Background: Losing balance during locomotive actions becomes an increasing threat to both the community-dwelling elderly and elderly with Parkinson disease (PD). Those with PD may be at a high risk of fall due to particular characteristics during the turn. Turning around during locomotive actions may be one of problematic factors causing losing balance. Objects: This study is part of a larger study, which in part aims to identify turning strategies, to compare the strategies in the elderly with and without idiopathic PD aged 51 years and older and to distinguish whether the turning strategies can predict the elderly at risk of falls. Methods: A total of 22 community-dwelling elderlies (10 elderlies with idiopathic PD and 12 healthy elderlies) were investigated for the turning strategies during the timed up and go test. Results: There were some significant differences between the two groups during turning (p<.05). The idiopathic PD group had a tendency of challenging on taking more number of steps, more time to accomplish and staggering more for the turn relative to the control group. Conclusion: Taking more number of steps and more time to turn may be useful for distinguishing the characteristics of PD from that of the healthy elderly in turning strategy.

Background: In the stroke patients with the characteristics of hemiplegic gait, turning direction of the affected and unaffected side influences turning time. Therefore, it is important to investigate the walking response to turning directions in stroke patients. Objects: This study aimed to measure the walking time while turning direction in hemiplegic patients depending on balance ability measured by Berg Balance Scale. Methods: A group of forty-five subjects with stroke (Berg Balance Scale score≥46 were twenty-eight, Berg Balance Scale score≤45 were seventeen) were enrolled in this study. Subjects were asked to perform the Timed Up and Go test. Testing indications included two directions for turning in each subject. These indications were for turning toward the affected and unaffected side in stroke patients. The duration of total analysis duration, sit to stand phase, stand to sit phase, mid-turning phase, and end turning phase were recorded. The obtained data were analyzed by using paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test in the group that are below and above 45 points of Berg Balance Scale score. The significance level was set at ɑ=.05. Results: There were significant increase time in the analysis duration and end turning phase duration while subjects were turned the unaffected side in stroke patients that presented a Berg Balance Scale score≤45 (p<.05). However, the comparison between the affected side and the unaffected side in the stroke patients with Berg Balance Scale score≥46, revealed no significant differences of the measured parameters. Conclusion: This finding should be suggested in the specific definition of turning direction for evaluation with Timed Up and Go test in the Berg Balance Scale score≤45, and other intervention for hemiplegic patients need to be suggested the direction of turning during walking training program.

The purpose of this study was to determine which spatiotemporal gait parameters obtained during hemiplegic walking could be a predictive factor for the Timed Up and Go test (TUG). Two hundreds nine subjects who had suffered a stroke were recruited for this study. They were participated in two assessments; the TUG test and gait analysis. The relationship between the TUG test and spatiotemporal parameters was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients. In addition, to predict the spatiotemporal gait parameters that correlated most with the TUG scores, we used multiple linear regression analyses (stepwise method). The results show that the normalized velocity was strongly correlated with the TUG performance (r=-.72, p<.001). Additionally, single support percentage (SSP), double support percentage (DSP), step time difference (STD), and step length difference (SLD) significantly were correlated with the TUG test. Normalized velocity, STD, DSP of affected side, and SSP of non-affected side explained 53%, 8%, 3%, 2%, of variance in the TUG test respectively. In conclusion, an increase in gait velocity and a decrease in STD would be effective indicators of improvement on the functional mobility in the stroke rehabilitation.

Balance is a complex motor skill that depends on interactions between multiple sensorimotor processes and environmental and functional contexts. Many rehabilitation specialists believe that balance assessment under multitask conditions may be a more sensitive indicator of balance problems and falls than balance assessment in a single-task context. Functional Gait Assessment has many tasks that allow for testing under multitask conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the concurrent validity between the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Timed "Up & Go" Test (TUG) in patients with stroke. One hundred and five participants with at least 3 months post stroke and able to walk at least 6 m with or without a mono cane, participated in this study. Concurrent validity between the FGA, BBS, and TUG was assessed using Spearman rank order correlation. The FGA correlated with the BBS (r=.80, p<.01) and TUG (r=-.77, p<.01). The good and moderate correlation between the FGA, BBS, and TUG establishes the concurrent validity of the FGA in patients with stroke. These measures provide clinicians with valuable information about patients' functional balance capabilities.

This study aims to compare the relationship between the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) scores, Timed Up & Go (TUG), Functional Independent Measure (FIM), and subject characteristics. All of the 18 subjects were women between the ages of 68 and 91 (mean=80.2, SD=5.43), and they all lived at the nursing home in Wonju. Balance was measured using BBS, and functional mobility was measured using TUG. FIM was used to evaluate functional independence. Data were analyzed using Spearman correlation. Statistically significant differences were noted between BBS and TUG (r=-.486, p<.05). There were no significant statistical differences between total FIM and BBS, TUG. The FIM items "locomotion" and "communication" showed significant statistical differences between BBS and TUG. The results suggest that FIM may be able to predict dangerous falls in elderly people.

The purposes of this study were to find correlations among Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale, gait speed, and Timed Up & Go test (TUG) and to predict gait ability from subscales of Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale. The study population consisted of 30 stroke patients referred to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in the Bundang Jaesang General Hospital. All subjects were ambulatory with or without an assistive device. All participants were assessed on Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale and gait speed (m/s), TUG (s). The data were analyzed using independent t-test, Pearson product moment correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression. The results revealed that all items of Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale, except passive joint range of motion were significantly correlated with gait speed and TUG. In particular, sensation score, lower extremity motor and coordination score have a significant correlation with gait speed and TUG (p<.05). The sensation score and lower extremity motor score were important factors in comfortable gait and maximal gait speed. Their power of explanation regarding comfortable gait and maximal gait speed were 63.0% and 65.0%, respectively. The sensation score and lower extremity coordination score were important factors in TUG. Their power of explanation regarding TUG was 55.0%. These results showed that Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale is significantly correlated with gait speed and TUG. Therefore Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale is an appropriate assessment tool to predict gait ability of patients with stroke. Further study about gait speed and TUG by change of Fugl-Meyer Assessment score is needed using a longitudinal study design.