherapy has been proven as an indispensable aid in the recovery of many musculoskeletal conditions, as evidenced by the extensive physiotherapy departments within most hospitals. Nowadays, this important branch of medicine is also rapidly becoming a recognised tool in the prevention, cure, and rehabilitation of many equine, canine and feline injuries. In 1978, canine physical therapy techniques were described by Ann Downer, a physical therapist on faculty at Ohio State University. Animal physical therapy is a new and rapidly developing field of health care for animals. The benefits of physical therapy have long been recognized in humans. More recently, work in the veterinary field has shown the same benefits of physical therapy to be true for animal patients. Performing orthopaedic or neurological surgery, or fitting a human patient with a cast or splint, and then discharging the patient is an outdated approach. In such cases, physical therapy is clearly warranted. Similarly, recent research has shown that post-surgical rehabilitation and therapy after injuries significantly improves the functional outcomes for animals. The goals of physiotherapy are to relieve pain, restore range of motion/movement, improve function, prevent injuries and expand the physical potential of the patient. Once in the field, physical therapists actively continue their education to keep up to date on the latest treatments and technologies. Via continuing education courses, physiotherapists can learn how to apply their unique and specialized knowledge to other animal species.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2016

Objective: This study surveyed the perceptions of physical therapists on muscle re-education through visual feedback obtained from rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI). Design: Survey. Methods: For this study, 500 physical therapists who participated in a refresher training held by the Seoul City Association in March 2015 were selected for a questionnaire-based survey. Subjects were randomly selected targets physiotherapists who participated in a refresher training.The questionnaire had 21 items in total. Questions 1 to 15 could be answered by everyone. However, questions 16 to 21 could be answered only by people who used RUSI. Results: The majority of respondents were aged 20 to 30 years. Respondents in their twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties accounted for 32.4%, 40.2%, 21.9%, and 5.6%respectively. Therapists with careers spanning one to 5 years accounted for 27.8%, while those with careers spanning 5 to 10 years and 10 to 15 years accounted for 34.6% and 17.0%, respectively. Those with careers over 20 years accounted for 9.2%. The types of work have not been various including work related to the nervous system (49.0%), the musculoskeletal system (41.5%), sports (0.7%), juvenile physical therapy (4.2%), and others (4.6%). Conclusions: In this study, we examined the perceptions of physical therapists on rehabilitation ultrasound imaging used in muscle re-education. We also examined how to use this technique. Many therapists who participated in the refresher training were found to be unaware of RUSI. In the future, further investigations on RUSI for muscle re-education are required through refresher training or training lectures at the national level.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2016

Purpose: Physical therapists are likely to be exposed to work-related musculoskeletal pain due to excessive repetitive tasks. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life of physical therapists. Methods: A self-reported questionnaires was sent to 200 physical therapists at in Seoul and Kyoungido. The questionnaires was returned by 170 physical therapists. The questionnaire had included 4 items that coveringed demographic information, areas of musculoskeletal problems, pain rating scale, and WHOQOL-BREF. The analysis was completed using descriptive statistics, and differences between pain and demographic variables were identified using the chi-square test. The relationship between work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life was analyzed by t-test and Pearson's correlation. Results: The overall prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain was 76.8%. The most affected pain sites included the low back (48.8%), shoulder (45.,2%), hand and wrist (43.5%), and neck (33.3%). Pain ratings of subjects with pain was were moderate. There was a A significant difference for the subdomains of quality of life was observed between the subjects with musculoskeletal pain and those without pain. Weak negative correlations (r=-0.28) were observed between pain rating scale and QOL. Conclusion: These findings show that physical therapists appear to be at a higher risk for work-related musculoskeletal pain and physical domain of QOL. Therefore, Ffurther research is needed to investigate examine the effect of risk factors and ergonomics as physical load, general health status on prevalence of musculoskeletal pain.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.261-268
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• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to provide basic data on physical function improvement activities of elderly care facilities by identifying the degree of physical improvement activities of elderly caregivers. Design: Descriptive correlational study. Methods: The instrument of this study consisted of 12 questions on the general characteristics of the subject. For the assessment of improvement in physical function activities, the measuring tool used for the elderly consisted of a total of 20 questions. For data analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient & Spearman's rho and multiple regression were used. Results: The higher the age of the subjects, the lower their educational background (r=-0.273, p<0.05), and the higher the probability of having a religion (r=-0.258, p<0.05), the more stable the employment type (r=-0.333, p<0.05). The higher the level of education, the higher the monthly income (r=0.187, p<0.01), and the shorter the career (r=-0.204, p<0.05). The more stable employment, the more unstable duty (r=-0.245, p<0.05), and the more unstable work, the higher the monthly income (r=-0.206, p<0.05) and the longer the career, the higher the monthly income (r=0.247, p<0.05). The more stable the employment, the more activities to improve physical function were found (r=0.341, p<0.05), and the more unstable the duty, the more activities to improve physical function were found (r=0.321, p<0.05), and the higher monthly income, the less physical function improvement activities (r=-0.196, p<0.05). Conclusions: It is necessary to provide regular services by a dedicated physical therapist for physical function improvement activities in order to improve the quality of life of the elderly in the future.