Background: Self-checked monitoring home exercises are recommended for preventing falls among people with Parkinson’s disease. However, as these home exercises are performed autonomously by patients without professional management, their accuracy and efficiency can be compromised. Objective: To investigate the effects of providing regular training sessions to patients and caregivers and of patient self-monitoring of exercise performance following the implementation of a self-checked monitoring exercise program for people with Parkinson’s disease. Design: Randomized Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design. Methods: We provided regular self-checked monitoring home exercise and general home exercise programs to 30 participants for 12 weeks. Once a month at the first, fifth, and ninth-week sessions, a rehabilitation team attended the Parkinson’s group education. In addition to the subject in the experimental group perform the home exercises program to provide feedback regarding the home exercises program and to carry out a self-monitoring checklist performance for 12 weeks. Results: The 10 m walk test, functional reach test, and sit to stand test and the modified Barthel index significantly improved in the self-checked monitoring home exercise group. Conclusion: These results suggest that self-checked home exercise programs, which facilitate safety and consistent performance of exercises at home, are beneficial for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Background: Effect of cervical and lumbar tractions on the reduction in the angle of curvature and the effect of a correction exercise or a general traction method on balance, muscle strength, pain, and body alignment, however insufficient research has been undertaken on self traction exercises targeting patients with scoliosis. Purpose: To determine the effect of cervical and lumbar tractions on the reduction in the angle of curvature and the effect of a correction exercise or a general traction method on balance, muscle strength, pain, and body alignment. Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial (single blinded) Methods: Twelve adults(20s) with scoliosis were included in this study and performed a traction program that was composed of a 5-min warm-up exercise, a 15-min main exercise, and a 5-min cool-down exercise (25 minutes in total), three times a week for four weeks. The Chiro traction machine was used for the self-traction exercise. Vertebral alignment, muscle strength, and flexibility were compared before and after the intervention using the paired T-test. Results: The scoliosis angle, pelvic torsion, and lumbar extensor were significantly changed by intervention; however, there was no significant difference in flexibility. Conclusion: The results revealed that self-traction exercise activated blood flow through the extension and contraction of muscles, effectively increasing the function of the muscles around the vertebrae.

Background: Many studies have reported positive results of the various mirror training and virtual reality games in improving dynamic standing balance and posture adjustment in chronic stroke patients. However, no systematic study has been conducted to compare the effects of virtual reality games and the mirror balance training. Objects: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Wii balance games and Mirror Self- Balancing Exercises in improving proprioception of knee joint and standing balance of people with chronic stroke. Methods: Twenty patients with chronic stroke volunteered for this study. The subjects were randomly divided into a Wii balance games group and a Mirror Self-Balancing Exercises group with 10 patients in each group. Each training was performed for 30 mins a day for 4 days. In addition to the balance training, 30 mins neuro-developmental-treatment based routine physical therapy was given to both groups. Proprioception was measured using two continuous passive motion devices, and static balance was measured using a Wii balance board. Dynamic balance assessment tools included the Berg Balance Scale, Dynamic Gait Index, and Timed Up-and-Go test. Results: All measured variables before and after the experimental results showed a significant improvement in both groups (p<.05). Only the improvement of the affected knee proprioception appeared to be significantly greater in the Wii balance game group (p<.05). However, other variables did not differ between the groups (p>.05). Conclusion: The findings suggest that both Wii balance games and Mirror Self-Balancing Exercises may be helpful for improving the proprioception of knee joint and the balance of patients with chronic stroke.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of self-stretching exercises for iliotibial band (ITB) (Side-lying; right hip and knee were flexed to support the pelvis while left hip was extended and adducted, Standing A; side-bending of the trunk on standing with crossed leg, Standing B; same as Standing A, except the hands were clasped overhead and shifted right side, and Standing C; same as Standing B, except moving the arms diagonally downward) to help determine the most effective self-stretching method to stretch ITB. Twenty-one healthy subjects who do not have ITB shortness from Yonsei University (14 men and 7 women) between the ages of 18 to 28 years voluntarily participated. Ultrasound was performed to measure the thickness of the ITB between the long axis of the ITB and the level parallel to the lateral femoral epicondyle during four self-stretching exercises. All data were found to approximate a normal distribution. We used a one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare the thickness of the ITB among all self-stretching exercises. The level of significance was set at =.05. The ANOVA was followed by Bonferroni's correction. The overall mean of ITB thickness was mm ( standard deviation) in resting status. The change in the ITB thickness in percentages between the tested position of each self-stretching exercises and resting status was significant (p<.05) (Side-lying with 95% confidence interval [CI]=21.99~31.25%; Standing A with 95% CI=22.09~36.84%; Standing B with 95% CI=37.31~50.81%; Standing C with 95% CI=48.25~59.29%). Results indicated significant differences among four self-stretching exercises except Side-lying versus Standing A (p<.01). Based on these findings, the Standing C self-stretching exercise was the most effective in stretching the ITB thickness among four types of ITB self-stretching exercises. Additionally, the Side-lying self-stretching exercise using gravity to stretch the ITB is recommended as a low-load (low-intensity), long-duration stretch.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of self-paced walking exercises in elderly women with hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hypercholesterolemia. Thirty-eight elderly women with hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hypercholesterolemia (16 hypertension, 11 hyperglycemia, 11 hypercholesterolemia), aged between 65 and 80, were invited to participate in this study. Each subject participated in a self-paced walking exercise five times a week for twelve weeks from 26 June to 16 September 2006. The changes between pre- and post-exercise were analyzed using the analysis of a paired t-test with the SPSS version 12.0 package program. There were significant decreases in systolic blood pressure (p<.01) and diastolic blood pressure (p<.05), blood glucose(p<.05), and cholesterol in the blood (p<.01). These results show that self-paced walking exercises may be helpful in treating elderly women with hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hypercholesterolemia.