Physical therapy research最新文献

Objective: We aimed to examine the relationship between physical performance and readmission among older patients with heart failure (HF) over the past year.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 325 patients with HF who were aged ≥65 years and were hospitalized for acute exacerbation between November 2017 and December 2021. We investigated age, sex, body mass index, length of hospital stay, initiation of rehabilitation, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score, medications, cardiac/renal function, nutrition, maximal quadriceps isometric strength, grip strength, and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score. Data were analyzed using the χ² test, Mann-Whitney U test, and logistic regression analysis.

Results: Altogether, 108 patients met the inclusion criteria and were divided into the non-readmission (n = 76) and readmission (n = 32) groups. The readmission group exhibited longer hospital stay, more severe NYHA class, higher CCI score, higher brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, lower muscle strength, and lower SPPB score compared to the non-readmission group. In the logistic regression model, BNP level and SPPB score were independent factors associated with readmission.

Conclusion: BNP level and SPPB score were associated with readmission in patients with HF within the past year.

Objective: The purpose of this review was to evaluate the efficacy of rehabilitation strategies in animal models of stroke and their correlation with human stroke studies.

Methods: General description of a stroke, functional recovery, and rehabilitation modalities were included from published studies in the field of animal models of cerebral ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion.

Results: In stroke survivors, rehabilitation plays a significant role to improve motor function, cognition, and other subtle behaviors. Targeted pharmacological agents, including neuroprotective drugs, are helpful in animal models of stroke. However, no drug has yet been found that meets the criteria that would make it the Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for human stroke. Instead, the rehabilitation of stroke in humans is limited to physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, environmental enrichment, and social activities, as well as spiritual and family support.

Conclusion: Studies on stroke injury and the significance of stroke animals' rehabilitation, including physical and pharmacological, approaches are highlighted.

Objective: This preliminary study aimed to explore the reference values of spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters in the lower extremities and trunk during gait for the healthy older adults.

Methods: Walking speed, stride length and time, cadence, walk ratio, and step width were calculated as spatiotemporal parameters of gait. Forward tilting of the trunk (FTT), hip flexion and extension, knee flexion and extension, and their laterality were measured as peak angles during one-gait cycle. The bootstrap method was conducted to estimate the 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: This study included 334 healthy older adults (255 women). The following gait parameters were estimated with 95%CI: walking speed (95%CI 1.21-1.30), cadence (95%CI 116.35-121.20), walk ratio (95%CI 0.0055-0.0060), step width (95%CI 0.15-0.17), FTT (95%CI 1.91-4.19), hip flexion (95%CI 28.54-31.01), hip extension (95%CI 19.30-22.27), knee extension (95%CI 0.09-0.14), laterality of hip flexion (95%CI 1.31-2.02), laterality of hip extension (95%CI 1.32-1.97), laterality of knee flexion (95%CI 3.41-4.77), and laterality of knee extension (95%CI 0.07-0.13) in men, and walking speed (95%CI 1.28-1.34), walk ratio (95%CI 0.0050-0.0054), FTT (95%CI 2.54-3.73), hip flexion (95%CI 32.80-34.28), laterality of hip flexion (95%CI 1.65-2.05), laterality of hip extension (95%CI 2.06-2.57), and laterality of knee flexion (95%CI 3.04-3.89) in women.

Conclusion: This study suggested provisional reference values of spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters in the lower extremities and trunk during gait for the healthy older adults.

Objective: Generally, low-intensity training is recommended as selective training of the infraspinatus muscle. This study aimed to investigate whether an 8-week intervention of low-intensity, slow-movement, external rotation exercise of the shoulder led to an increase in muscle strength with shoulder external rotation and cross-sectional area (CSA) infraspinatus muscle.

Methods: Sixteen healthy male volunteers were randomly assigned to the low-intensity and slow-movement (LS) group (N = 8) or the normal-intensity and normal-speed (NN) group (N = 8). The LS and NN groups performed shoulder external rotation exercises with low intensity and slow movement, and normal intensity and normal speed, respectively. The exercise session consisted of three sets of 10 repetitions, which were performed three times per week for 8 weeks. We measured the CSA of the infraspinatus and muscle strength of the shoulder external rotation before and after the 8-week intervention.

