[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigated the factors that affect toe grip strength patients with Parkinsonʼs in patients with Parkinsonʼs disease. [Subjects and Methods] The study included 19 patients with Parkinsonʼs disease, who resided at home. Their toe grip strength, toe-curl ability, and the foot-arch height were measured. Multiple regression analysis was performed with toe grip strength as the dependent variable and height, disease duration and toe-curl ability which was significantly Correlation coefficient to identify factors associated with toe grip strength. [Results] Multiple regression analysis showed that toe-curl ability and disease duration could predict toe grip strength in the resulting model. [Conclusion] The results of this study suggest that high toe-curl ability and short disease duration are associated with greater toe grip strength.

[Purpose] To clarify physical functions that different types of walking aids for older people with orthopedic disorders. [Participants and Methods] A total of 230 older females (mean age: 83; range: 79-87) with orthopedic disorders were divided into 3 groups, independent walk, cane, and walker/rollator, to analyze distinguishing factors. [Results] Thirty-second chair stand (CS-30; cutoff: 11 times) and standing on one legwiththeeyes open (SOL-EO; 23 seconds) test results distinguished the independent walk and cane groups, whereas the hand grip strength (29.9 kg) distinguished the cane and walker/rollator groups. [Conclusion] The older adults who used a cane had decreased lower limb muscle strength and balance ability. In addition, the grip strength of the older adults who used a walker/ rollator was lower.

The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effect of knee varusreducing shoes on the gait of young healthy adults in the presence or absence of knee varus deformity. The gait parameters of 37 university students were measured and compared under two different conditions, one while walking wearing knee varus-reducing shoes and the other while walking barefoot. Furthermore, the knee-to-kneedistancewas measured for all the participants, who were then divided into two groups as follows: those with a knee-to-knee distance of ?30 mm (the knee varus group) and those with a knee-toknee distance of < 30 mm (the non-varus group). The results showed that in comparison to walking barefoot, the stride and step lengths were significantly extended (p < 0.01) and the walking speed was significantly increased (p < 0.01) while walking wearing knee varus -reducing shoes. In addition, the effects of wearing shoes on the gait parameters were not affected by the presence or absence of knee varus. In conclusion, knee varus-reducing shoes improved the walking functions in healthy young adults, regardless of whether they had a knee varus deformity or not.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of disturbance instruction against lateral floor transition on muscle activity of lower limb muscles. The study included 13 young healthy adult males. The resting muscle activity before thedisturbance (%IEMG-rest), maximum muscle activity after the disturbance (%IEMG-max), and muscle reaction time of the lower limb muscles in the condition with and without disturbance instruction of moving the floor to the right side were measured. %IEMG-max showed significantly higher muscle activity in the left gluteus medius, right tibialis anterior, and right peroneus longus in the condition with the instruction than that in the condition without the instruction in the first trail. Regarding the muscle reaction time, theleftgluteusmedius, left adductor longus and right peroneus longus started activity significantly earlier in the condition with the instruction than that in the condition without the instruction. For any of the muscles, no difference was observed in %IEMG-rest between the conditions. These results indicate that, in young healthy subjects, %IEMG-max that control posture in response to disturbance increased by the disturbance instruction, and the muscle reaction time is earlier.

The purpose of the study was to examine the PET bottle cap test (PCT) regarding reproducibility by the test-retest method and validity by correlation analysis with peg test, grip and pinch strengths, and unbuttoning time in 19 patients with upper limb dysfunction. As a result, the intraclass correlation coefficients of the PCT were 0.881 and 0.931 on the affected and unaffected sides, respectively. Furthermore, the PCT was moderately correlated with the peg test and significantly with the unbuttoning time. However,it was not significantly correlated with the grip and pinch strengths. Thus, the PCT was highly reproducible in patients with upper limb dysfunction and useful in evaluating dexterity. The PCT is a highly versatile method because it requires no special measuring equipment and can be conducted only with a PET bottle and a stopwatch, suggesting its utility in clinical practice.

The purpose of this study was to objectively measure physical activity (PA),by intensity, in patients who underwent high tibial osteotomy (HTO) during hospitalization and after discharge, and to investigate how it changes after discharge. The subjects included 17 patients (mean age 66.8 years, 88.2% female) who underwent HTO for knee osteoarthritis and who were discharged according to the protocol. PA was measured using a triaxial accelerometer 5 weeks post-operatively (during hospitalization) and 8 weeks postdischarge (post-discharge), and data were classified into four categories: “sedentary”, “low”,“medium”, and “high intensity.”The percentage was then divided by daily time, and total wearing time was calculated and compared. The results of the study showed that the median spend times after being discharged was 546 min for sedentary behavior, 397 min for low-intensity PA, 36 min for medium-intensity PA, with no high-intensity PA observed. The percentage during hospitalization and after discharge showed that medium-intensity PA increased significantly after discharge, but the sedentary behavior and low-intensity PA did not. These results suggest that patients who underwent HTO remained seated for a large amount of time after discharge, with no change in sedentary behavior.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between respiratory function, chest morphology, and swimming performance. The participants were 55 male high school swimmers. We compared respiratory function, respiratory muscle strength, chest circumference of the xiphoid process (chest circumference), and thoracic dilation between swimmers who achieved the standard for participation in the all-Kyushu high school swimming competition and those who did not. The results revealed that only the FEV1/FVC of those who achieved the standard was significantly lower than that of those who did not, and there were no significant differences in other respiratory functions,respiratory muscle strength, and thoracic dilation difference. Chest circumference was significantly larger in those who achieved the standard than in those who did not. These findings suggest a low possibility of association between swimming performance and respiratory function. On the other hand, our findings suggest that chest circumference may be an indicator of better swimming performance.