Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of hospital discharge with a brace on the retear rate and bilateral shoulder functions after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR).

Methods: In total, 91 women 65 years or older who underwent ARCR were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups: one group (48 patients) was discharged with a brace following ARCR, and another group (43 patients) was continuously admitted after ARCR until brace removal. We compared the pre- and postoperative range of motion, isometric strength of bilateral shoulder and elbow joint muscles, functional score, and retar rate between two groups.

Results: There were no significant differences of the retear rate and range of motion between the groups, except for passive flexion, abduction, 2nd external rotation at 3 months postoperation. The group that was discharged with a brace had better isometric strengths and functional scores at 6 and 12 months postoperation than the continuing admission group.

Conclusion: This study showed that ARCR patients discharged from hospital with a brace after receiving instructions of how to safely perform activity of daily living and self-exercise achieved better shoulder function than continuing admission without increasing the risk of retear and limitation of range of motion.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors of clinical outcomes 6 months after surgery in patients after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) and determine the cut-off values of these factors.

Methods: Age, sex, occupation, presence of subscapularis repair, presence of treatment for the long head of biceps brachii (LHB), presence of intraoperative manipulation, range of motion (ROM) and pain on motion before and 3 months postoperatively were evaluated. Binomial logistic regression analysis was performed using the items with significant differences between the two groups as independent variables and the University of California at Los Angeles shoulder score as the dependent variable. The ROC curves were used to determine the cut-off values for selected items.

Results: There were differences between the two groups in the presence of LHB treatment, preoperative and postoperative ROM, and pain on motion 3 months postoperatively. The results of the binomial logistic regression analysis showed that flexion ROM 3 months postoperatively was selected, and the cut-off value was 112.5°.

Conclusion: Early postoperative shoulder function is important to achieve good clinical results 6 months postoperatively, and the cut-off value is an indicator of postoperative rehabilitation.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the content validity of observational evaluations of gait abnormality in patients with postoperative hip osteoarthritis (hip OA) and then verify the criterion-related validity of these evaluations.

Methods: Items of gait abnormality were pooled for observational assessment. The content validity of 3-point scales was examined by opinions from four experts in hip OA. Criterion-related validity was verified using data extracted from a three-dimensional gait analysis.

Results: Of the seven observational evaluation items that were supported for content validity. Four items related to criterionrelated validity were verified using data extracted from the three-dimensional gait analysis.

Conclusion: The four items, ‘I: Foot condition at heel ground contact (ankle joint angle)', ‘III: Trunk condition to mid-stance (symmetry of lateral translation)', ‘V: Hip joint condition at mid-stance on the affected side (hip adduction angle)', and ‘VI: Hip joint condition at heel release on the affected side (hip extension angle)', have the potentiality for observational evaluation in clinical practice.

Objective: To clarify the effect of feedback using an insole-type load-monitoring device (loadsol^®) on partial weight-bearing (PWB) practice compared with biofeedback using a conventional device.

Methods: The subjects were 20 healthy adults (10 female, 10 male; age: 20.6 ± 1.2). The study design was a randomized, crossover trial. The intervention group received visual feedback (FB) from an iPad mini screen that concurrently displayed the weight-bearing information from the loadsol^® insoles. The control group received visual FB from an analog scale. The protocol of two-thirds of PWB walking using a crutch consisted of two practice sessions with FB and three measurement sessions without FB. The outcome measure was set as the average peak force (Avg. Pf) in each measurement session.

Results: The Avg. Pf was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group in the immediate measurement after the first practice and after the interval (p<0.05). The Avg. Pf in the intervention group approximated the target PWB.

Conclusion: The results suggest that the loadsol^® can provide concurrent and trial-immediate FB. FB using the loadsol^® was effective for early acquisition and retention when learning PWB. The FB using the loadsol^® may be clinically useful for learning PWB.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the arm swing angle, arm swing angle asymmetry, and spinal rotation angle of natural gait in healthy elderly females.

Methods: Ten healthy elderly females (mean age: 66.2 ± 2.0 years) participated in this study. The kinematics data of the left and right humeri (L_arm, R_arm), 7th thoracic spinous process (T7), 3rd lumbar spinous process (L3), and the 2nd sacral spinous process (S2) were recorded using motion sensors. We evaluated the average difference values and the correlation of each sensor.

Results: The angle of the L_arm significantly exceeded that of the R_arm, and arm swing exhibited asymmetry. The rotation angles of T7 and L_arm and T7 and ASI were both significantly correlated; although correlation was negative and positive, respectively.

Conclusion: The passive factor of the arm swing angle during natural walking due to thoracic spine rotation is small, and many factors are involved in arm swing asymmetry.

Telerehabilitation uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT) including smart phones, tablets or laptops connected to the internet to conduct rehabilitation when the therapist and patient are physically separated from each other. By the use of video conference through the internet, health counseling, visual evaluation, exercise prescription and/or correction are possible even if patients are in depopulated areas and have difficulty commuting to the rehabilitation center. Since examples of Telerehabilitation are sparse and have low social recognition in Japan, a literature review on Telerehabilitation globally from 2001 to 2020 was performed for the purpose of providing information to professionals working in the field of rehabilitation in Japan. The review included 62 papers from which information was extracted. It turned out that Telerehabilitation is being implemented with patients in various countries around the world across a variety of conditions such as cerebrovascular accidents, accidental injuries, respiratory problems, heart diseases, problems associated with aging and congenital disorders. Furthermore, it became clear that physical separation while being a disadvantage for rehabilitation could be advantageous from the perspective of social distancing against infectious diseases. Although research into Telerehabilitation is a relatively new area of investigation, many countries are exploring its use, and consequently the number of publications are expanding year upon year. With the development of ICT, the evolution of Telerehabilitation is expected to continue in the future.