Results: A significant increase in infraspinatus CSA from baseline to 8 weeks was found in the LS group (7.3% of baseline) but not in the NN group. No significant differences were found in the muscle strength of shoulder external rotation.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that low-intensity exercise of the infraspinatus is effective for muscle hypertrophy when performed with slow movement. This finding may help patients who should avoid excessive stress in the early phase of rehabilitation.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effects of the standing low-frequency vibration exercise device (SLVED) and walking training on balance ability on an unstable surface in community-dwelling elderly people.

Methods: Thirty-eight older adults were randomly allocated to the SLVED sessions: the intervention group (n = 19), and the walking sessions: the control group (n = 19). Each group session lasted 20 min and was performed twice a week for 12 weeks. Standing balance was assessed by the change in center-of-gravity sway of the participant standing on foam rubber with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC). The primary outcome measures were the root mean square (RMS) values of the center of foot pressure in the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions and the RMS area. Secondary outcome measures were the results of the 10-m walking time test (10 MWT), five-times sit-to-stand (5T-STS) test, and timed up-and-go (TUG) test.

Results: Analysis of variance showed a significant group × time interaction for the TUG test. Significant improvements were observed in Y-RMS for EO condition; RMS, X-RMS, Y-RMS, and RMS area for EC condition; and 10 MWT, 5T-STS test, and TUG test for the main effect of the time factor.

Conclusion: SLVED for intervention in community-dwelling older adults showed a greater improvement than walking training in the TUG test. In addition, SLVED improved the Y-RMS for the EO condition on foam rubber; RMS, X-RMS, Y-RMS, and RMS area for the EC condition on foam rubber in standing balance; and the 10 MWT and 5T-STS test, suggesting that it has similar effects to walking training.

In recent years, the number of cancer survivors has been increasing each year due to advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Cancer survivors present a variety of physical and psychological complications due to cancer and its treatment. Physical exercise is an effective nonpharmacological treatment for complications in cancer survivors. Furthermore, recent evidence has shown that physical exercise improves the prognosis of cancer survivors. The benefits of physical exercise have been widely reported, and guidelines for physical exercise for cancer survivors have been published. These guidelines recommend that cancer survivors engage in moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercises and/or resistance training. However, many cancer survivors have a poor commitment to physical exercise. In the future, it is necessary to promote physical exercise among cancer survivors through outpatient rehabilitation and community support.

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is the standard surgical treatment for ACL injury, which typically uses a graft to replace the torn ligament in the knee that uses small incisions with minimally invasive surgery. The optimal knee functions following ACLR depend on rehabilitation processes before and after the surgery. Knee function is the ability of the knee to perform various types of functional movements like walking, squatting, running, jumping, and pivoting where patients expect to achieve maximum knee function or at least more than 80% of its initial condition before the injury to avoid being categorized as poor knee function after ACLR. Patients use patient-reported outcome measures to collect data on their health status and quality of life after ACLR. Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a type of OA that manifests in local cartilage injury caused by chondrocyte death, and matrix dispersion occurs following a joint injury like ACL injury. Gender, time from injury to surgery, and graft type were considered as risk factors for poor knee function after ACLR, while overweight, meniscus tear, and cartilage defect as risk factors for PTOA. However, age is an internal risk factor for both poor knee function and PTOA following ACLR. This review suggests several strategies to prevent both conditions, including a pre-operative program, comprehensive rehabilitation, body weight control, and return to sport (RTS) consideration based on physical capacity, proper time, and psychological readiness.

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) interventions positively affect the physical function (PF) in patients with advanced cancer. However, patients must remain motivated during the intervention. We report a case wherein a smartphone application for PA intervention was useful in motivating the patient to improve adherence.

Methods: A 40-year-old woman underwent an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) for an advanced extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma. On day 6, she developed the posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. She was managed in the intensive care unit for 3 days, and her PF declined markedly. We initiated a smartphone-based PA intervention from day 35. She was instructed to maintain a PA diary for self-monitoring of the daily steps and to set a new step-count goal every week.

Results: The PA and PF improved within a short period thereafter. However, she developed severe acute graft-versus-host disease and was administered with high-dose systemic corticosteroids from day 49. The PA, PF, and quality of life (QOL) decreased again. The intervention was continued for 5 months with a high adherence. The PA, PF, and QOL improved gradually. She resumed independent activities of daily living and was discharged on day 202.

Conclusion: Smartphone-based PA intervention may be effective against post-allo-HCT physical dysfunction.