Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of postoperative adjuvant therapy on the body mass index (BMI), physical function, and quality of life (QOL) in head and neck cancer patients.

Methods: The subjects were 24 perioperative head and neck cancer patients [21 men and 3 women; age: 54.2 ± 11.0 (mean ± SD) years] who were classified into two groups based on whether they received postoperative adjuvant therapy. BMI, six-minute walk distance, grip strength (GS), shoulder joint abduction range of motion (SROM), and health-related QOL were measured before and 12 months after surgery.

Results: SROM and physical, emotional, and social functions in health-related QOL were significantly lower in subjects with postoperative adjuvant therapy than in those without postoperative adjuvant therapy. In addition, postoperative adjuvant therapy was found to significantly affect the postoperative recovery of BMI and GS.

Conclusions: In head and neck cancer patients, postoperative adjuvant therapy affects BMI and strength and lowers QOL from that before surgery.

Purpose: The present study aimed to determine associations between gait and balance components in hemiparetic patients with subacute stroke using the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest).

Methods: This retrospective study included 66 patients who were hospitalized with stroke. Balance was assessed using the BESTest, and gait was assessed using the functional ambulation category (FAC), maximum walking speed (MWS), and the timed up and go test (TUG). Partial correlation coefficients between each section of the BESTest and gait performance tools of the FAC, MWS, and TUG were calculated.

Results: The FAC, MWS, and TUG significantly correlated with sections I and V, sections other than section II, and all sections of the BESTest, respectively.

Conclusion: The FAC, which is gait within the context of daily living, was associated with a few components of balance. However, sections I and V of the BESTest and all gait performance tools were associated, suggesting that their application would be useful for clinical intervention.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to modify the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) to validate its use with community-dwelling Japanese older adults and to examine the impact of the modified SPPB based on a community-based score (SPPB-com) on a scale assessing the new onset of need of care according to long-term care insurance (LTCI).

Methods: A population of 4,328 community-dwelling older individuals (mean age = 71.8 years) participated in this prospective study. The participants were assessed using the original version of the SPPB (0-12 points) at baseline assessment and were followed up with for 24 months to examine the new onset of need of care according to LTCI. The SPPB-com (0-10 points), as the modified version of the SPPB, was calculated based on this sample’s performance on SPPB components including walking speed, chair stand test, and standing balance.

Results: Of the 4,328 participants, 78.7% achieved a perfect score (12 points) on the original SPPB, while 10.5% achieved a perfect score (10 points) on the SPPB-com. The participants who scored less than 4 points on the SPPB-com showed the greatest incident rates of onset of need of care during the 24-month follow-up period (12.8%). In the adjusted model, which included potential covariates, age, sex (women), Mini-Mental State Examination scores, and SPPB-com scores were significantly related to increased risk of the new onset of need of care.

Conclusion: The SPPB-com, which was modified to validate its use for community-dwelling Japanese older adults, may be useful in evaluating greater risks of disability.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between walking speed and lower limb extension strength in people with moderate and severe post-stroke hemiparesis.

Method: Twenty-nine ambulatory stroke survivors (mean age, 64 years; mean time after stroke onset, 183 days) with a score of ≤2 on the knee-extension test of the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set participated in this study. We assessed the gait speed and the lower limb extension strength. The relationship between the gait speed and the lower limb extension strength was examined using the Spearman’s correlation coefficients and the Spearman’s partial correlation coefficients.

Results: Using the Spearman’s correlation coefficients, we found that the gait speed was significantly correlated with the lower limb extension strength in both the affected (rho = 0.70, P < 0.01) and unaffected (rho = 0.51, P < 0.01) limbs. Using the Spearman’s partial correlation coefficients after adjusting for lower limb strength on the unaffected side, we found that the gait speed was significantly correlated with the lower limb extension strength on the affected side (rho = 0.55, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that gait speed is correlated with the characteristics of affected lower limb strength as well as extension strength in both lower limbs for people with moderate and severe post-stroke hemiparesis.

Introduction/Background: Children with developmental disabilities show immature motor imagery, yet there is no agreed method of evaluating motor imagery in children. Accordingly, we developed criteria for motor imagery (CMI) in children. Criteria validity was assessed in children with typical development, who were used as external criteria.

Methods: The subjects were 42 typically developing children of whom 13 were retested. Informed subjects’ and parents’ consent was obtained. Subjects were instructed orally to adopt a standard posture, and then to change the posture in 1~2 stages. The postural changes included positional changes of the extremities. Finally, subjects were instructed to identify images of the postures among 5 photos on a desk. Their selections were rated on a scale of maximum 36 points. Internal consistency was determined by Cronbach’s alpha. To quantify test-retest reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (1,1) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was determined for the 13 subjects retested. The relationship between CMI for children and age was determined using Spearman correlation coefficient.

Results: A significant correlation coefficient of 0.72 between age and score was confirmed. Test-retest reliability was found among the 13 subjects retested at 1-month follow-up. The ICC was 0.859．Cronbach’s alpha for the CMI for children was 0.829.

Discussion: These results suggest the possibility of using these criteria to evaluate the degree of maturity of motor imagery in children with developmental disabilities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the usefulness of a Walking Stroop Carpet (WSC) in evaluating fall risk among the elderly.

Methods: The participants were thirty faller subjects (mean age: 78.3 ± 6.1 years) and seventy non-faller subjects (mean age: 74.8 ± 6.4 years). The WSC was 1 m wide and 5 m long with “red,” “blue,”“yellow” and “green” written on targets arranged in four rows laterally and 10 rows lengthwise. The text on the targets was printed in various colors with none of the colors matching the name of the color written on any given target. The WSC tasks were done under three conditions: for example, under the color condition, the participants were instructed to step only on targets with text printed in a certain color. Participants walked on the WSC and the time required was measured.

Results: The time taken to perform the WSC trials differed significantly between the groups under the color condition (7.1 ± 2.3 s for fallers vs. 5.5 ± 1.2 s for non-fallers, p < 0.01). A logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the color condition was independently associated with falling (odds ratio = 1.62, 95% confidence interval = 1.00–2.60; p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The color condition of the WSC appears to be useful for evaluating the risk of falling, as the fallers were significantly slower than the non-fallers under this condition, and its capability to discriminate fallers from non-fallers was high.