Biomedical subjects

Huei-Ming Chai

Publications and source records attributed to Huei-Ming Chai.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Comparison of proprioceptive functions between computerized proprioception facilitation exercise and closed kinetic chain exercise in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare proprioceptive function between computerized proprioception facilitation exercise (CPFE) and closed kinetic chain exercise (CKCE) for knee osteoarthritis. DESIGN: Randomized-controlled. SETTING: Kinesiology laboratory. PATIENTS: Eighty-one patients with bilateral knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to CPFE, CKCE, and control groups. INTERVENTION: Both exercise groups underwent an 8-week program of three sessions per week. The control group received no training. The CPFE program included a 20-min computer game to be played by the trained foot of the subject. CKCE included 10 sets of 10 repetitions of repeated knee extension and flexion with resistance of 10-25% of body weight. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Absolute reposition error, functional score, walking speed, and knee muscle strength were assessed with an electrogoniometer, the physical function subscale of Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index, a CASIO stopwatch, and a Cybex 6000 dynamometer before and after the 8-week period. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that both CPFE and CKCE were effective in improving joint position sense, functional score, walking speed, and muscle strength. Furthermore, CKCE showed greater effect in increasing knee extensor torque in patients with knee osteoarthritis. CONCLUSION: Clinical effects of CPFE were the same as those of CKCE except for knee extensor torque. The increase in knee extensor torque in CPFE patients was not as great as that seen in CKCE patients.

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PubMed2006

Exploring how peak leg power and usual gait speed are linked to late-life disability: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999-2002.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relation of both peak leg power and usual gait speed in their association with varying domains of late-life disability. DESIGN: Participants (> or =60 yrs of age, n = 1753) were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002. Disability in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, leisure and social activities, lower limb mobility, and general physical activities was obtained by self-report. Peak muscle power was the product of isokinetic peak leg torque and peak force velocity. Functional limitations were evaluated via usual gait speed, which was obtained from a 20-foot timed walk. RESULTS: Low usual gait speed was associated with disability independent of basic demographics, cognitive performance, co-morbidities, health behaviors, and inflammatory markers. The odds ratios for disabilities in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, leisure and social activities, lower limb mobility, and general physical activities for each standard-deviation increase in walking speed were 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59-0.87), 0.63 (95% CI, 0.52-0.77), 0.57 (95% CI, 0.45-0.72), 0.56 (95% CI, 0.47-0.67), and 0.74 (95% CI, 0.64-0.85), respectively. The odds ratios for disabilities in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, leisure and social activities, lower limb mobility, and general physical activities for each standard-deviation increase in leg power were 0.70 (95% CI, 0.55-0.89), 0.67 (95% CI, 0.53-0.86), 0.62 (95% CI, 0.47-0.83), 0.58 (95% CI, 0.47-0.72), and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.61-0.87), respectively. Supplementary adjustment for walking speed mildly attenuated the relation of leg power to disability. CONCLUSION: Peak leg power and habitual gait speed were associated with varying domains of late-life disability. The association between peak leg power and disability seems to be partially mediated through usual gait speed.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2006

Effects of repetitive shortwave diathermy for reducing synovitis in patients with knee osteoarthritis: an ultrasonographic study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Shortwave (SW) diathermy can be used to improve vascular circulation and reduce inflammation and pain for patients with osteoarthritis. However, reduction in synovial inflammation has never been explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether repetitive SW diathermy, using ultrasonographic examination, could reduce synovitis in patients with knee osteoarthritis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty subjects with 44 osteoarthritic knees participated in this study. Eleven subjects received SW, and 10 subjects received SW and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Nine subjects received no treatment and served as a control group. Synovial sac thickness superior, medial, and lateral to the patella was measured using ultrasonography. The sum of these 3 measurements was taken as the total synovial sac thickness. Subjects in the treatment groups underwent ultrasonographic examination before and after 10, 20, and 30 treatments, whereas control subjects underwent ultrasonographic examination before the experiment and then once every 2 or 3 weeks for a total of 3 follow-up measurements. RESULTS: After 10 SW diathermy treatments, the total synovial sac thickness in both treatment groups was significantly less than the initial thickness, and the synovial sac continued to become significantly thinner with 20 sessions of treatment. These observations were not made in the control subjects. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results indicate that SW diathermy in patients with knee osteoarthritis can significantly reduce both synovial thickness and knee pain. Such reductions of synovial sac thickness and pain index continue over treatment sessions.

