The Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) is a modified Berg's Balance Scale developed as a balance measure for school-aged children with mild to moderate motor impairments. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-examiner reliability of the Korean version of PBS when applied to children with developmental delays. In this study, PBS was administrated to a total of 79 children with developmental delays (17 with global developmental delay, 31 with cerebral palsy, and 31 with mental retardation) in the Seoul Community Rehabilitation Center. Two pediatric trained physical therapists with longer than 13 year of clinical experience scored the children's performance blind, while replaying videotaped data. The inter-examiner reliability was statistically determined by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The results of this study revealed that the Korean version of PBS seems to have high inter-examiner reliability when applied to children with movement disorders such as global developmental delay (ICC=.96) and cerebral palsy (ICC=.97); however, it has relatively lower inter-examiner reliability (ICC=.78) for children with developmental delay secondary to mental retardation. therefore, the results support that the Korean version of the PBS could be a useful clinical measurement to assess the balance skills for children with developmental delay who have an adequate level of cognition to enable them to fol1ow the verbal instructions to complete the test.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between delays in initiation and termination of tibialis anterior contraction through surface electromyographic (sEMG) analysis in adults with hemiplegia and healthy subjects and clinical assessment of lower-limb mobility. EMG activity of 6 long-term survivors of stroke and 5 healthy subjects was recorded during maximal isometric ankle dorsiflexion in 3 seconds beeper signals. It must be done as fast and forcefully as possible. Lower limb mobility was assessed with Modified Emory Functional Ambulation Profile (mEFAP). Delay in initiation and termination of muscle contraction was significantly prolonged in the affected lower limb relative to the unaffected limb. Termination of muscle contraction in the hemiplegic lower limb was significantly delayed than the initiation on the affected sides. Delay in initiation and termination of muscle contraction correlated significantly with a few range of mEFAP. Abnormally delayed initiation and termination of muscle contraction may contribute to hemiparetic lower limb mobility in hemiparetic patients. Consequently, this study showed that abnormal delay of initiation and termination of muscle contraction may contribute to hemiparetic lower limb mobility in adults with hemiplegia. Further studies are needed to demonstrate a treatment effect.

The purpose of this study was to examine inter- and intra-examiner reliability of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) anatomical landmarks palpation. Two physical therapists and one doctor specializing in rehabilitation examined 22 asymptomatic subjects. They examined anterior superior iliac supine (ASIS), posterior superior iliac supine (PSIS) and iliac crest (IC). For the assessment of intra-examiner reliability, 3 examiners repeated the measurements 3 times over a 2-week interval. Kappa (Kg) yielded intra-examiner reliability that ranged between slight to fair for the ASIS (Kg=.06 to .26; mean Kg=.19), and slight for the PSIS(Kg=-.04 to .18; mean Kg=.07) and slight to fair for the IC (Kg=.06 to .32; mean Kg=.21). Inter-examiner reliability was slight (ASIS Kg=.13; PSIS Kg=.05; IC Kg=.14). These results suggest that the reliability of the assessing SIJ anatomical landmarks using palpation and observation as an indication of SIJ dysfunction still remains questionable. Before this test can be relied upon as an accurate indicator of SIJ dysfunction, it must undergo further research. This further research needs to examine not only reliability, but also validity, sensitivity and specificity.

This study was designed to examine, using Rasch analysis, the rating scale performance of the Korean version of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). The subjects were 95 elderly people at community dwelling. Subjects (19 men, 76 women) ranged in age from 65 to 91 years. Rasch analysis was then done by means of the Winsteps program to determine the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the BBS evaluation tools for elderly people. The results were as follows: Twenty-one elderly people were excluded for misfit persons. Three items were found to be misfits and the order of item difficulty of the remaining 11 items was arranged. Elderly people BBS ability is indicated by -.94~7.41 logit, and the transformation formula is score=(logit score+.94)/. This transformation formula can be applied to Korean elderly people for balance ability. In the order of difficulty of evaluation items, the most difficult item was "Standing on one foot" and the easiest item was "Standing to Sitting". In conclusion, the Korean version of BBS evaluation tool for the elderly people has been proved valid and will be useful in clinical practice and research in Korea.

This study aimed to compare movement patterns of shoulder joints between the right and left symmetry in stroke patients and control subjects. This study proposes use of the voluntary response index (VRI) calculated from quantitative analysis of surface electromyographic (sEMG) and motion data recorded during voluntary movement as a feeding task. The VRI is comprised of two numeric values, one derived from the total muscle activity recorded for the voluntary motor task (magnitude), and the other from the sEMG distribution across the recorded muscles with the similarity index (SI). Five stroke patients and five age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Feeding motion was performed using the provided spoon five times with rests taken on a chair in between tasks. EMG data were digitized and analyzed on the basis of the root mean square (RMS) envelope of activity. The average amplitude of responses was calculated. Responsiveness and clinically meaningful levels of discrimination between stroke patients and control for EMG magnitude and SI were determined. The similarity index of the results from two successive examinations of both sides apart for stroke patients and control subjects were .86 and .95 in motion analysis and .84 and .99 in electromyographic analysis. The SI of sEMG data and motion data was significantly correlated in stroke patients. The data suggest that SI is a sensitive program for comparing and analyzing the symmetry of muscle activity and motion in both sides. This analysis method has a clinical value in grading muscular activity and movement impairment after brain injury.

The purpose of this study was to produce the regression equation from non-exercise of healthy young adults and to develop a maximal oxygen consumption () regression model. This model was based on heart rate non-exercise predictor variables (rest heart rate, maximal heart rate/rest heart rate), as an extra addition to the general regression which can reflect an individual's inherent or acquired cardiorespiratory fitness. The subjects were 101 healthy young adults aged 19 to 35 years. Exercise testing was measured by using a Balke protocol for treadmill and indirect calorimetry. The prediction equation was analyzed by using stepwise multiple regression procedures. The mean of was (meanSD). The greatest variable correlated to was %fat. The predictor variable used in the non-exercise included %fat, gender, habitual physical activity and . The non-exercise estimation was as follows: ()=55.58-.41(%fat)+.59(physical activity rating)-2.69()-5.36 (male=0, female=1); (R=.85, SEE=3.64, R2=.72: including heart rate variable); ()=48.47-.41(%fat)+.45(physical activity rating)-5.12 (male=0, female=1); (R=.84, SEE=3.74, R2=.70: with the exception of heart rate variable). As an added heart rate variable, there was only a 2% coefficient of determination improved. Therefore, these results demonstrated that heart rate variable correlation with a non-exercise regression model was very low. In conclusion, for healthy young korean adults, those variables that can affect non-exercise estimation turned out to be only % fat, gender, and physical activity. We suggest that further research of predictor variables for non-exercise is necessary for different patient groups who cannot perform maximal exercise or submaximal exercise.