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PubMed2005

Effects of age and sex on the results of an ankle plantar-flexor manual muscle test.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The ability to perform 20 or more one-leg heel-rises is considered a "normal" grade for muscle strength (force-generating capacity of muscle) of the ankle plantar flexors, regardless of age and sex. Because muscle strength is closely related to age and sex, the "normal" test criterion was re-evaluated in different groups categorized by age and sex. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred eighty sedentary volunteers (21-80 years of age) without lower-limb lesions performed as many repetitions of one-leg heel-rise as possible. Lunsford and Perry criteria were used to determine completion of the test. RESULTS: The age and sex of the participants influenced the maximal repetitions of heel-rise, and the repetitions decreased with age and in female subjects. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The muscle strength of the ankle plantar flexors, as measured by manual muscle testing, varied with age and sex. Clinicians should consider the variances of age and sex when they perform manual muscle testing of the ankle plantar flexors.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Preliminary study of the effect of low-intensity home-based physical therapy in chronic stroke patients.

This study was a preliminary examination of the effect of low-intensity home-based physical therapy on the performance of activities of daily living (ADL) and motor function in patients more than 1 year after stroke. Twenty patients were recruited from a community stroke register in Nan-Tou County, Taiwan, to a randomized, crossover trial comparing intervention by a physical therapist immediately after entry into the trial (Group I) or after a delay of 10 weeks (Group II). The intervention consisted of home-based physical therapy once a week for 10 weeks. The Barthel Index (BI) and Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement (STREAM) were used as standard measures for ADL and motor function. At the first follow-up assessment at 11 weeks, Group I showed greater improvement in lower limb motor function than Group II. At the second follow-up assessment at 22 weeks, Group II showed improvement while Group I had declined. At 22 weeks, the motor function of upper limbs, mobility, and ADL performance in Group II had improved slightly more than in Group I, but the between-group differences were not significant. It appears that low-intensity home-based physical therapy can improve lower limb motor function in chronic stroke survivors. Further studies will be needed to confirm these findings.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2004

Evaluation of rocker sole by pressure-time curves in insensate forefoot during gait.

OBJECTIVE: The rocker sole reduces plantar pressure in the insensate forefoot during gait, but the reasons have remained unclear. This study aimed to derive new variables descriptive of the effects of the rocker sole. DESIGN: We measured plantar pressures in eight forefoot areas in the insensate feet of ten diabetic subjects and performed stepwise regression of pressures as cubic functions of time in patients wearing shoes without and with prefabricated rocker soles. RESULTS: Pressure-time curves were all sigmoid in shape, but inflected at different time points, and were regressed by different variables in different forefoot areas in shoes without rocker soles. The rocker sole reduced peak pressures and pressure-time integrals and made pressure-time curves more concave. Inflections occurred at 15% or 16% of the gait cycle time and reached peak pressure later with the rocker. The more anterior the forefoot areas, the more concave their curves and the greater their regression parameters became. CONCLUSIONS: To evaluate the effectiveness of a rocker sole, physiatrists may regress sigmoid pressure-time curves as cubic functions of time in the insensate forefoot, check simultaneous inflections of the curves in areas rotated by the rocker sole, and compare their concavity and regression parameters in areas rotated at different distances from the axis of rotation. By doing so, physiatrists may be better able to improve the design of rocker sole and other forms of forefoot orthoses.

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PubMed2002

Comparison of pressure and time parameters in evaluating diabetic footwear.

OBJECTIVE: Although peak pressure has been used in the evaluation of diabetic footwear, other potential parameters have remained unstudied. This study was undertaken to compare the effects of diabetic footwear on pressure-time integral, peak pressure, and contact time in different areas of the foot. DESIGN: In-shoe pressure was measured and analyzed separately in the left and right feet of 14 diabetic patients with neuropathy by using 24 discrete sensors for each foot; pressure-time integral, peak pressure, and contact time at 48 data points were compared between patients wearing their own shoes and patients wearing diabetic footwear. RESULTS: The three parameters were symmetrically reduced in the anterior and posterior parts of bilateral feet and increased in the middle part of bilateral feet. The 34 sensors that showed significant changes in pressure-time integral included all 23 sensors that showed significant changes in peak pressure, and 15 of 18 sensors showed significant changes in contact time. The change of the pressure-time integral was correlated to walking speed at 17 sensors, sex at five, body mass index at four, and speed difference at two. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of diabetic footwear is detected at more sensors by pressure-time integral than by peak pressure and contact time. The slower a patient walks, the greater the change of the pressure-time integral by diabetic footwear. It is suggested that pressure-time integral be routinely included in the evaluation of diabetic footwear for each patient.

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